Safety expectations

[zerofor]

As I stated in another posting

Front and rear loops should be mandated for all cars in all classes.It doesnt look like this car had a front loop to the cage.Maybe someone else knows for sure.ALL OF OUR HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES GO OUT TO THIS GIRLS FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

[Matt Albee]

This crash and picture are eerily similar to the wrecks of Dale and Adam Petty. They all involved a hard hit on the right front that angles diagonally back through the driver. In all three cases if the car had a very rigid roll bar setup the energy of the accident is transferred straight back to the driver. While I can't see the bars in the recent wreck we do know that NASCARs bars were ridiculously rigid before the generation 5/6 cars. To this day I believe this is what cost us Dale for sure.

I think you're right about the rigid cages being the cause of injuries and maybe even deaths in the past. And it wasn't so much the cage design as the type of tubing that was used. Chrome Moly doesn't have much give to it.
But race technology has moved forward and can be designed to absorb impacts.
This is an area where the local race car builders can step in and help save future beginning drivers from tragedies like this. Start building every car, including pure stocks with an eye toward extra crash protection where maybe it wasn't really thought about before for the lower cost, beginner classes. And make sure every track with every class is onboard with the changes.

[egspeedway]

This crash and picture are eerily similar to the wrecks of Dale and Adam Petty. They all involved a hard hit on the right front that angles diagonally back through the driver. In all three cases if the car had a very rigid roll bar setup the energy of the accident is transferred straight back to the driver. While I can't see the bars in the recent wreck we do know that NASCARs bars were ridiculously rigid before the generation 5/6 cars. To this day I believe this is what cost us Dale for sure.

[dd38]

The car crushed like it was built/designed to do. If there were bars running to the front it would have been a lot stronger/harder/sudden impact and would have resulted in a much harder hit because the car would not have crushed inward(stop more suddenly).

[cake]

I run the #97 4cyl at speedworld. I will not race again until I get a HANS device.
It will take missing a few weeks to save up the money for one but it's worth it!

[Matt Albee]

Take a look at her car... I appears to be well built with a full cage... but, in hitting an immovable object at high speed, really nothing can be built good enough to keep you from being hurt... In this instance, a HANS may have saved her from being badly hurt or even being injured at all (apparently she did not have one)... you never know, but at this time, I believe every race track in Florida should voluntarily add to there rules: "HANS device recommended and required for all drivers 21 years of age and younger."

The full cage, which should be mandatory in all classes, isn't the issue here. The cars in the lower classes need to add front bars and crush zones to keep frontal impacts reasonable just like the SLM rules dictate. That means side impact protection as well. Yes, we've had drivers hurt and even killed in SLMs, but a driver stands a vastly improved chance of survival in a properly designed and built SLM.
The HANS device or an acceptable substitute should also be mandatory, cost be damned. But so far there is no evidence that the lack of a HANS was the problem.

[ancrdave]

Take a look at her car... I appears to be well built with a full cage... but, in hitting an immovable object at high speed, really nothing can be built good enough to keep you from being hurt... In this instance, a HANS may have saved her from being badly hurt or even being injured at all (apparently she did not have one)... you never know, but at this time, I believe every race track in Florida should voluntarily add to there rules: "HANS device recommended and required for all drivers 21 years of age and younger."

[ancrdave]

Take a look at her car... I appears to be well built with a full cage... but, in hitting an immovable object at high speed, really nothing can be built good enough to keep you from being hurt... In this instance, a HANS may have saved her from being badly hurt or even being injured at all (apparently she did not have one)... you never know, but at this time, I believe every race track in Florida should voluntarily add to there rules: "HANS device recommended and required for all drivers 21 years of age and younger."

[pintodave]

Very tragic indeed, prayers to the family.

I agree with Scott Bertram - I always brushed off the need for a head and neck restraint, now that I've been using one I consider myself lucky that I never hurt myself previously.

The age thing is debateable. 15 or 16 or 18 - I think they should all be wearing a HANS device, there are many affordable options now unlike 10-15 years ago (and the price from 15 years ago is still not a valad excuse for not using one). Those angular front impacts are the devistating ones, no matter a Cup car or a pure stock car.

Accidents are a scary part of motorsports. Anything can happen at any time and that is a choice we all make every time we strap in. I think the time has definitely come though for mandating HANS devices, it should be as commonplace as properly mounted, in-date 5-point belts IMHO.

[dd38]

Just saw on TV27 in Orlando that she passed away. How many does that make recently hurt or died.

[Jimmy McKinley]

Just saw this on FaceBook:

"Sad news from Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida. 15-year-old Niokoa Johnson was making her first career start last night when she hit the wall head-on, suffering severe head trauma. She was taken off of life support today. Godspeed Niokoa..."

[Matt Albee]

Very sad to hear about another one of these completely avoidable incidents.

Children should not be allowed to drive race cars, not even pure stocks or stock minis.

Safety devices for all of the lower classes should be exactly the same as for the fastest classes.

Rules and car specs for the beginner classes have to be changed to account for hitting something solid like a concrete wall or a light pole. If the cars are basically stock, and drive into a light pole at high speed, the outcome will be pretty much the same as it would be on the street. Just adding a driving suit and helmet isn't the answer here. Proper car construction and a rethink of the rules is the answer.

If you can't or don't want to do it correctly and safely then we're going to have more incidents like this.

[egspeedway]

Before we get all wrapped up in discussing what should have been done, how old the driver was, how the car was built, what safety devices were in play, emergency equipment etc. lets all remember racing has and will be dangerous for ever. Lets take this opportunity to reach out to the family and support them in this in their hours of need.

[MiniRacer26]

This is very saddening. A race car of any kind can be deadly and requires lots of maturity and respect. The parents of thesr kids and the tracks that race should mandate a neck restraint system of some kind. Last night at Showtime they had officials checking everyone for some kind of neck restraint, at minimum a neck roll. I thought that was great, I have never been to a track thay has done that. The cars are getting faster and our safety equipment needs to follow suit.

[JD99]

As the father of a young driver with talent (he's 20 now, but has been racing since he was 6), I had many opportunities to put him in Modifieds and Late Models. In fact, when he was 16, I bought him a modified, but did not allow him to race it until I was comfortable he could handle it. I have not reached that level YET, and he is now driving Dwarf cars, learning, and hopefully gaining respect from the others he races with. My point is that a lot of these young kids have parents with more money than the kid has talent, and rather than tell little Johnny or Joanie that they can't race a Late Model at 13, they let them go and put themselves and others in harms way. I also grew up in an era where you had to be 16 to enter the pits, and 18 to drive. Now, it's about money and who is the next Jeff Gordon (The true villain in all of this, In My Opinion) and the tracks want to get as much back gate money as possible. I think (again, just my opinion) a veterans committee should evaluate any new driver coming into their division, and a majority ruling, maybe 3 out of 5, would have to approve.

I don't have the answer, but I do know we have lost 2-3 drivers locally in the last few years, and I worry about my son every time he straps in. I just do what I can to keep him in a safe place. My condolences to the family of the girl who passed after last nights wreck. I hope I never have to accept them from someone else.

Scott Cordon