How to Avoid Injuries and Death in Motorsports - Research Paper Example

Safety in Motorsports Abstract Motorsports has been a popular in many countries across the world. However, the superior engine power of the machines involved which makes speed a component of motorsports makes the sport dangerous, posing injury and death risks. It is against this background that this paper appreciates the importance of safety in motorsports, evaluating the technology involved and giving a historical account of how such technologies have developed over time. Eventually, the paper gives the significance of safety in motorsports from socio-cultural and economic perspectives. Introduction Motorsports is a popular sport worldwide, practically practiced in all countries from Monaco formula One and Silverstone racetracks in Europe to Interlagos in Brazil and the Paris-Dakar Rally that passes the African deserts. It is said to occupy an important place in sporting and popular cultures. It includes the four-wheeled vehicles like Stock Car, Go-Karts and Formula One among others to motorbikes such as Superbikes, Quad Bikes and Motocross. They could take place on on-road or off-road courses (Dingle, 2009). These machines are not the standard ones but rather specially built racing machines not available for general purchase or legitimately driven on normal public roads. They are made of expensive and lightweight materials such as plastic reinforced with carbon fiber and titanium (Lipp, Salvagno, Franchini & Guidi, 2007). They have enormous engine power and achieve outstanding speeds, the reason why they have become immensely popular. With this superior engine power and high speeds involved, motorsport is dangerous and involves freak accidents. As observed by Lipp et al. (2007), the high engine power of these engines makes them attain extremely high speeds with speeds as high as 369.9 km/h having been recorded in previous events. This makes the probability and severity of accidents extremely high. In fact, it is riskier than other sports such as football, boxing, rugby and the others. In spite of this risk, Gilbert (2014) observes that it is an addictive sport such that once started, drivers never quit no matter how many times they get involved in accidents. Therefore, this calls for detailed measures to make the sport safer for all the participants. Motorsports Safety Technology Motorsports is all about speed. Engines are designed to produce over 8,000 horsepower, making the vehicles attain speeds of over 300 mph within a short period of time (Gilbert, 2014). As technology towards manufacturing more powerful and faster vehicles is adopted, more innovative effort is also geared towards promoting the safety of the participants. As a result, there has been significant achievement on motorsports safety technology over the past couple of decades. The technologies involved have been geared towards minimizing the likelihood of drivers suffering serious injuries due to a crash (Foster, Begemean & Melvin, 2011). As such, motorsports safety has sought to act directly on the driver to reduce impact of crash and control the crash energies that the vehicles develop. With this regard, technology has focused on four key areas. The first area is the neck and head support technology. It would be appreciated that motorsports involve high speeds and restraint on the driver. According to Foster et al. (2011), this risks basilar skull fracture on the driver due to the immense tension forces that build up in the neck as a result of the head whipping forward against the restrained torso when a frontal impact occurs. Thus, the technology to make drivers safe in such a scenario has focused on developing proper neck and head restraints. This is the force behind technologies adopted for the helmet resembling a hardhat attaching under the chin and over the ears with a leather strap. Secondly, safety technology has focused on seats, usually also encompassing integrated headrests. As noted by Foster et al. (2011), early design for stockcar racing seats focused more on reducing weight at the expense of safety consideration. Whereas the seats were made of thin gage aluminum and had headrests and shoulder supports, they provided minimal resistance during an impact. Technology around this component of racing cars have over years focused on reinforcing the headrests and lateral supports so as to keep in check the shoulder and head motion of drivers. Vehicle dynamics has focused on barrier development with sensors mounted on strategic positions of the vehicle to reduce the impact of the vehicle upon crashing onto a barrier. The design technology of motorsports vehicles has centered on systems that distribute or absorb energy experienced during a crash so as to offer protection to the driver (Hylton, 2010). A majority of the safety concepts have been adopted from the safety measures of an average street driver and improved to cater for the unique nature of motorsports. This technology also entails protecting the driver from fire which has always been a concern in motorsports, bearing in mind that top fuel classes are used and that the driver is in close proximity to the engine (Foster et al., 2011). Thus, this technology has sought to create a fire proof barrier from behind the head of the driver and the over the upper side of the cockpit to keep the driver safe from fire. Additionally, fire retardant uniforms were designed from normal clothing material, just that some fire retardant solution was added to the clothes to enable drivers escape burning vehicles. Finally, motorsports safety technology has also considered the spectators. As noted by Majerus (2007), hay was initially used to keep spectators away from crashing vehicles. This technology has advanced with tire wall barriers becoming common in modern courses. Different courses have adopted different ways of stacking tires so as to form a barrier. Whereas some stack the tires in the model of bricks in a wall, others merely bound cylinders of tires together (Foster et al., 2011). Each of these models has its own demerits and merits, but the bottom line is to make spectators safe. Historical Account of Safety in Motorsports Motorsports has been in existence for a long time. From a literature review documented by Lippi et al. (2007), 1949 was the first time a world championship for motorsports was organized. Nonetheless, the true history of Formula One could be traced back to 1946 with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA setting standardization rules. This saw the birth of debate on safety in motor racing. Nonetheless, even before the formality on safety rules were adopted, as early as 1937, flashing red, amber and green light systems were already in use. This provided a standard for communicating on what action racers were to take in the tracks. Even so, these early days of motorsports had a lot of safety challenges with Majerus (2007) giving the example of doors flying open while the cars were on track. Racers found a solution to this by wrapping pant belts around the posts of the door. Even lap-belts were not provided until the 1950s. Additionally, rear ends had the problem of overheating, a safety issue regarding parts failure. A significant milestone in preventing part-failures was the use of shock absorber to pump grease to the rear end thus preventing the cars from going out of race. In 1957, SCCA established a Medical Safety Committee. This committee studied the roll bars, crash helmets, flame-resistance coveralls and lap belts as relates to making motor racing safe. This also coincided with the formation of the American Association for Automotive Medicine (Majerus, 2007). This era was marked by intense studies by physicians on the cause and effects of the numerous automotive injuries. This saw the enforcement of laws of putting on helmets for racers together with belting up and ensuring doors are fastened. It was in the 1950s that racing helmets were made mandatory by Southern California Timing Association, SCTA and National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, NASCAR while racing. Furthermore, roll bars became mandatory. This culminated to the licensing program for drivers in 1964 that required them to be physically examined before participating in motor racing. This was an additional measure to the safety focus on vehicles which included the tire safety requirement which came into effect in 1966 with Goodyear introducing an inner-liner racing tire which would remain inflated even when a blowout at speed occurs. The technology behind the tires aimed at producing designs of tires that would withstand high speeds and also cornering on dirt courses. The 1960s also saw more focus on windows of racing cars. According to Majerus (2007), it ws required that the rear windows be reinforced and secured with steel straps. They were to be burst proof. The window of the deriver was made of approved nylon mesh. The safety of spectators was also addressed with hay bales being distributed at critical points of the course to safeguard them from crashes. Furthermore, street barricades, ropes and miles of snow were used to hold spectators in proper places. From the year 1970 henceforth, engineers and healthcare practitioners worked towards improving the already established safety measures. Helmets were required to cover the whole face just as driving suits had to cover the whole body from wrists and ankles to the neck. This safety clothing technology has also been instrumental in fostering safety in motorcycling (Lipp et al., 2007). It was during this period that dry-powder fire extinguishers were introduced as fire-control systems. Today, the design of motorsport cars includes impact-absorption technology to foster the safety of the drivers. This follows the requirement that motorsports vehicles pass crash tests set by FIA. As great achievements have been attained in engine power, stability, traction control, handling and stopping ability, safety efforts have taken advantage of information and communication technology to make motorsports safer. Modern motor racing cars have over 30 microprocessors together with computer-aided engine management which make it easier to control the cars. For example, Denso and Toyota companies have greatly invested in pre-collision systems which include pre-collision brake systems and pre-collisions seat belts that reduce the chances of collision (Majerus, 2007). Helmets are nowadays made of carbon fiber which makes them take in more impact than their predecessors. In addition to the airbags on the dashboard, motor racing cars are fitted with side curtain air-bags to reduce fatalities from side impacts. Gilbert (2014) also observes the active role played by medical practitioners in modern motorsports to foster safety. In case the drivers have difficulties coming out of the car after a crash, doctors would be there on standby to help them out, minimizing any chances of fresh injuries or further causing damage to the injuries already suffered. Significance of Safety on Racing As has been widely observed, motorsports is dangerous and inherently risky. Accidents resulting from motorsports not only cause skeletal injuries but also trigger major problems due to the energy impact. The extraordinary speeds of the machines cause internal organs, neck and head to undergo huge decelerations of up to 100 g which could cause serious lesions. Numerous such accidents have been recorded in the past. These include injuries and fatal accidents during qualifying sessions, races, private testing and practices. Examples are the deaths of Dale Earnhardt in 2001, Dan Wheldon in 2011 and Allan Simonsen in 2013 among many others attributed to poor safety design (Gilbert, 2014). In fact, with the improvement in motorsports technology, this number has risen up. It is also unfortunate that such fatalities have been the trigger for consideration of safety measures in motorsports. Lipp et al. (2007) observe that the number of fatalities rose from 28 in 1979 to 44 in 2004, and later to 45 in 2005, but a drop to 37 reported in 2006. As such, motorsports safety would prevent such incidents, making the sport enjoyable. This would attract more participants thus a tool for greater interaction among members of different societies. This would promote intercultural integration. Developing the safety measures could be a costly affair. Safety barriers alone could cost up to $1,000 per foot as documented by Dingle (2009). This comes in addition to the high cost of modifying vehicles to meet the set safety requirements for participation in motorsports. However, technologies have over time sought to achieve maximum safety at the least possible costs. Foster et al. (2011) give the example of tire-wall barriers where scrap tires have been used. These scrap tires are a less costly materials for reinforcing racing safety as they exhibit significant energy dissipation characteristics. This ensures that drivers suffer no significant injuries due to contact with barriers. Despite the cost, safety regulations remain mandatory for implementation across board. MotoGP and Formula One organizers set regulations that would reduce the speeds of these motorsports cars and improve on safety. Such regulations also encompassed reduction in the weight and engine capacities (Lipp et al., 2007). Such safety regulations reduce the number of fatalities and injuries thus reducing healthcare costs that would have been associated with offering care to the injured. Thus, safety remains a significant economic issue in motorsports. Conclusion Safety in motorsports borrows from the fact that the sport is more dangerous than any other common sporting activity. The highly powered engines used in motorsports machines make speed synonymous with the sport. Thus, as technologies seeking to make the machines more powerful and fast continue to be engineered, greater attention has been paid on the safety of drivers and spectators so as to deter injuries and fatalities due to crashes. Such technologies have focused on neck and head support, seats and headrests, motor design and barrier technology. These aspects of motorsports safety have undergone immense transformation over time with modern machines take advantage of information and communications technology to attain greater safety levels. Such efforts are important as they significantly affect the socio-cultural and economic well-being of societies in which drivers and spectators of motorsports exist. References Dingle, G. (2009). Sustaining the race: A review of literature pertaining to the environmental sustainability of motorsport. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, 11(1), 80 – 96. Foster, C. D., Begeman, P. C. & Melvin, J. W. (2011). Advanced racing safety: An overview. Injury Biomechanics Research Proceedings of the Thirty-Second International Workshop (pp. 117 - 126). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Gilbert, M. (2014, December 13). Safety in motorsport – The first priority. Huff Post. Retrieved 9 March 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ Hylton, P. (2010). Using motorsports design concepts to further STEM education. The Journal of Technology Studies, 36(1). Retrieved 9 March 2015 from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ Hylton, P., Brown, D. & Carnes, S. (2011). Teaching management concepts to engineering students in a unique motorsports environment. International Journal of Motorsport Management, 1(1). Retrieved 9 March 2015 from http://scholar.wssu.edu/ Lipp, G., Salvagno, G. L., Franchini, M. & Guidi, G. C. (2007). Changes in technical regulations and drivers’ safety in top-class motor sports. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 41(12), 922 – 925. Majerus, J. N. (2007). Winning more safely in motorsports: The workbook. RVI. Read More