Or use proper roll cage padding. Or Paddington. I once had a Paddington bear
strapped
to the roll cage of the rally car, just in case. <jk>
But yeah, sudden impact on roll cage material is bad indeed. I've seen a
couple of older
incidents where guys broke their thighs (ouch ouch and potentially
dead-real-fast if you cut
that artery) in fairly minor shunts because their leg hit the side impact bars.
(Side note: it is
VERY difficult to research the history of racing crashes. Outside of some
famous events, most
are quickly covered up by the sanctioning bodies...)
I run with roll bars/cages in most of my street machinery (because it's mostly
dual-purpose).
I make sure that: 1) proper padding is applied 2) proper seats are used, and
3) proper
harnesses. Of course the helmet is the big thing, I remember a couple of rally
guys that
got killed in Cali while "practicing" on some back roads. They were done for
the day, took
their helmets off, and hit some civilian traffic...
My 'B V8's roll bar is not finished. It will be 1) slightly taller than the
typcial "street bar" (though at
5'5" I don't need it that high) 2) have a diagonal and a harness bar, and 3)
have side impact
bars with proper padding.
For the most part, roll bars in street cars just look cool. They looked cool
in the 60s when our
old MGs were new and they still look cool in the Miatas et al. Of course the
people who just want
to look cool don't want that ugly padding. Oh well.
Safety fast,
-Keith Wheeler
Team Sanctuary
From: "Dodd, Kelvin" <doddk@mossmotors.com>
Subject: RE: Roll bar
My suggestion would be that if you see an impending front or rear impact
you should slew the car sideways to decrease the possibility of hitting
your head on the roll bar and increase the possibility of proving that
the bar is useful in the event of a roll over.
Kelvin Dodd
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