Injuries

[macdaddy]

This is not meant as an IRL-bash.
But I was reading an article this week which stated...
Of the 86 drivers injured since 1996, 75 percent of them have suffered head, neck or back injuries.

Quick math tells me that (on average) 11-12 drivers get injured every year, and 8-9 of them have suffered these terrible injuries.

So what's the "main" culprit here? The all-oval format and the great speeds? Or the chassis and gearbox design?

Certainly it's a mix of both, but those numbers are downright scary.

[ascarracinguk]

gearbox shoots forward and hits their backs...

[BootsOntheSide]

ASCARracing's probably right about the gearboxes having a big effect, I'm pretty sure the third generationc ars (2003-2005) have been redesigned in that area to improve the outcomes.

A lot of them are probably only bruising or whiplash, and that's probably counting cases where a driver suffered (say) leg and back injuries among the 75%, but it's still dramatic. Sam Schmidt is one dreadful example of what can go wrong.

Oval racing is more dangerous than road courses. Nothing can be done about that, the wall's close and the cars are ususally travelling at 200mph+. The guys involved know the risks. It's ironic that the only back/neck injury for an IRL driver this year was sustained on a motorbike (Dario), and some big crashes have seen relatively minor injuries, so hopefully the dark days are gone (touch wood)

[Adam43]

That stat. on it's own means nothing. It is not compared (or relative) to anything else.

The first piece of information (86 injuries): It seems quite high, but is it? We know nothing of the selection criteria for this. Is it just the racing or is it testing too? Is this high, perhaps we could compare it to other sports/times. Compare it means doing a per race, per mile, per man hour racing or something similar. Useful things to compare it too are other series (CART, F1, NASCAR, perhaps even just NASCAR ovals, CART oval races, perhaps the time period 1990-1995 CART ovals to see improvement).

The second statistic (75%): Firstly the fact that it is just injury cases that are considered should be remembered. Head, neck or back injuries - well that's over 75% of the body, so perhaps it is not surprising! But again is this a normal case, compare to other crashes again.

Maybe even get some insight into the research and seek opinions on the severity (or lack of) the data's meaning.

I am not saying that this shows there is or isn't a problem, but I am saying that this piece of information tells us little. Yet, it will be what everyone basis their opinions on (although some will keep the same opinion and use the stat. which way they feel is best!).

I was very angry about the way Autosport just tacked the above sentence on to the end of the Franchitti report in this weeks news. It was the last paragraph and I was left thinking "so?". I suppose it makes them think they are reporting some facts, but it means nothing, especially in the way they reported it.

[climb]

The gearbox position is pretty much the same of CART and F1, so i wouldn't say its THE cause.
Oval racing presents a higher probability of accidents, and everybody knows that there are no escape areas outta the track.
However I'd like to have same calculations done about CART and other series on ovals.
As an italian i well remember the last two terrible accidnts happened on an oval: Zanardi (CART) and Alboreto (sportscar).
If we add Dale Earnhardt sr (NASCAR), I have to deduce that it's not a matter of car. Oval is risky, whatever the car.

[ghinzani]

Michele was on the road course surely?

[racer69]

Wasn't Alboreto doing high speed testing on the Lausitzring oval?

[ascarracinguk]

on the road part tho

[rustyfan]

According to the reports I read at the time of his death, Alboreto was doing high speed testing on the test-oval that is located within the Lausitz complex - not on the road course or the main oval.

Of course, had he been driving a closed-cockpit car, rather than an open-cockpit one, he wouldn't have been mentioned here since he would have survived.

(edit) And, in my opinion, Alboreto's accident could have happened at any track with a high-speed straight, since the tire blowout happened as he was going in a straight line.