Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast
What about fire hazard? Street cars rarely have automated fire suppression systems, and the number of marshals and first respondents is pretty low on a track day (vs. a high tier race). Would you drive in a Nomex suit as well? Why not a roll cage and 5/6 point harness? That would really help with high speed roll overs and multiple impacts (as you correctly stated, airbags, regular seat belts and crumple zones are single use safety items in a street car (although I believe Volvo is doing some work to help with multiple impacts on its cars)).
I think most people here (myself included) take a more realistic cost-benefit analysis on safety equipment. A budget Snell certified helmet will set you back $100-$200. A 3-point harness compatible HANS device costs over $1000. What's the added protection it provides? If a crash is 1% likely per track day, and a HANS is beneficial in preventing/minimizing injury in 20% of casual track day crashes, does it really make sense to spend 10x more on safety equipment for a 0.2% risk? Or greatly reduce the car's DD usability by installing a roll cage and harness (not to mention the cost)?
For a casual track day car that's mostly DD, a helmet is a relatively cheap entry barrier. If tracks started requiring HANS devices I'm sure attendance would drop considerably (although that would be a great thing to offer on lend/rent, much more so than helmets).
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I myself have a bottle in my car. Also all corner workers should have functional bottles. There was a post on 86 Track Cars not to long ago where a driveline failure occurred, grass caught fire and the corner worker's bottle wasn't functional.
I do have a nomex suit, shoes, fire retardant socks, balaclava for champcar. At minimum I wear my gloves. Like you guys, I determine when I wear what. Roll bar is a future investment for me personally.
You must be pretty fortunate to get a 1% track crash rate. I have not seen that low of written-off car rate at the tracks I've been to.
It seems like you have a logical approach to what you deem necessary. That's simply all I ask. As for the others, they were completely unaware such a system exists that can be used with a 3-point belt. If anything, the education and making them aware is all that I wanted.