Yes, Dale and others wear an open face helmet but in this type of head on
impact the helmet really is a moot point. Maybe in a crash with a lot of
debris flying around and smashing into the***pit you may be in more danger
wearing an open face helmet but with a head on impact like this you could
probably be wearing a space helmet and still die.
The type of injury suffered by Dale Earnhardt more than likely is the same
as Petty and Irwin's -- a basalar skull fracture. Most of the news calls
this sever head trama and people don't relate this to a broken neck which
descibes it better. Basically with a basalar skull fracture your skull and
brain move so forcefully that they snap off from your spine, killing
instantly. I think the press is doing a disservice to the public by
describing this as sever head trauma. One guy I work with actually thought
Dale probably hit his head really *** the dash and that an airbag might
have helped...(yeah, helped everyone that gets bumped to have an airbag
deploy in their face so they can't see to stay out of a wreck)
Anyway, I also found the comments of the examing doctor to be very
misleading and not at all helping anyone want to learn more about the HANS
device or other saftey measures that are designed to prevent this exact
injury.
FROM FOX NEWS
"Dr. Steve Bohannon, who tried to save Earnhardt's life as the driver sat
slumped in the wreckage, said the autopsy performed Monday confirmed what
everyone suspected: Earnhardt died on impact. He sustained a skull fracture
that ran from the front to the back of his brain.
The autopsy didn't include any test whether a HANS device would have saved
Earnhardt. Bohannon said he had doubts how effective the device would have
been in this accident
"Even if you restrain the head and neck in this type of injury with the
forces we're talking about - hitting a concrete barricade at 150, 170 mph -
there's still one more element you have to address," Bohannon said. "All
those organs internally still move at time of impact," and that could be
fatal, too."
His comment basically calls the HANS device useless in this type of
wreck...however, if you read closely he goes on to say that Dale's fracture
mighgt have been prevented BUT other elements COULD still have caused death
TOO...well that I think is a pretty big and unproven TOO to be using when
his statement is going to influence not only the govering body of the sport
but also many of its drivers young and old across the country.
Well, if it was me, give me the HANS device and prevent my head popping off
my body...I'll worry later if my brain is so scrabled I don't want to go
on....but maybe drivers just don't want to hear about it period.
