Rallysport can be dangerous. Running the competition cars on common roads and in opened area puts special demands on the drivers and their coordination with their navigators. Unlike the circuit racing, the rally crews have to comply with natural obstacles like trees, buildings and mostly no safety escape zones. Rallying therefore represents not only the skill of being the fastest one, but requires the complexity combining speed, driving art and concentration there, where the navigator’s senses and his pacenotes are the „driver’s eyes“.
Of course, from time to time the accidents occur in the special stages. The roots can be different – from crew’s mistake over technical issues on the car up to unexpected changes to the rally route condition. Anyway, today’s competitors are protected much better than anytime before. And the safety development is still in progress – revised roll-cage designs in the cars, side-hit protection implemented to the car bodies, frontal head restraints as an addition to the drivers‘ equipment and many more. But always remember several rules:
- Safety equipment can only protect their users when it’s correctly applied. For example, the FHR system will work effectively only if used in combination with appropriate racing seat and correctly fastened belts. There have been many accidents, where the FHR saved the whole life, but the first step is to find the comfort position in the car and working setting of the safety features in once.
- Although it’s racing against clock, it’s always better to be slower in the finish than early retired with consequences. Keep in mind that even the most sophisticated safety components can not protect the crew for 100%. Hitting a tree in high speed is not the same as leaving the track and landing in gritty safety zone!
More infos about drivers safety you will find on http://rally-safety.com
