mikebcurve
Nitro Member
John Force Crash Raises Question Of SAFER Barriers For NHRA (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter mikebcurve
- Start date
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
I don't know.... we all see what a little foam block can do to a 330mph fueler when it gets hit at speed, so would crashing into a wall that can give at those speeds cause a quicksand like grabbing effect instead of redirecting the G's of the impact? F1 driver Rubens Barrichello was going 140mph when he crashed and stopped immediately. It's calculated he experienced 95 G's and almost died when he swallowed his tongue. I don't think a driver could take an absolute stop at 330mph.
NitroLuver
Nitro Member
I could be mistaken. But I'm pretty sure Joe Castello on WFO during the last episode where he had Alan Rinehart. After the Rinehart interview Joe responded to I believe was a live stream post where someone asked about the safer barrier.
He said those have been ruled out in the past because the cars would bounce off the all to much. I'll try and go back and watch the video again and not the timestamp. It was over an hour video.
He said those have been ruled out in the past because the cars would bounce off the all to much. I'll try and go back and watch the video again and not the timestamp. It was over an hour video.
Custom Body Fan
Nitro Member
I thought SAFER barriers were mostly steel. The car impacts the steel, not blocks of foam. The steel deforms to absorb energy but the car isn’t going to get stuck in the steel barrier.
z28
Nitro Member
SAFER barrier - Wikipedia
Well, the concrete barriers we now have are waaaay better than the old Armco guard rails. In the Old Daze, a dragster could actually go under the single Armco barrier and severly injure the driver. Or the driver could land on top of that barrier and lose his legs. But even those barriers were better than the old hay bales, or no barrier at all (San Fernando).
The SAFER BARRIER is just that - SAFER - Not a Magic (perfectly safe) Catcher's Mitt. It is very basic Physics (specifically Inetia). Inertia is changing the state of a mass or overcoming weather it is still or moving. It takes a force greater than the mass to move or stop that mass (or slowing down/speeding up). G Force is Gravity Force - WHICH is the measurement of accelaration or decelleration of a mass. Since the human body's parts vary greatly in Mass they don't all do the same thing when they (the whole mass) overcomes Inertia. On acceleration in our example the less dense parts want to accelerate (over come Inertia) easier than the denser parts from the force of Inertia causing a strain on the different parts of the body. Conversly - On decelleration the denser parts resist overcoming Inertia by wanting to keep moving as the less dense parts slow down (or stop) quicker leaving room for movement causing strain. So: We have Positive (+ G's) & Negative (- G's) from the change of Inertia that are Squared depending on how fast the rate of acceleration or decelleration of a Mass is. You can make a Safer barrier out of Marshmellows or Cotton Candy if you want but it will never overcome the fact of of what results from something going 300 MPH to 0 MPH in a nano second. The Mass doesn't necessarily have to dig into or bump into anything except its self to change the way it reacts with parts of the human body.
These Vehicles are all relatively safe UNTIL noise and fire starts coming out of the haeders. We could eliminate the drivers - put the spectators in a room & operate by computers & it would be safer, but that would be as exciting as watching paint dry to everyone involved. We will always keep pushing the limits and it is basically designed so that we do so.
These Vehicles are all relatively safe UNTIL noise and fire starts coming out of the haeders. We could eliminate the drivers - put the spectators in a room & operate by computers & it would be safer, but that would be as exciting as watching paint dry to everyone involved. We will always keep pushing the limits and it is basically designed so that we do so.
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ironpony
Nitro Member
The other aspect of different barriers that has not been mentioned is time.
So lets say the safer barrier absorbed the impact, how long would it take to repair the barrier before the race could resume?? I have seen several hours at road course tracks. Might have to finish the race the next day ??
Yes the person might be saved but time is money to these places. As stated earlier one answer was we can always get new drivers..............
So lets say the safer barrier absorbed the impact, how long would it take to repair the barrier before the race could resume?? I have seen several hours at road course tracks. Might have to finish the race the next day ??
Yes the person might be saved but time is money to these places. As stated earlier one answer was we can always get new drivers..............
Slowpoke96z28
Nitro Member
You have some sketches of "a different way" to propose?
Dennis
Nitro Member
Is there a prerequisite to have sketches to say there is a different way?
I mean...if your threshold is that something must be documented in order to have an opinion then show me the financial plan to implement SAFER barriers on every drag strip.
Obviously I'm not the only one who thinks the tethers are the problem: https://dragillustrated.com/matt-ha...mo-media-podcast-in-wake-of-john-force-crash/. Johnny Gray complained about them back in 2013, that's over 10 years NHRA has had to find a better solution.
NitroLuver
Nitro Member
I don't mean for this to sound sarcastic...but which wall/impact? He hit both of them. The most impactful, one would think, was the first one on his left side basically a full side impact. Then he went back across and hit the other wall more on the front. I guess it's certainly possible the engine explosion could have caused it, but in my opinion (not in the profession), the first hit had to be the one.
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You could be right. I don't know. I have just seen people coming to the immediate conclusion that safer barriers would have prevented his injuries. Drivers have had TBI without hitting a barrier or wall. I would only like to know if anyone knows the cause before we start jumping to conclusions.
I’ve been wondering for awhile if a safer barrier could be made with a halfpipe (from X Games) serving as inspiration. Of course the dimensions of a traditional skateboarding halfpipe would not work. However, if there could be a 2-tier level of inclination that peaks at 1/3 of the height of the wall (think tire chock), then energy would be redirected once the first wheel (or chassis) makes contact. The upside is that a direct blow like to a traditional wall would be avoided. However, there would be potential for a race car to turn onto its side as a result of getting out of the groove. The hope in this case would be that the speed of the race car + low height of the “ramp style” contraption = driver maintaining ability to continue in forward motion and back off the wall.
Slowpoke96z28
Nitro Member
No one is saying they aren't the problem. I'm saying, personally, as a racer, it's the better of two problems and if I had the chance to drive big show aa/fc, I'd still strap in knowing the risk, and id say it's silly to remove them without a better solution to the issue they are meant to address. You act/make it sound (at least to me) like it's something people haven't been trying to figure out a better solution to before now, like it's some simple and obvious decision that should've been made years ago.
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