Kart safety?

[PatMcSwain]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/21/14 ... latestnews

Wild arse guess is a snowmobile/dirtbike vs fence wire accident?

Delete if inappropriate topic of discussion.

[KJ Christopher]

This was an incident at an SCCA event and it involved a 14 year old girl in a JA kart. Obviously, we were all very sad to learn of the accident yesterday. The topic was discussed among the junior karter parents and a junior karters who were still on site after their runs.

At this moment, I don't have any details on what may have caused the accident. Obviously, as we learn more following the investigation, we will see if policies/procedures need to be modified. In the meantime, we will reinforce our existing safety procedures with the karters, such as the ability to kill the motor and/or inducing a spin.

Wish I could say more - hard to put any words together.

[PatMcSwain]

Condolences out to her friends and family.

From media images, the paved lot was surrounded by fixed post and cable barriers, like you would find at a park. This is where the investigation markers were. The cable did not appear to be under tension. Nor was there any frontal damage to the kart.

A tall trailer, motorhome, fixed benches, picnic table, or tall pickup might have yielded similar injuries if they were of similar height. So the type of barrier itself is perhaps no better or worse than what would be found at any race venue.

If memory serves, Malibu Grand Prix (a karting franchise) had a similar incident when a kart went off course and hit a chainlink fence. The lower tension wire is what caused the fatality in that instance.

[Steve Ekstrand]

The cable no doubt caused the fatal injury (though we can't even assume that), but how and why the kart got there isn't yet clear. It may not have been a stuck throttle or inability to stop. But even before we know details and conclusions, a review of protocals is healthy and already underway.

I can't tell you how saddened and shocked I am by this tragedy.

[Craig Naylor]

Don't know the young lady, but having a daughter of the same age... must say brought tears to my eyes when I read the story Sunday night, and doing it again right now as I type this. Very sad situation.

Not being involved with details of the kids karts... I don't know what protocols may exist locally...

Obviously a medical condition... may toss any protocol out the window. As an adult, something like a stuck throttle may leave one in a sense of panic, and slow any thoughtful decision process to attempt to solve the issue... I can't imagine what a JC/JB, let alone JA, aged kid might be thinking.

What ever processes is put into place... for our kids sake, it should be discussed, and reviewed with them often (probably at every event). probably to they point where they go, "yea I know I'm to do..., go away and leave me alone, you've told me a hundred times" We can't allow complacency to set in. It needs to be something simple enough they can invoke it with rote memory. We remind the adults of two feet in if they spin... what ever the process for the kids is, it should be as simple as that.

The immediate prevention thought that came to mind was that maybe the kids should be instructed to immediately turn for the course, no matter where they might be, and to do large circles. Don't try to follow the course, don't try to get to their parents.... just do circles. The basic though in my mind is to get them away from the edges of the site where most hard objects like cars, K Rails, people, etc are located. From that point other directions could be provided to them.

Tragedy's can't be unwound... and a young life was lost, but the lessons others can learn could be life saving for another in the end.

[PatMcSwain]

Probably not related, just medical thoughts:

Somethings I've observed before, as have others.

Too restrictive of a full face worn with a neck sock can cause you to faint, mine was a Impact Champ with nomex neck sock. While the special rules required me to have my visor down and restricted frontal flow (blown front engine), as soon as I get 100' down the track, I crack it 1".

Also,

High frequency vibration can cause you to faint, even if healthy.

On example is tire shake causing fatalities at NHRA tracks. If the tires go out of balance, the vibration can knock the driver out.

I personally felt a similar condition when running 90psi tires, stiff suspension, with an unpadded metal seat. I started to black out (tunnel vision + stars) when I hit stutter bumps at about 150mph (~20 seconds into run). These were roughly the same height as typical pavement cracks, but on a tighter pattern. Perhaps 1" tall. Stupidly, I stayed in it, and the track smoothed out, and finished the run safely. Big no-no. Tunnel vision and stars mean Give It Up.

Not sure if Kart racers are subjected to similar vibrations on rough tracks. Even if true, it might not be easy to solve. Rubber bushings and padded seats would be a start.

Last,

My doctor friend had his 12 year old daughter suffer a stroke, right out of the blue. No warning, no indications, otherwise healthy. She survived and is in college now.

I've always been of the belief you cannot fix everything. And that a Fix for one problem can lead to others. Unless runaway Karts are a known issue, there are too many variables to stop all possible causes. You might make clothesline injuries very difficult though, perhaps fairly inexpensive.

[Steve Ekstrand]

Please don't apply what I post here to the recent tragedy. I don't know what happened in the present case. I hope that we will soon and maybe there is a lesson to be learned.

In most incidents I have observed, the bad result was because of a driver making not a single mistake, but a series of bad decisions.

I've watched our kids face issues in the karts and deal with them most of the time like veteran drivers without a second thought to it even being an incident. Same with adult drivers of both little experience and national champions. I've also seen both young and old do it wrong. Frankly, I'd argue the kids do it consistently better. They have more direction, and they listen better. They don't have a chip on there shoulders that they are the next Stig.

We are a form of motorsports that is available to newbies. It has as a core value a drivers training and driver development component whether that be kids or adults. So, with that you'll see mistakes made, but on the whole it is an extremely safe place to make those mistakes. But we can never stop in realizing that what we do is very serious and carries inherent risks. And I have more than once seen national champions make a series of bad decisions, so maybe we need to continue to remind all of the seriousness.

All that said. The most serious of autocross incidents in our sport prior to this was probably an unknown medical cause.

Life isn't perfect. We have to strike a balance. I worry a whole lot more about the safety of our extended family towing to and from Lincoln, NE each year than I do while we are competing there.

Now go hug your loved ones.