How bad does a karting accident have to be in order to be fatal?
Warning, a sad story follows…
Back in my hometown I used to go to a karting club, pretty basic renting karts and they seemed pretty safe.
Not too long ago when I came back to visit I heard a 12 yr old girl passad away during an accident there, read it in the news too.
I was shocked, I mean, I have gone really fast in those cars and braked really late and have never had anything worse than a little spin.
According to some guys I met there who witnessed the accident, apparently she ran wide at the second corner, a very sharp one after a large straight line. They only saw the kart upside down and she was lying on the floor with her helmet broken.
There were no walls, to hit, there’s plenty of room to just run as wide as you want so I dont understand how her helmet broke. I dont even know how her car turned out upside down.
Any reconstructions/theories on what happened there?
The guys who saw it were driving too so they didnt see the actual accident.
Create a video blog…instantly.
Comment by Corinthian on 9 June 2007:
I can’t comment on individual accidents but as a motorsport rescue medic I’ll tell you that it doesn’t have to be huge to be fatal, you just have to be unlucky.
When having a crash there’s a “three collision” principle, the vehicle hits something, you hit the vehicle (even if it’s just hitting the seatbelts), and then your internal organs hit inside yourself. This is what causes the problems that can kill.
Unfortunately the human body is a pretty fragile thing, the design is pretty bad, you’ve a heavy thing called the head with the important bit inside it and it sits on the neck which is a thin stalk. In a crash the head keeps moving forward until it’s stopped by the neck, no doubt you’ve heard of whiplash. In motorsport accidents the level of deceleration can be so severe that the head literally snaps off the top of the neck (basal skull fracture).
If the accident was at the end of a long straight then it’s likely that the kart was going at its top speed, which for “limited” karts can be as low as 30mph but for a full racing kart can be 130mph. Hard enough impacts at either speed can be fatal.
Comment by kcm_karts on 9 June 2007:
tires!!! those bloody tire walls should be replaced!! Reconstruction of the accident. Kart was on full noise, she missed the apex ran wide, kart would have dug into the tire wall and snapped the kart over pretty hard. Throwing the young girl head first into the bitumen. Friends of mine had a really big accident at a hire kart track, one guy rolled and fell onto another guy braking his pelvis, the guy that rolled just had a sore neck.
It all started cause the guy in front turned in a little 2 early, hit the tires and bounded back out in front of the other 3 guys behind him. Ban tire walls at hire kart tracks, there has to be a better solution!!
Comment by gomergirl1 on 10 June 2007:
well, fatal usually equals death.
Comment by Jonathan W on 10 June 2007:
The fact that her helmet “broke” is very surprising. A good condition helmet requires tremendous force to deform, and usually is associated with a high velocity accident or direct impact on a stationary object, like the track or a concrete wall.
Karts can flip over very easily in the wrong circumstances, but because a kart and driver is relatively light the driver usually simply walks away with a few bruises. if unlucky a broken bone (foot, leg, wrist, shoulder) is possible.
The parents should have the helmet analysed for bad build quality or to see if it should have passed a safety inspection.
I have witnessed two kart deaths in the UK, both involved speeds in excess of 70mph and collision with a solid stationary object. In neither was the helmet “broken”.
Very sad.
Comment by maxell15pcs on 13 June 2007:
Being a racer myself,I’ve unfortently seen stuff like this before.It seems most of the crashs that I’ve seen drivers get killed in were the type of crashes most of the time someone walks away from.I also find it odd that the helment would have broke,so either it was outdated,cheap or was damaged before.I use Bell helments and they recomend that after a crash where the helment comes in contact with something that you send it back so they can check it for you for damage that the naked eye might not be able to see.
Like Corinthian said before the body is not well designed for motorsports.I’ve had crashes where parts of my arms and head have hit things and afterwords my thoughts was “how did it get clear over there” LOL.And I even use nothing but the top of the line safety equipment,weither the seris I run requires it or not.
Last note to Corinthian,you track safety folks are the unsung heros in racing,but us drivers are sure glad your there.Thanks.
Comment by lana_sands on 13 June 2007:
Anything is possible. If Dale Earnhart can die in a relatively minor accident at Daytona? A 12yr old at a kart track can…..