Top Row Seat - Safety: NASCAR vs. Your Car
Dateline: 02/15/2000
The dramatic finish to this weekend's Bud Shootout saw Ricky Rudd get clipped by another car, run head on into the outside retaining wall at 190 mph, flip over onto his roof and slide to a stop. It was certainly dramatic and potentially life threatening, but NASCAR's outstanding safety record continues and Rudd walked away and looks forward to racing this Thursday in the 125 mile qualifier.
NASCAR is a sport known for 200 mph nose-to-tail and door-to-door battles where one mistake can cause a multi-car incident. Many times we have seen cars go end over end or crunch to an abrupt stop only to have the driver climb out and walk to the ambulance for the mandatory ride to the infield care center.
By contrast, Charlotte Hornets star Bobby Phills and one of his teammates were racing their Porsches near the Charlotte Coliseum when Phills lost control. He was killed instantly when his vehicle was hit by another car. Again, on January 23rd Kansas City Chiefs' All-Pro linebacker Derrick Thomas was "speeding and weaving" through traffic on icy roads while not wearing his seatbelt. Thomas lost control, his SUV overturned and ejected Thomas and one of his passengers. Both men died as a result of their injuries.
Although these high-profile incidents received more press than the average highway death they are representative of the approximately 6.4 million police reported car accidents that occur in the US every year resulting in over 41,000 fatalities. (source: National Center for Statistics and Analysis)
While these numbers are still very high they have been declining steadily thanks in large part to the safety advances pioneered in motorsports. Crush zones, reinforced roll cages and side-impact improvements were all originally conceived and tested on the race track. As race cars continue to make breakthroughs in safety, that advanced technology will eventually find it's way into your garage and make your family safer on the road.
While NASCAR drivers need the latest safety gear to protect them while they are "on the job" you and I just need to use our heads. Leave the racing to the professionals and we will all live to enjoy another great season.
