I logged on to one of those YouTube sites with 10 minutes of race car crashes, some of which were just incredibly spectacular. In my many years of motor sport I have had a couple of never to be forgotten examples of awkward parking, one fire and even a triple barrel roll at the Kaeng Krachan Circuit two years ago. After all of these, I stepped out without a scratch, even though the car didn’t look too good.
That led me to thinking about the roll cages inside my cars, and how they stopped the distortion inside the vehicles, which when combined with seat belts meant I was only shaken and not stirred!
The roll cages in most race cars generally have hoops to incorporate the A pillars, the B pillars and the C pillars. The bottom of the hoops goes to the floor chassis rails, making a “cage” which is securely tied into the shell of the vehicle itself.
My clumsy parking.
Thinking further, look at the twisted wrecks that occur on the Thai roads after fatal road accidents, at probably around half the speed of a racing crash, in which the driver steps out without major injuries.
Surely it must be possible to incorporate a roll cage in a body shell at the original design? The extra cost would not be much at all, where the “cage” is just part of the shell.
Of course it is necessary to be wearing a good seatbelt as well, to avoid being thrown around inside, or out of the wreck. The car in this photo had done three barrel rolls down the track before coming to rest upside down.
