Maria de Villotta injured in testing

[aral]

Decapitation? Excuse me, madame, but you are exaggerating big time.

Don't belittle the possibility. The De Villota accident could easily have resulted in such an event. With the current cars, the helmet is the first obstruction to something sliding over the car, be it another car, or a piece of armco etc, or even such a thing as a spring falling off another car, as has already happened. Why do you think the FIA have been conducting tests on forward facing roll hoops?
It has happened before, and there is little to prevent it happening again, although (touch wood) I hope that it will never occur.

[LotusF1]

Yes, something must be done, as in the people who watch F1 expecting to see drivers run around in 100% safe bubbles must go away. It is a sport where you have to have balls to do it, and if you don't have them, you must go and do something else, don't try to change the sport in order to diminish your fears. Back in the days, people were thrown off the cars, burned and crippled and still there were some brave enough to stay in line to drive those cars.

Decapitation? Excuse me, madame, but you are exaggerating big time. If we build something based on a bunch of "what ifs.." the we might as well forget about it.

i dont agree...and i sincerely hope this will never happen to one of your sons/daughters...that is a very ignorant statement. no one should waste their life like this. period.

[Pup]

That debate is as old as the sport itself. We all have our opinions. The only thing I would say on it is this - it seems that historically when the sport makes changes based on a single incident, those changes tend to be poorly considered and overreaching.

Actually, there are two things I would say. The second is this: there was a time when F1 was in many ways a blood sport, or at least when danger was one of it's primary aspects. Perhaps it was a better sport then, or perhaps it wasn't - I can't judge since I wasn't there - but it was certainly different.

Those days are long gone. I think anyone who argues that F1 needs to preserve its element of danger hasn't really been paying attention. That's not to say that the sport isn't still dangerous, as obviously it is, but that the danger isn't its primary, or even one of its primary aspects.

[RicME85]

Lost an eye apparently

[FW17]

+
"embarked on a lengthy procedure to address the serious head and facial injuries sustained"

[element]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/07/04/d ... ord-crash/

Probably the lifting deck pierced into the helmet through the visor. Canopy/No canopy is another debate, but after Massa incident and Maria's crash, to me is clear that further investigation needs to be done in the helmets, specially in the visor. Impact performance is not on par with other security measures recently adopted that have saved many lives. This is the second warning before a driver get's killed, and in open cockpit cars, is not that uncommon that objects hit the driver's helmet.

[SeijaKessen]

If not a canopy, something else has to be done asap. F1 just cannot go on indefinitely with a risk that some people feel is acceptable.

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous.

This is the exact type of thought that led to F1 being neutered over the years.

It's racing and auto racing by it's very nature is dangerous.

Everyone who does it knows there are risks involved.

[FW17]

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous.

This is the exact type of thought that led to F1 being neutered over the years.

It's racing and auto racing by it's very nature is dangerous.

Everyone who does it knows there are risks involved.

Fortunately we do not live in a society which tolerates injury for your entertainment.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Lost an eye apparently

"John Booth, Team Principal of the Marussia F1 Team, with the consent and support of Maria’s family, would like to give the following update, which provides as much detail as is possible at this time:

“Maria emerged from theatre at Addenbrooke’s Hospital this morning after a lengthy operation to address the serious head and facial injuries she received in the accident at Duxford Airfield yesterday.

“We are grateful for the medical attention that Maria has been receiving and her family would like to thank the Neurological and Plastics surgical teams. However it is with great sadness that I must report that, due to the injuries she sustained, Maria has lost her right eye"

Marussia Statement, 1600BST.
http://www.marussiaf1team.com/news/622/

Very sad news.

[FrukostScones]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/07/04/d ... ord-crash/

Probably the lifting deck pierced into the helmet through the visor. Canopy/No canopy is another debate, but after Massa incident and Maria's crash, to me is clear that further investigation needs to be done in the helmets, specially in the visor. Impact performance is not on par with other security measures recently adopted that have saved many lives. This is the second warning before a driver get's killed, and in open cockpit cars, is not that uncommon that objects hit the driver's helmet.

I think that she is alive speaks for helmet/visor performance. At a certain speed every helmet/visor would get pierced or sliced by such an element (horizontal ramp/lift). Also a helmet is always compromise/trade off betwen strong and soft etc (impact handling).
Her accident was a freak accident. How many F1 drivers died because open car design (not cockpit or car design in general) ? Tom Pryce... who else, can't remember anyone else (maybe Senna)...
I don't want to see drivers dying or get injured on the track, but neither I want to see ski riders dying on the slope. There are many sports that are far more dangerous than F1 racing (look at the pole vault statics or eventing horseriding)and there are also sports that deliver injuries as entertainment (boxing, ice hockey, cage fighting, rugby, or bull fighting) but.

[jdlive]

Talk about overreacting to a weird accident. Instead of improving safety once again, why not just park those heavy trucks a bit further away? Or don't let people drive in F1 for publicity reasons only? When I head about her coming into F1, for the sole fact that she is a woman and it would translate to more publicity and money, I already had the gut feeling something was going to happen.

[jdlive]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/07/04/d ... ord-crash/

Probably the lifting deck pierced into the helmet through the visor. Canopy/No canopy is another debate, but after Massa incident and Maria's crash, to me is clear that further investigation needs to be done in the helmets, specially in the visor. Impact performance is not on par with other security measures recently adopted that have saved many lives. This is the second warning before a driver get's killed, and in open cockpit cars, is not that uncommon that objects hit the driver's helmet.

I think that she is alive speaks for helmet/visor performance. At a certain speed every helmet/visor would get pierced or sliced by such an element (horizontal ramp/lift). Also a helmet is always compromise/trade off betwen strong and soft etc (impact handling).
Her accident was a freak accident. How many F1 drivers died because open car design (not cockpit or car design in general) ? Tom Pryce... who else, can't remember anyone else (maybe Senna)...
I don't want to see drivers dying or get injured on the track, but neither I want to see ski riders dying on the slope. There are many sports that are far more dangerous than F1 racing (look at the pole vault statics or eventing horseriding)and there are also sports that deliver injuries as entertainment (boxing, ice hockey, cage fighting, rugby, or bull fighting) but.

Hallellujah

[Project Four]

This would have been avoided if there had been a canopy. Wonder how many more signs are needed before FIA implement safety in this area

This would have been avoided if the car didn't use it's engine at all in the pit lane and instead was pushed by two mechanics down the pit lane. I wonder how many more signs are needed before FIA implement safety in this area.

This would have been avoided if grown men didn't feel the need to race stupidly fast cars around circuits at unsafe speeds. I wonder how many more signs are needed before FIA implement safety in this area.

This would have been avoided had helicopters been used to transport everything with low loading ramps been used instead of unsafe lorries with their high tail gates. I wonder how many more signs are needed before FIA implement safety in this area.

An so on. You cannot base your decisions on freak accidents like this. In F1 at least, for every freak accident in the last 20 years where a canopy would have helped there have been several times that cars have ended up upside down where a canopy would have hindered efforts to help the driver out. Look at Anthony Davidson's huge crash at Le Mans. He had a canopy, he was trapped upside down with a broken spine, and they had to role his car back the right way up to get him out of the car risking further injury to his back.

Unfortunately there are no easy answers or quick solutions and that's before we even talk about the spectacle and the need for many fans to be able to see the drivers in order to related to them. With a canopy then for many people (not all) there is an emotional disconnect - it's fundamentally hard wired into us.

I can't agree.
Davidson's roof is what saedhim from further injury. To removehim from an open cockpit car would have required the car to be rolled over anyway. The roof provided a standoff for his head from the accident. An open cockpit would make his head part of it.
Also every major accident in the last 30 years in Motorsport, has involved an element of head injury to a larger or lesser degree. in about 90% of the fatalities a head injury is the primary cause of death.
Ratzenberger's head hit a wall
Senna head was hit by a wheel and the helmet penetrated by a suspension arm
Berger's head also hit a wall which knocked him unconscious and due to the angle of the accident to the wall it was not fatal/
How many near misses go by and its claimed " oh we're lucky it only this"
Luck has nothing to do with it. acident are accidents but many are preventable.

Closed cockpits may not be palatable but it only takes a really horrifc accident to get the message across.
Schumacher had a lucky escape in Abu Dhabi in 2010, De viollota may be another lucky escape with consequenses but will it take a decapitation event on global tv to get the message across?

What amazes me is the increasing caapcity of the human monkey to believe in luck

While i agree that closed cockpits may prevent some accidents, be clear that drivers will still always be at risk during any accident. In a crash the internal organs of a human body will be placed under massive stress. Aryton Senna was not killed by the suspension arm penetrating his helmet he was killed by the effect on the brain of the sudden deceleration. The impact caused massive injuries at the base of the cranium which in turn resulted in brain death.

[myurr]

Re: Davidson's accident, I must apologise for confusing it with Alan McNish's accident last year. There the car had to be rolled over to get him out, but had there not been a canopy then they could have extracted him without moving the car.

You also have to look at otherwise trivial events that could have been complicated with a canopy, such as the Renault exhaust fires last year where the driver had to stop and get out the car quickly before they got burnt. If memory serves didn't Raikkonen suffer from a KERS fire or smoke problem in 2009? Add a canopy and you add a barrier to their quick exit of the car and can make smoke a much bigger problem.

[SeijaKessen]

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous.

This is the exact type of thought that led to F1 being neutered over the years.

It's racing and auto racing by it's very nature is dangerous.

Everyone who does it knows there are risks involved.

Fortunately we do not live in a society which tolerates injury for your entertainment.

Again it has NOTHING to do with entertainment.

Is auto racing by definition a dangerous activity?

Yes.

Your posts reek of the same knee-jerk crap that has come out of the FIA over the years.

"Oh no, it can't just be an injury in an inherently dangerous sport. WE MUST OVERHAUL THE ENTIRE THING TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM LIVING LIFE!"

Get over it already.

Do you harp about safety in motorcycle racing?

Probably not would be my guess.