I’ve seen Nascar crashes where a car going 180 goes sideways into a wall, and then gets t-boned by other cars that were also going 180 mph and yet no rollover and the cars barely look damaged and everyone walks away unscathed. Meanwhile normal passenger cars go sideways doing 50mph and they roll over 6 times, gets demolished, and kills the driver. What is it about Nascar cars that make them so crash resistant/resilient?
In: Engineering
Roll cages, 5-point harnesses, helmets, and protective suits.
The roll cage does most of the heavy lifting and prevents the driver from being crushed when the car gets hit, rolls, flips, etc.
The 5-point harness is basically a super seatbelt that keeps the driver from being ejected from the vehicle or tossed around inside the car during a crash.
The helmet protects the driver’s head from impacts that might result from the crash. They also have a neck restraint that prevents them from breaking their neck due to whiplash.
The protective suit they wear covers the whole body and protects the driver from glass & debris that would normally cut them in the event of a crash. It also offers protection from being degloved if they end up sliding accross the pavement. Which is why the same type of suits are also worn by people who race motorcycles and ATVs. The suit is also flame retardant and offers some level of protection against fire.
Another thing that helps is that those cars have a very low center of gravity, and are aerodynamically designed to have a lot of down force. Which helps to prevent them from rolling.
The last thing to mention is that there is a highly qualified rescue crew present at every race, which means aid can be rendered almost immediately after a crash.
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