No Seat Belt Inspections: NASCAR has no immediate plans to inspect seat belt installations in race cars despite revelations that customized “variations” to Dale Earnhardt’s belt system may have contributed to his death. Similar variations are widespread among Winston Cup drivers, said a safety expert who manufactures head and neck support systems. Instructions on how to install the seat belts are treated like directions that come with a new computer, said HANS maker Jim Downing. “You just leave them off to the side and go about (installing) it,” said Downing, who works to fit individual drivers with head restraint systems. “We’ve seen some awful things. Seat belts too wide. Seat belts too far apart. Just awful.” Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president of corporate communications, said Wednesday that Winston Cup officials don’t monitor how the belts are installed. That process is left to the driver and belt manufacturer. Although the NASCAR rule book places all responsibility for proper safety precautions on the driver, it also states NASCAR officials will “take whatever action is deemed reasonable and appropriate in order to correct” safety problems in a driver’s race car and equipment.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(8-23-2001)
