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Tuesday, August 21
NASCAR to employ 'black boxes'
Associated Press
ATLANTA -- Dale Earnhardt's broken seat belt was one of many
factors that contributed to the death of the auto racing great,
NASCAR said Tuesday in releasing its report on the wreck.
The six-month investigation found the seat belt, the collision
with another car and angle and impact in which Earnhardt hit the
wall all played a role in the Feb. 18 crash on the final lap of the
Daytona 500.
|  | | Dean L. Sicking, Ph.D., director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, shows a film clip of Dale Earnhardt's crash during a news conference in Atlanta. |
In its report, NASCAR said that beginning next season it will
install "black boxes" in cars, similar to flight-data recorders
on airplanes, to help understand the forces during crashes and
improve safety.
However, NASCAR will not require drivers to wear head and neck
restraints, although it said their use would be encouraged.
Earnhardt was not wearing such a restraint when he was killed,
but NASCAR said it was unclear whether the HANS device would have
saved him. Use of the devices has dramatically increased since his
crash; 41 of 43 drivers wore them in Sunday's race.
NASCAR president Mike Helton said NASCAR will use computer
models to design safer cars and will be involved in testing of race
track barriers. However, the report itself contained no
recommendations on changes to cars or barriers.
"We are still not going to react for the sake of reacting,"
Helton said, repeating a phrase he used the day after Earnhardt
died.
Dr. James Raddin, one of the lead investigators, said the
conclusion of the report is that "there were a number of factors
in which the timing came together" to cause Earnhardt's death.
Among Raddin's findings were that Earnhardt's head was turned
toward the right after his car was hit on the right side by Ken
Schrader's. That collision caused Earnhardt's helmet to slide
forward on his head, exposing the back of his skull.
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Report Highlights
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A look at NASCAR's study into the fatal crash of Dale Earnhardt:
Cause of death:
A broken seat belt, the collision with Ken Schrader's car and smashing into the outside wall at 157-160 mph all contributed to Earnhardt's death from basilar skull fracture.
Steps NASCAR is taking:
Next season, it will install "black boxes" in cars, similar to flight-data recorders on airplanes, to help understand the impact of crashes and improve safety.
Computer models to design safer cars will now be used, along with testing of improvements for restraint systems and race track barriers.
NASCAR plans to open a research center in Conover, N.C., sometime next year.
A full-time medical liaison will come on board in 2002 to coordinate with local tracks and medical personnel.
What's not happening:
NASCAR will not require the use of head and neck restraints, although it encourages their use.
The report contains no recommendations on changes to cars or barriers at race tracks.
Quoting:
"We are not going to react just for the sake of reacting. We're going to understand all ramifications of a change before we make it." -- NASCAR president Mike Helton.
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Because of the angle of his head and the separation of the seat
belt, Raddin found Earnhardt suffered a blow to the back of his
skull when his car hit the turn 4 wall almost head-on.
The blow -- caused by the left side of his head hitting the
steering wheel or, on rebound, hitting the inside of the car --
caused a basilar skull fracture that killed the seven-time Winston
Cup champion.
But in finding that the fracture started with a blow to the back
of the head, Raddin disagreed with a court-appointed, independent
medical examiner who determined the fracture was caused by a
violent head whip. That examiner, Dr. Barry Myers of Duke
University, studied Earnhardt's autopsy photos and concluded
earlier this year that seat belt failure "does not appear to have
played a role" in his death.
"It is now time to move on. This has been a very painful
process for a lot of us and I hope today's statement can bring some
closure," said Richard Childress, Earnhardt's longtime car owner.
"All of us -- owners, drivers, manufacturers, and independent
research groups -- need to continue to work with NASCAR to ensure a
strong future for our sport. I know Dale would want it that way."
Helton said the stock car racing organization will commission a
study on restraint systems to take a closer look at seat-belt
strength. But NASCAR will not mandate the use of the head and neck
restraints that are designed to reduce violent head whips in
crashes.
"We are pleased that a majority of Winston Cup drivers now use
them," Helton said. "But we are not completely satisfied. We have
intensified our efforts with drivers, equipment manufacturers and
outside experts with the goal of helping all drivers find a system
in which they feel comfortable and safer."
As for the seat belt, Raddin ruled out that is was cut by rescue
workers as they tried to remove Earnhardt from the battered car.
Five days after the fatal crash, NASCAR said a broken seat belt had
been found in the car.
"The physical evidence is clear," said Raddin, who showed a
blown up photo of Earnhardt's seat belt. "This was not a cutting
of a belt afterward. This was a belt that separated under load."
Raddin, a director with San Antonio-based Biodynamic Research
Corp., attributed the break to a phenomenon called "dumping,"
which is when the webbing is pulled or moved to one side of the
adjustment device through which the belt webbing travels.
When a dumped belt is under stress, it can separate and tear
across the entire webbing.
Raddin concluded that the dumping was not caused by driver
adjustment because the marks on the left lap belt showed it was
tightened in a symmetrical fashion.
|  | | Dr. James H. Raddin Jr., director of Biodynamic Research Corporation, helped lead NASCAR's investigation of the Dale Earnhardt accident. |
A second investigator, Dr. Dean Sicking of the University of
Nebraska, found that the car was traveling between 157-160 mph when
it hit the wall.
The controversy over the seat belt, made by Simpson Performance
Products, led to the resignation of the founder of the Charlotte,
N.C.-based company. Bill Simpson quit last month, saying the stress
"got to be too much."
In mandating the installation of "black boxes," which will
only record data, NASCAR is following the example of CART and the
Indy racing league.
Ford has been supplying the black-box technology to the two
leagues for several years in an effort to better understand the
forces in crashes. Until now, NASCAR had resisted using the boxes
on its cars, in part because it feared teams would use the
information for competitive advantages.
"You hear all the time about what the FAA does after a plane
goes down somewhere," driver Jeremy Mayfield said. "The objective
is to not just find out what happened, but to come up with ways to
keep that same thing from happening again."
The investigation, which cost more than $1 million, was the most
far-reaching independent inquiry in NASCAR's 52-year history.
Helton and the two lead investigators met with the majority of
the drivers at a North Carolina country club early Tuesday morning
to present their findings. Earnhardt's eldest son, Kerry, and his
daughter, Kelly, attended along with several members of Dale
Earnhardt Inc.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not attend the presentation, but a NASCAR
spokesman said Helton has privately gone over the report with him.
Earnhardt Jr.'s spokesman said the driver would have no comment
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