Mixed emotions about Head and Neck Restraints for every drag racer

Burk, I have started this reply about 6 times and each time abandoned it with mixed emotions. It led me to look up some vehicle death averages. 37,000 is the average death rate per year from vehicle accidents. Police pursuit accounts for 3 to 4 hundred of those. An educated guess at the deaths from street racing is 135 to 175. I couldn’t find any concrete figures on the average number of deaths from drag racing in a year. What would you estimate? Is drag racing safer than circle track racing? Is it safer than your bathtub?

Making an expensive device like a head and neck restraint mandatory for every drag racer seems like an undue financial burden that could be a show stopper for many existing racers and certainly for entry level enthusiast. The second I finish typing that, it flashes through my brain that we should protect everyone. But, and it is a big But, isn’t this like everything in life, it is a risk reward decision that each individual must make? How many passes down the track per death? Can we really protect everyone all the time?
 
If you can die from a 45-mph crash that can cause a neck injury, (as stated by a manufacturer) shouldn’t a restraint device be required for any vehicle exceeding 45 mph, race car or not? Where do you stop? I can take either side of the argument and feel good about a spirited conversation over a six-pack.

I think some racers are reaching the point based on many conversations I have with fellow drivers that the expense of keeping up with safety requirements is getting burdensome. The cost of going fast is going up faster than the speeds. Many times the conversation pops up about just slowing your car down to under 10 seconds and 135 mph so you don’t have to put up with it anymore. Is that really the answer? Would that breed more hazardous racing in the long run? Or are we safe to 9 seconds like the IHRA accepts? Pass me another beer, will you please?

I don’t think the risk vs. the consequences mandates making a restraint mandatory for everyone in drag racing. I think the debate will reach an all-time high trying to determine just where we draw the line. I just hope we do it thoughtfully, not based on a current tragedy with debatable causes and effects.

Earl Helm
Salt Lake City, Utah

Safety and more

A couple of comments about your latest Burk's Blast. I have not seen the HANS crash report, but from what I read there were ten fatalities at dragstrips attributed to head/neck deaths. More detail is needed, what classes/speed were the cars traveling at when the fatalities happened. I think it is a good requirement for classes that require a competition license.