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The Reason NASCAR Racing Accidents Are Survivable

Have you ever wondered why those spectacular NASCAR accidents often end up with the driver hopping out of the car and walking away? Even though these racers are blazing around the raceway at speeds approaching 200mph many of the crashes end without a fatality. Well there's a reason for that. The key to a driver's survival lies in the design of these performance racing cars and their high tech safety features.

A NASCAR series racing car isn't, your average, everyday automobile that you see tooling down the highway at 80mph. NASCAR has stringent specifications with the driver’s safety always in mind. If you could peel back the layers of these custom built powerhouses you’d notice some immediate differences from those of a standard car. These racers feature what are known as "front" and "rear" clips. These are sections of the chassis that are designed to crumple upon impact and direct the major force of a collision away from the driver.

NASCAR Accidents : Restraints and Roll Cages

If you’ve ever seen NASCAR accidents then you know just how quickly the outer metal covering can disintegrate leaving little more than a twisted shell and the central roll cage area of the car intact. It is the roll cage that is the strongest and most important part of the car's body. This strong steel frame is meant to protect the driver from severe bodily harm during a collision with a wall or another car. Inside the roll cage is a specially crafted driver’s seat that has a five point harness for maximum safety. You'll find that many child car seats also have this configuration because it gives the person using it unequaled protection in the event of a collision unlike a lap belt. The driver's seat is attached directly to the strong roll cage framework giving an even greater degree of protection against the sheer power of an impact.

Unlike the movies, most NASCAR accidents don't usually end up with the car exploding into flame. That's because aside from the roll cage there are other safety features in place including shielded fuel cells, drop-out engines and roof flaps that help prevent the cars from flipping during high speed crashes. In the future, you may see some of these safety features or improvements on them, make their way over to street legal cars. Keep your eyes peeled for more NASCAR safety features that are on the way.

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