Safety is everyone's responsibility

A couple of recent news items and events have got the old Burkster's juices flowing, which as usual leads me to drag the old soapbox out and climb up on it. So in the words of the immortal Jackie Gleason "and away we go."

John Lingenfelter's recent accident and the resulting serious injuries really upset me and made me mad at the same time. My relationship with John Lingenfelter isn't really close. Our relationship is on the racer and journalist level, although over the years I've done several stories on the man and found him to be smart, articulate, pleasant, and a very serious racer. My initial reaction, when told by an NHRA official during the national event at the Las Vegas race that he had crashed, was disbelief and instant depression. I'm really tired of people I know in racing crashing and being hurt.

In the following weeks I've been relieved at reports saying that he was out of danger and was showing steady improvement despite suffering a punctured lung, a broken neck and, according to people I've talked to, a broken jaw and other damage to his face.

I'm happy for all concerned that John is recovering and should be going home soon, although from everything I've heard and read, he is going to face a long difficult rehabilitation. There are some things about this tragic event that really have me up on the tires. From all of the information I've been able to gather Lingenfelter wasn't wearing any kind of head restraint device and was wearing an open-faced helmet. He evidently had about the same protection that the late, great Dale Earnhardt had when he died after impacting a concrete wall much in the same manner that Lingenfelter did.

No head or neck restraint and an open-faced helmet! How many more crashes or deaths is it going to take before the sanctioning bodies make restraint devices and full-face helmets mandatory for drivers in every class of drag racing?

All of drag racing's sanctioning bodies have classes for professional vlass cars that regularly make six-second, 200+ mph laps. There are even more sportsman class cars capable of running the quarter-mile in less than 19 seconds at speeds over 150 mph. Both NHRA and IHRA have 3,400-lb Super Stock and Stock Eliminator cars that are in the eight- and nine-second zone at speeds over 130 mph. Many of the drivers of these cars race wearing open-face helmets, single-layer fire retardant jackets, and no gloves. They wear six-point safety belts that are attached to 30 year-old floorboards. They're sitting on stock-cushioned seats that "give" four inches no matter how tight the belts are.

What would happen to the driver of one of these cars if he or she hit a concrete wall at 130 to 150 mph? Hell, what would happen if a racer in a 4,000-lb T/SA station wagon ran into a concrete wall at just 80 mph with the above mentioned safety gear?

To be sure, both NHRA and IHRA have implemented some policies to improve the safety of the driver in all of their cars. The chassis and safety specs for the Pro class cars is stringent, but the drivers are given some latitude when it comes to things like style of helmet or whether they use a head retraining device. The Stock and Super Stock class cars are allowed to install extra chassis bracing under the seat area and aftermarket disc brakes instead of drum in some classes, but, again, the driver is not required to wear state-of-the-art safety equipment.

I just can't understand why better safety equipment for drivers isn't required. I say it is time for all of the sanctioning bodies, including those that control the Import and Street Legal racing, to take driver safety to the next level and make full-face helmets and neck restraint devices mandatory at all sanctioned events and tracks for any class other than trophy!

For years all sanctioning bodies have made wholesale, costly rule changes regarding chassis and engines, and drag racing survived. What is the hold-up in making sure the drivers of the cars have the best chance to avoid injury when their car crashes? What's so hard about making a rule that states full-face helmets and neck restraints will be a mandatory safety item for all classes starting January 1, 2003.

Sure, there will be some bitching and complaining about the cost, but wouldn't we all rather take the heat from the moron who wants to race in a T-shirt with a pack of cigs rolled up in the sleeves and wearing a football helmet than extend our condolences to a widow and kids at another funeral or start a fundraiser to help a wife support a family because her husband is crippled for life?

To me this course of action seems to be a "no brainer," but then I advocated the same sort of action after Dale Earnhardt died and I still have friends driving fast race cars without wearing full face helmets or restraining devices. I guess this is one time where you obviously can't depend on the racers to do the right thing. The sanctioning bodies are going to have to step up to the plate and make their racers do the right thing whether they like it or not. It wouldn't be the first time, would it?

photo by Randy Fish

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