On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt was in the final lap of the Daytona 500 when his car made contact with Sterling Martin’s car, which caused Earnhardt’s car to crash into the wall and crash into Ken Schrader at speeds of 251–259 km/h and caused Dale Earnhardt’s seat belt harness to break allowing Earnhardt’s chin to hit his steering wheel, which caused Dale Earnhardt to die from a basilar skull fracture. Dale Earnhardt’s death is blamed on a faulty harness, but I disagree, I think the harness would not be able to save him and in this blog, I will explain why I think that.
Here is a video of the crash:
Physics behind the crash: When Dale Earnhardt crashed into the wall, the velocity of the car decreased by 71 km/h or 19.7 m/s and using p= mv, we can figure out the change in momentum when the car when it hits the wall using p =mv
p= (1545 Kg)(-19.7 M/S) = -30436.5 Kg*M/S
and using the momentum we can find the force of the crash by dividing the momentum by the duration of the velocity change which is 80 milliseconds (F=-30436.5 Kg*M/S / 0.08 S =-380456.25 N)
according to a Japanese study, only 5400 newtons are needed to fracture a skull, which is far less than -380456.25 Newtons of force that happened in the crash. and according to Transport Canada, a perfectly working five-point harness fails at 20,395 Newtons, which is also significantly lower than the force of the crash, even if Dale Earnhardt seat belt was working properly, it could not save him because the crash force was too high. In class, we learned that time affects the force if the time is high then the force in the crash is less and if the time is low, then the force is the crash is higher, in Dale Earnhardt’s case if the crash time was higher the force would be less but Since the collision time is very fast, the force is great.
Safety features introduced after the fatal crash:
The first safety feature introduced after the crash was the Hans device, which helps by stabilizing the driver’s neck during a crash, the Hans device works like an airbag but it inflates a cushion to reduce the driver’s motion it uses a raised collar and two tethers to hold the driver’s head, The Hans device reduces total neck load by 78 percent.
The second safety feature introduced was the SAFER Barrier, also known as the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier, which is a barrier that absorbs kinetic energy during a high-impact collision, giving the driver a better chance of surviving a high-impact collision. The SAFER Barrier works by having a steel tube that distributes the impact load to a foam that absorbs energy.
The last safety feature that was introduced was a new car chassis called the Car of Tomorrow. The Car of Tomorrow aims to keep the driver safe in the car. The Car of Tomorrow is larger than a regular NASCAR and is less aerodynamic But it is less sensitive to impacts from other cars and is more stable at faster speeds. The Car of Tomorrow gives more space to the driver in the cock pit so the driver can sit in the middle, the driver has to sit near the middle because the size of the crumple zone was increased so they can absorb more kinetic energy.
Work Cited:
George, P. (2008, December 05). How NASCAR’s car of tomorrow works. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/nascar-basics/nascar-car-of-tomorrow.htm
Latch weight limits. (2020, February 26). Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://thecarseatlady.com/latch-weight-limits/
Martin, B. (2016, June 15). NASCAR report on Dale Earnhardt — Update — Hot rod magazine. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://www.motortrend.com/news/nascar-accident-report-dale-earnhardt/
McGee, R. (2021, February 11). Dale Earnhardt’s death at the daytona 500: Revisiting the day of the crash. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/30867892/dale-earnhardt-death-daytona-500-revisiting-day-crash
NASCAR Safer Barrier. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://galvanizeit.org/project-gallery/nascar-safer-barrier
Rodisch, P. (2017, September 29). Dale Earnhardt’s death propels safety changes in NASCAR. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/126107-lesson-learned-dale-earnhardt-death-a-wake-up-call-for-sport
Sherman, D. (2020, November 23). The physics of: How the hans device saves lives. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15121817/the-physics-of-how-the-hans-device-saves-lives-feature/