Daytona Speedway saw one of its most horrific crashes at the Coke Zero 400 in July when Austin Dillon’s car clipped the wall at the finish line and sailed into the crash fence, injuring five fans. Dillon walked away from the crash, but events like these are sobering reminders of how far we still have to go with auto safety—both in NASCAR and on the civilian streets.
An 850 horsepower NASCAR and the Toyota Camry you drive to work aren’t mutually exclusive when it comes to safety. Many of the technologies that keep us secure on America’s streets and highways started in a stock car lab, where engineers and crew members designed features to protect drivers under the most extreme conditions (and NASCAR has seen some very extreme conditions). That same engineering saved Austin Dillon’s life in July, and they could save yours in even the mildest collision.
1. Fuel Cells
Most people think fuel cells and relate it to something in science fiction, but fuel cells are nothing more than gas tanks, and they’ve come a long way. Until 1964, fuel cells were just welded metal containers that would leak after a crash and risk a fire or explosion. But when was the last time you saw a car catch fire after a crash, NASCAR or otherwise? Fuel cells are now reinforced with a rubber bladder and foam to absorb the shock of a crash and reduce the chance of leaks. After a series of fires from races in the early 60s, the metal gas tanks of the past were finally obsolete.
2. Tires
Blowouts were another issue plaguing drivers in the 1960s. They were even causing fatalities at high speeds, so designers at Goodyear went to work on an internal lining that would protect the walls of a tire and prevent blowouts at high speeds and during sharp turns. That same technology is now standard in even the cheapest tires we buy at the body shop and save possibly thousands of lives every year.
3. Better Seats
Your mid-size sedan may not have standard racing seats, but the comforts you take for granted started in racing. After NASCAR figured out how to make fuel cells and tires safer, they turned efforts to better seats. Drivers were experiencing terrible whiplash during collisions, and the mandatory padded head rest was born in the 70s and 80s (where it was greatly improved). Even the smallest fender bender can leave your neck in pain for weeks, and much of that is avoided with a simple head rest.
4. Crumple Zones
Baby boomers and older generations look back on the “golden age” of cars that were made with “real American steel” and not “plastic from China.” There’s no doubt that American classic cars are some of the most beautiful machines ever engineered, but they also got drivers killed.
“Crumple zones” are areas of the vehicle that classic car enthusiasts might label as cheap because its designed to, as the name suggests, crumple upon impact, absorbing as much shock as possible to protect the driver. NASCAR stock cars are surrounded by crumple zones to absorb high-impact crashes, and regular cars on the road use the same technology.
source: Social Monsters
