Quote:
Originally Posted by wsmracing
A couple of weeks ago they interviewed graham light on nhra 2day asked him about the s.a.f.e.r wall barriers .........he said he didn't feel they were needed in drag racing
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I wouldn't say they're not needed, but my understanding is that they will not work the way they are currently designed as they're not meant for straight-line racing. Supposedly, the current design would worsen the problem, as they would snatch cars and pull them into the wall, not let them bounce off the way the walls do now. Again, this is supposedly why they don't have the soft wall all the way around the circle tracks, and only in the corners (in other words, not on the straightaways).
I don't know this to be fact, just my understanding. That said, I certainly don't believe that a safer system couldn't be designed. It would take away from the visual aspect of the sport, but why not have extremely tall catch fences on the walls? Every time I've seen somebody get badly hurt where it wasn't at the end of the track has been when somebody has got on top of the wall, and either come down on the top edge, or went off into some area of the property that they weren't supposed to. This would have the added benefit of protecting people outside of the racing surface as well from flying debris (including race cars).
IMHO, its only a matter of time until a spectator (or two or three) is killed by flying debris like a wheel coming off of a fuel car. If NHRA thinks their insurance is high because of drivers getting killed, wait until a spectator or two is killed...