|
|
 |
 |
  |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Still working NASCAR continuing to review Earnhardt death
By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com To those questioning whether NASCAR is adequately addressing safety issues, the sanctioning body attempted to quell the debate by confirming that it has commissioned an independent "accident-reconstruction review" of the crash that claimed Dale Earnhardt. The news was greeted favorably by some within the sport, but others viewed it simply as a move by NASCAR to deflect the intense criticism it's been under since the tragic accident. Safety, however, continues to be a hot subject before the upcoming Winston Cup race at Talladega, where some drivers question using rules similar to those in place for the Daytona 500. The disclosure Monday came almost two months after Earnhardt was killed on the final lap at Daytona. In issuing its statement, NASCAR failed to reveal the identity of the experts participating in the review or when the process was initiated. They also refused to accept questions about the review, declining comment until final results are expected in August.
"Safety has always been the top priority for NASCAR and all participants in NASCAR-sanctioned racing. While we have confidence in the sport's historic investigative process and ongoing safety initiatives, it is important that we continue to develop new and better techniques, resources and information for the sport's safety effort," said Mike Helton, president of NASCAR. "We are confident this review will make a large contribution toward that goal. Along with this review, we continue to solicit and rely on input from our core group in the industry, including car owners, drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, officials and manufacturers." From the start, NASCAR and its medical expert have suggested the alleged failure of a lap belt was instrumental in the fatal injuries sustained by Earnhardt. Helton reiterated as much Monday, saying the review was the result of "circumstances surrounding the occupant restraint system." Many in the sport think any investigation should start and end with the seat belt. "The seat belt broke," race-team owner Andy Petree said. "You can look at this and you can look at that. You can look at the different angles the car hit or might have hit the wall. ... But it still boils down to that seat belt. If it doesn't break, for whatever reason, then he walks away." Some leading medical experts, however, have said the skull fracture Earnhardt sustained was caused by a whiplash-like motion of the head and not by failure of a lap belt. Dr. Barry Myers, an independent medical expert, has concluded Earnhardt died when his head whipped violently forward in the seconds after his car hit a wall during the Daytona 500. Myers said Earnhardt didn't die from striking his head on a steering wheel because of a malfunctioning seat belt. Bill Simpson, whose company manufactures most of the restraint systems used in the sport, was stunned when NASCAR failed to clear his company and again raised the issue of a seat-belt failure. "That is Bill France, man," said Simpson, referring to the former NASCAR president. "They're trying to lay this off on whoever they can lay it off on. ... We all have some enemies. They make statements that are not correct and there's not much you can do about it." Simpson, who was confident an independent expert analyzing Earnhardt autopsy photographs would find the lap belt wasn't a factor, said he will settle his differences behind closed doors. He suggested the belt might have been cut by paramedics attempting to get to Earnhardt at the scene, adding that at least three individuals have told him of seeing video footage that tends to support the possibility. As for their independent review of the crash, NASCAR officials said only that it is "well underway" and includes crash model development and testing, crash model simulation, sled and real crash tests, impact barrier testing, data analysis and cross check, and bio mechanical/medical analysis. Auto-liv, an internationally respected occupant-safety restraint corporation, is known to have recently consulted with NASCAR. "Everyone involved in this process is committed to a sense of urgency, but we must also move forward in a thorough, careful and complete manner," Helton said. "We feel that only through a complete review combining the disciplines of engineering, dynamics, kinematics and bio medical mechanics can we have a comprehensive understanding based on solid, factual information and data, even if it takes longer to obtain than we would like." Helton said NASCAR remains open to any "legitimate resource to assist in any investigation or ongoing safety process." That drew a loud objection from Fred Fortman, executive director of the American Society of Safety Engineers, who says both his organization and the American College of Sports Medicine have both been rebuffed by NASCAR in their offers to provide assistance. "We have not found them to be open in the past," Fortman said. Fortman said ASSE remains concerned about NASCAR's safety record, noting that Earnhardt was the fourth death in 10 months and that two other drivers have died since on the sport's lower-level tracks -- all possibly from fractures at the base of the skull. He also expressed concern that evidence has been moved or rearranged in the Earnhardt case, along with the fact that the car may not have been thoroughly inspected before it was taken by NASCAR from Florida to North Carolina. "I'd like to know who is on the [review] group because you sometimes can get the opinion you want based on who is put there," he added. The position of ASSE is any review needs to go well beyond examining the seat-belt system, and should address issues like safer walls and the need for a black box in the cars to record statistical data -- which are found in other forms of auto racing. Ultimately, Fortman said a creditable review would have to look at the system and rules NASCAR has in place. But that, he knows, isn't likely. "They are apparently an entity unto their own," Fortman said. "Absent some lawyer somewhere, I guess they can follow their own rules. We really are trying to coax them into doing what is ultimately in their best interest as well as young men out on track."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
