Mikelly

Over Xmas I'd bought a ZAMP SA2005 helmet and Puma driving shoes... Well after dealing with the horrific accident involving my sisterinlaw this week ( http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1648563 )My wife and I had a heart to heart talk... So last night I ordered a HANS device and an OMP driving suit to finish out the "outfit". I'd already bought some simpson gloves a while ago, and I'm getting a DAS Roll bar for the 996TT. I've bought the Brey KRAUS harness mount kit, and I'm gonna go ahead and get a fire extenguisher for the car.

I really gave this some thought, but I can tell you that if I had to pick between the suit and the HANS, I'd pick the HANS for HPDEs. I've not seen many fires at HPDEs, but I've seen plenty of bent cars.

Be safe out there gang, and tell those you love that they matter most to you...

Mike

AU N EGL

Good deal Mike

Rember the HANS only works if harness are mounted correctly.

Mikelly

Tom, I would hope everyone here would "ASSUME" that we would ALL follow the instructions for all our safety equipment. Otherwise, Why spend the money?

All my gear will be to the letter, or won't be on the track.
Mike

0Randy@DRM

Holy crap. I just got reading your linked post. I wish the best from a horrible ordeal.

Randy

Cobra4B

Damn buddy... just got done reading the crash post... so sorry to hear, prayers sent. Enjoy every day.

blkz

Bro,my thoughts and prayers are with you and Donna.It sure makes one understand what really is important.Bless you.

yakisoba

Good call. I'm looking at the R3 meself. Moves between cars more easily than the HANS, and would thus be a compromise piece for an instructor. If I ever get that far, that is. Regardless, I don't know how you can argue with spending on safety gear.

I've seen a few fires here. Enough that a halon extinguisher got into my car last year. I watched a guy run from his car to the corner worker stand to get an extinguisher, and that was enough for me. I want to be able to pop two clips and take a crack at putting it out NOW.

Mikelly

Thanks gang for the well wishes... I want to make sure I do as much as I can to insure I can walk home at the end of the day!

Mike

fatbillybob

Our best to your family. The seat is a critically important part of the safety system. Once you depart form OEM with harnessbars and hanresses make sure your seat and its mountings are up to the task.

Mikelly

This particular car came with the GT3 RSR cupcar seats and mounts already installed. The DAS rollbar is approved by PCA for their events, and the B-K submounts/harness mounts are standard fare from B-K. I should be good to go...

Mike

Z06 Whisperer

I read this thread and the link you provided and I still don't know if I have the right things to say. It's such a suddenly shocking and horrible thing to have happen!!!! I wish you all courage, strength, love,hope and maybe eventually some small measure of peace through all this!! Please keep us updated if you feel like it!


Per the safety gear updates, it's just like the others have said, you want to be sure things are installed and attached correctly. You don't want to end up in a situation like the one where the parents buy the most fancy car seat for their kid but don't mount it in the car correctly. I was involved in a very quick flash fire that went out while on track (blown engine) and fortunately did not need an extinguisher. Again, I know I preaching to the choir here, but I'm sure we've all heard the stories of extinguishers installed where they can't be easily reached, things like that. And what I would recommend to also, is to actually practice, at least in your head, what you would do in certain kinds of emergency situations, so after that period of time when you are stunned by what just happened, if you are able to, you can try to act. Sorry for being long winded here!

Best of luck with everything!!

0Randy@DRM

Thanks for bring that up Z06 Whisperer.

In baseball back in the day. The coach tried to teach us to think about what we would do if XXX happened. I played first base and I had it easy most of the time. But some other players didn't.

The point is make a plan if XXX happens. If a car is on fire and you don't have a fire system, just walk away from it. Hand held bottles are ok for small stuff, but don't get burnt because you tried to put out a big fire. Let people around you know if you have any other medical or special things.

Randy
PS. Steel in my eye no MRI for me!!!

Z06 Whisperer

Oh, my eyes are tearing just thinking about that. I hate to ask how that happened, but...(unless I'm being too nosy!)

About being prepared as best you can and trying to remain calm, like what happened to me was very mild. (sorry you're going to have to hear the story) but different people responded in different ways.

I was on the tail end of the warm up lap down at Blackhawk last spring. I had gotten my car pretty heavily modified and had had the serpentine belt shread up at RA in April. Anyway I had driven down and the car was still pretty warm and I was between 6 and 7 and started to step into it. I was not near the red line or in the act of shifting and I hear this "pop". Suddenly there was this huge ball of fire outside of the car and I'm instantly spinning. I did two 360 looping spins. I was probably going about 110mph and even at the slow of a speed I felt like I really had very little time to do anything. I just remember trying to steer and brake and put the clutch in. The dumbest thing of all is I remember as I'm spinning seeing the grass on the inside of the track and thinking how bright and beautiful and green it looked. LOL Well I had it easy because I ended up in front of the the corner worker at 7, facing forward. I communicated with the corner worker that "something bad had happened and my car would not restart." Then as per "training" I sat in the car completely strapped and helmeted in. Apparently they threw just a local caution and it seems like forever as nearly all of the cars on track went by. Then suddenly I see these 2 tires (from the tire wall) rolling by my passenger window and "bam" I'm hit in the back--not very hard, by a GT3. Now here's where it got really weird. That driver leeps out of his car, starts cussing and looking at his damage and saying how he had just fiixed his car from another wreck. All I could think was the track was still live!! I mean this driver could get seriously injured if another car were to come off. For what ever reason he and his buddy who were supposedly running with each other missed the yellow and ending up getting damage. I believe he was an instructor too.

I guess what I learned is to first try to communicate with a corner worker--they really will be you eyes and ears. Stay the heck put in your car, fully strapped and helmeted, unless you are on fire. Try to remember what happened as clearly as possible, because at least with this club, I had to fill out an incident report. And when they tow you to the pits, try to drive on the grass so you don't leave even more oil on the track.

Oh, the diagnosis of what caused my engine failure?? I was handed off the track a sheared and oxidized ARP 2000 connecting rod bolt!!!

Oh geez, THANKS FOR LISTENING TO THAT BLABBY STORY !!! I'm sorry this was probably not the best place to tell it.

Anita

Tintin

The Hans device is a really smart move indeed.
That is a horrible, tragic thing to have happened to a person minding their own business and just planning a peaceful life. It is really awful when these things occur and there is little that you can do but be the most supportive person that you can for her. She will need to know that your feelings have not changed due to her sad event. Each of us, whether respondents to your post or not, feels for you and your familly. Maybe she will beat the odds, criminy she has already. Be of strong spirit.