Quote:
Originally Posted by mike the snake
Well, just about every race car these days has extensive roll cage similar to the GTM.
I agree that race car drivers also have other equipment to help them in crashes, like Hans devices, and helmets, BUT, if you had a car with a burly chassis, with 5 point belts, AND airbags (easy enough to install in a road going car) I think you'd have a really safe setup. Safer than the single shoulder belts and airbags we use in today's cars so our clothes don't get ruffled, or take too long to put on.
Airbags would probably negate the need for helmets. I do agree that other things would also need to be implemented, someone strapped into a burly roll caged car would definitely endure more impact forces than today's crumple cars.
I'm no expert, but I watch racing every weekend, and see crashes where the driver should not survive, and they just hop out like nothing happened. ALL these cars have burly rollcage systems, but as pointed out, the drivers are also wearing extra equipment. But a lot of that equipment could be equivalent to airbags and other things in use today without too much extra costs in kit cars.
|
Two points,
1. Those racecars have crumple zones and undergo a decent amount of testing for crashworthiness, here's a couple videos:
F1:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfnECuWduE8"]Formula 1 monocoque - YouTube[/ame]
Le Mans:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyjfAOn33YY"]LMP crash box test.wmv - YouTube[/ame]
NASCAR's test rig:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J772ggZ9Sc"]Nascar 200mph crash test simulator - YouTube[/ame]
Here's what a "burly" roll cage does for you in a Sprint Car:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOsoNGwDTcg"]Sprint Car Crash Test into a Wall - YouTube[/ame]
2. Slapping an airbag blindly into a vehicle can kill you, they killed approximately 200 people in the U.S. until they were dialed in appropriately with the last adult death occurring in 2005. They need to be properly engineered and calibrated to the vehicle based on the speeds, the seat, the distance from the occupant to the bag and how the forces are transferred through the chassis to the occupant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag...and_fatalities