Is NASCAR Safe Enough?

Car racing is perhaps one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Given such a nature, race car competition organizers should do what they can to make sure that their talented drivers are assured of a safe drive. Millions of dollars go to equipping cars with various mechanisms to improve race speed while huge, astronomical sums go to the paycheck of Nascar drivers. Every major league race car competition seems to almost always mean millions and millions of dollars. Given the huge budget allocated to race car competitions, safety should be one of the attributes in a race that must be given priority to.

NASCAR, one of America�s major league races, has various safety mechanisms employed for the competition. The safety features found in the interior of a race car are the roll cage (designed to absorb energy upon collisions), the seat (which is shaped in such a way that it wraps around the driver�s rib cage and also contains the seat belts which are meant to absorb some energy from a sudden crash and keep the driver from hitting anything hard in the event of a collision), the window nets (made out of nylon webbing to make sure that the drivers arms do not get out of the window upon collision).

In outside of the car are roof flaps that are designed to slow down momentum of the car, prevent it from spinning out of control or doing a turn turtle during high speeds. The car windshields are made up of three flat layers of a polycarbonate called Lexan. This is the material of choice for race cars because it bends upon contact with elements from the outside (dust, dirt, sand, bugs). The polycarbonate won�t shatter upon contact with nature�s elements, even at very high speeds. The fuel tanks are fuel cells which have foam (reduces any chance of explosion by reducing the amount of air in the cell) and check valves (shuts off fuel in the event that the engine is separated from the car).

The driver�s uniform is made up of fire � retardant Proban or Nomex. The suits are tested and given a rating to check how safe they are for wear. The driver�s helmet is made out of Kevlar which is designed to absorb impact during collisions. The helmets are also tested for safety by an independent safety testing commission. Even NASCAR�s race tracks themselves are equipped with a safety feature called track banking. This means that the race tracks are built to a certain steepness to prevent accidents. NASCAR tracks are built with a 36 degree steepness in the corners and a slight steepness in its straighter areas. This is to ensure that race car drivers will slow down when turning around corners. The track also has a retaining fence used to contain a car that may spin out of control. The retaining fence has been subject to scrutiny as it has become the cause of accidents during the past years. Suggestions have been made as to making the retaining fences with more flexible material that better absorbs energy upon collision.

That being said, NASCAR still has a lot to go in terms of improving their safety standards. The race car competition has yet to form a safety standards committee and appoint a medical and safety director.

Source: howstuffworks.com