johnny : walk away

[Crash Test]

The car stood up well, because the surival cell didn't fall to pieces. The Suaber had the softest of soft soft rolls onto grass, and it fell to bits! The fact that Greg's car didn't fall to pieces is a good sign, imagine if his roll hope had failed.....what a horrific scene that would have been.

Also, where is the run off at Monaco? The fixed the chicane a little after Wendlinger was put in a coma, but appart from that, there is zippo. Look at Ralphy this year, he had a light crash and the suspension pierced the cockpit! How about Schumacher at Silverstone. Didn't the front of his car break in two after a 100km/h accident?

[Airhead]

imagine if his roll hope had failed.....what a horrific scene that would have been.

How could it have been any worse, outcome wise?

With regard to Monaco, Yes, but I believe Monaco is the exteption in F1 rather than the rule. As for the cockpit cell not failing, it didn't do it primary job. I think the shock of the two deaths in CART last season was the belief that the cars were safer. I guess safety is a relative thing. If you hit something hard enough at the right angle youre in trouble.

[Crash Test]

Yep, the outcome wouldn't have been any better, but there wasn't a great deal the car could do any better.

It was funny how after the Cart tragedies, you started to hear some Nascar people gloat about how safe their cars are...now they are dropping at a rate of one per month....what a shame...

[Airhead]

I read Dick Johnson's autobiogaphy titled "don'tell me I can;t do that" It wasn't very good. Too light on technical details but he did comment on hoe NASCAR were not the slightest bit interested in crumple zones. Just ridig structures. There answer, restrictor plates at some tracks. I for one don't get it as the difference in speed is marginal. Surely they can do better than that.

[botsquad]

Changes made to the track since greg's death:

paving the grassy area out of Turn 2 toward Turn 3.

installing a tire barrier in front of the wall on the backstretch and raising the outside fence of the track.


good for cart.

[R]

Greg Moore's car stood up well? To me it looked like it was pulverized, but maybe the survival cell was intact as has been claimed above. I saw the accident twice (as it happened and one replay) and never want to see it again.

If you hit something hard enough at the wrong angle you're in trouble... very true. The human body simply isn't designed to withstand such impacts like what happened to Moore. Any driver in any car would have been killed in such an accident.

[Liz]

Have to agree with that one - I was on the scene at Fontana and it was not the car that failed to survive the smash into the cement - it was the much frailer human being ... there is no need to go into details, but anyone who tells you Greg was alive when they got to him has a really weird definition of "alive."

Nevertheless.

I thought the same thing when I saw Johnny's accident - that was a warning shot, my son, and if your wife doesn't tell you so, she has a lot more forebearance than I would have in her shoes! And of course Johnny did not walk away. He was carried away and put on a stretcher. Although Mrs. Herbert, as I assume she must have been there with the kids, was probably in worse shape than he was.

[Airhead]

Fair call Liz,

It looked bad on TV. It's not good enough to have things so fine that the back suspension can collapse under braking.

[Alan Jones]

I'm amazed you are all arguing about accidents / driver errors and who would survive Blah, blah blah...
These guys are paid to risk their lives and I reckon when your number is up, it's up. Surely Brundles accident in Melbourne a couple of years ago looked fatal and the guy walked away, ready to race again. No matter how well they are built, racing cars will fall apart and occasionally kill someone due to the speeds atwhich they race. Isn't this one of the reasons we all follow them and admire the risks they take on a day to day basis????
As for Johnny, lets hope he leaves racing and becomes a taxi driver with Damon and the rest of the retired BRDC

[Airhead]

Come on now Mr Jones (there's something happening but you don't know what it is...)

Don't slag off Damon, anybody but poor Damon.

[botsquad]

from atlas f-1:

Briton Johnny Herbert, who competed in his 161st and final Grand Prix in Malaysia last Sunday, said that the big accident he suffered will not stop him from starting a new career in the CART series next year.

"I know I'm fortunate to escape from the accident virtually unhurt," Herbert said, "but there is no way it's going to put me off trying for a drive in the ChampCar series."

............................................................

good luck johnny. see u at "the beach" in april.