zac510 wrote:bernard wrote: If a car catches fire after a crash and the driver is unconcious, then the extinguishers would go off immediately, rather than when a track marshal gets there with the aforementioned pole. Especially if the car is flipped over the switch at the side of the airbox can be pretty hard to get to, not even mentioning the possible flames. This area of the FIA regulations could use a little modernization, the rules are way over ten years old on this.
bernard, I believe it is at this exact point that reality intervenes and it must be accepted that no sport can ever be 100% safe. how can you possibly decide when a driver is unconscious or not?
if you douse him with CO2 you risk suffocating him through lack of oxygen!
The cockpit rarely sets on fire. I meant putting out the root of the fire, the engine area.
But I realise this is pretty hard to achieve, because of the nature of the environment.
A heat sensor under the airbox intake behind the driver's head, plus a few other strategical spots would give a pretty decent picture of whether the car is on fire or not. The price wouldn't be too big considering that it could very likely save some lives.
But before that, I think the most urgent safety measure to be taken is to secure the driver in case of the car flipping over.
I remember a few years back in monaco, when Fisichella's car flipped over and hit the railing. When the car flips over, the safety arch doesn't help if you hit an object with the cockpit first, like another car or a fence. That's a near certain death, or full paralyzation in the least case. And it's not even that unimaginable an event.
