New Seat Belt Requirements: NASCAR announced today additional seat belt restraint system safety requirements for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series that becomes effective Thursday, March 7. In addition to each vehicle already being equipped with a NASCAR-approved seat belt restraint system and installed in accordance with the directions provided by system manufacturers, the new mandates provide a supplement to the installation requirements for stock cars. (NASCAR PR)(3-5-2002) AND NASCAR late Tuesday issued a technical bulletin adopting a series of new safety requirements for occupant restraint systems used in its Winston Cup series. The bulletin outlines several new guidelines regarding the placement and mounting of seat belts and shoulder harnesses in stock cars. The guidelines take effect on Thursday, in time for this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As part of a series of safety initiatives NASCAR said it would undertake in light of its exhaustive report issued in August on the death of seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt, a study on occupant restraint systems was commissioned by Drs. John Melvin and James Raddin. Melvin is one of the world’s leading experts on head and neck restraints. Raddin is a member of the Earnhardt report’s investigative team and heads Biodynamic Research Corp. in San Antonio. “These new requirements are a direct result of the occupant restraint study announced last August to research the hardware, webbing and mounting of seat belt systems,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said in a statement released with the technical bulletin. The new guidelines mandate the use of at least one of two latching systems for seat belts, either a latch/lever or cam lock. Their use will provide a common connection among the lap belts, shoulder harnesses and anti-submarine belts. Other guidelines focus on the webbing of the belts, an area the Earnhardt report dealt with in great detail. Earnhardt died in a last-lap wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500. The report said a separated left lap belt – likely caused by “dumping” – contributed to his death. Dumping occurs when seat belt webbing is pulled or moved significantly to one side of the metal adjustment device through which the webbing is threaded. Following the release of the Earnhardt report, NASCAR worked to educate car owners, crew members and drivers and seat belt manufacturers about the problem of “dumping.”(ThatsRacin.com)(3-6-2002)
