Safety equipment put to the ultimate test Yesterday

[Mikelly]

Yesterday I was instructing with NASA MidAtlantic at Summit Point Raceway park main circuit. I had an HPDE1 student and was not, repeat not driving a car. It was a last minute fill-in as they were short staffed and I didn't have time to prep the focus. So my student had a 2003 BMW 330 with 192K miles on it. BONE stock. We had a great time all day working throw the process of getting the line down and finding his braking points. This guy was a true joy to work with and zero issues. He knew the limits of the car and was comfortable with my instruction.

 

Parked next to me was another guy in a 2005 Lotus Elise. We got to chatting and throughout the day really enjoyed talking cars and high performance driver's ed. He is an HPDE2 student and he claimed his instructor had basically disappeared on him after the first morning session. At around 3 PM he asked if I would go out for a session with him. I was skeptical that I would be able to fit into the carbon fixed back seats in the car, but I did, so we adjusted the harnesses and I went off and found my communicator device I had given my student. When our session was called, we hopped in, strapped in and off we went. I was wearing my Pyrotec Helmet and my HANS device, sitting in an FIA approved Lotus specific seats, and using Schroth 6 point harnesses.

 

2/3rd of the way through our session the student was picking up speed and cleaning up lines with my help. Summit Point Raceway park main circuit has three high event corners, one being Turn 3, one being turn 9 and one being turn10. Only turn nine causes me concern as an instructor and I had mentioned that to my HPDE1 student in the first session of the day. T9 is where my group 2 student, with new found speed from cleaning up the entry to T5-8 would enter to early, pinch the apex and find himself out at the far edge of the pavement. He was fine and would have had enough space to stay on track or at worst put two tires off. Had he stayed on the throttle it would have been a teachable moment we could have cleaned up the next lap. Instead, He lifted. I felt it immediately at the first "breath" of the throttle and said "GAS", and then he lifted off all the way and the car rotated at well over 80 MPH. Into the tire wall on the right side of the track we went. The car struck the tire wall spun, got tangled in a bundle of tires and flipped.

 

Yes, I said flipped.

 

These are small cars. When we were sitting in the pits I noticed my left elbow touching his right. I'm 225# and he was probably 195#. Not small guys to say the least... So now we are upside down and the car is still "on". I tell him to calm down and turn the car off. Silence. I'm hanging by the harnesses and trying to figure out how we are going to get out. Sniffing for gas, oil, or smoke. Nothing. Within less 30 seconds the corner worker was asking if there were injuries. Within less than a minute the track had rolled two ambulances, the fire engine, the boom truck, a roll back, a wrecker, and three trucks full of people. This is the same group Ken Nomenger was running with when he died at Hyperfest two months ago, so tensions were already high coming into the event. Three previous redflag incidents weren't helping the nerves of all who were running this event. And here I am, upside down in a car, student who wasn't even mine, at an event I wasn't even supposed to be at... I felt a lot like Dante from the Movie "Clerks"!

 

Sitting upside down it dawned on me that my student was not capable of getting out on his side because of the disorientation and the shock of crashing his prized possession. I wasn't getting out because my door and window were blocked by grass and tirewall. The expert crew got us out in less than three minutes. As the boom lifted the car, the targa roof gave way and we were able to climb out of that opening. I managed to cut myself on broken glass getting out, but otherwise was no worse for wear. My safety gear, his safety gear, and those tire bundles worked together to do their jobs and disipate energy while keeping us snuggly in place.

 

I've said it elsewhere and I'll remind folks here. The safety equipment associated with seats/harness/helmet/hans needs to be purchased carefully and in coordination. The equipment in that car worked like a total package solution, and worked well. I'm sore today from the impact and bruised from the harnesses doing their job, but otherwise, no worse for wear and will live to annoy some of you for another day!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Mikelly

[RebekahsZ]

Glad you are OK. Scary. If we get to ride together at AMP, Im fine with the concept of driving my car at far less than 100%. I'd like to NOT be cut out of my car. Please bring your commo device and keep chattering in my ear. If Im not doing EXACTLY what you expect, send me straight to the pits.

[NgoZ]

Glad you both are safe.

[ZT-R]

Glad your ok.

[Tony D]

A good ending...glad to hear it.

[Leon]

Scary stuff, glad you're okay.

[Six_Shooter]

Always good, when you can post about a situation like this later, and in good spirits about it.

[johnc]

Glad you got out of it Mike. Instructing is probably the most dangerous thing you can do on a race track, especially in the intermediate open track run groups.

[johnc]

And to echo mike... Spend good money on your safety equipment. A helmet, seat, harnesses, HANS, suit, shoes, and gloves are a minimum if you are going to run your car on a race track.

 

Shit happens.

[texis30O]

Good to hear that you made it out.  I guess the car is a total loss?  I can't wait to get my tin can on a track to get better at driving it.  I have a good friend that is an instructor at The Driver's Edge here in Houston.  I need to know how to drive this car and its' boundaries.

[SleeperZ]

Wow.

 

Count your blessings.  I'm so glad that car had the good safety gear.

[Tony D]

See also "Fake Brembos" post and consider the consequences...

[kiwi303]

Sounds a brown pants moment. Glad you got out with no more than a few aches from the harness et al doing it's job.

[tooquick260]

Wow

[Mikelly]

A week later and I am still recovering from the accident. Likely concussion. I have been disoriented, sluggish, tired, and off center off and on throught out the last 7 days. Today I overdid it and really paid the price. Spent the afternoon on the sofa watching the Tudor race at VIR.

 

Hopefully things will slowly get back to normal... Crashes suck.

[Swami]

Terrible! Don't hesitate to go get checked out. Better to get a full workup than jump to any conclusions about what might be going on in your body. Not a thing to take lightly. =\

[Mikelly]

Swami, Funny you should mention that... Yesterday at 1PM I entered a "Patient First" medical facility... Doc has blood drawn, does chest Xray, does motorskills testing.  Comes back in with the Xrays and says "Sit down, I think you should go to the hospital immediately".

 

OK do I sit down or grab my stuff and leave? <scratches head>  He shows me a few things on the chest Xray that make him think there is something involving the kidneys and encroaching on the lungs.  So I collect my things, thank him, tell him where I am heading, and he says "I will call ahead so they can get a room"... Holy mother, mary of KAYRYST!!!  WTH am I gonna tell the wife... Hmmm... So I drive the hospital, fill out the touch screen pad and no kidding, I don't even sit down... lady walks over and gets me by the elbow... "Mr. Kelly we have a room for you, are you OK?  Do you need a wheelchair?"  <Don't panic>

 

I go in the room, they get a gown and start peeling me out of my dress shirt and undershirt.  I get EKG pads attached by one individual while another is getting me ready for another blood draw... "You, Uhm, take sugar with that?"  Not a single chuckle, chortel, nothing.  Fawwwwk they are taking this seriously... Hmmm... I get the EKG scan done, stuck with the needle and they install a IV drip pick line.  The doctor comes in and hears the story I told at the beginning of this thread.  Shakes his head, his nurse shakes her head and I can tell they think I'm full of chit.  Which reminded me... I had to go poop... so before we get down to the next series of tests, I say "Hey can I go to the restroom?  "Sure, we need you to pee in a cup anyway... "  Off I wander to destroy some hospital plumbing.  I come back with cup, try the same "Sugar" joke on another unsuspecting soul and get the same type of response.  Wonderful.  I'm messed up... So they pipe a bag of IV fluid through me to get my bladder full.  You know, the bladder I just emptied?  Yea that one... An hour later, I get wheeled into the Ultrasound lab where this nice Asian American lady tells me she is going to do an ultrasound on my vital organs and that she will have to encroach on my pelvic are.  Now at this point I'm thinking "Hey the Asian BOX FINALLY gets checked.... BZZTTT" wrong answer.  She's all business too.  Jeebus I can't even get a chuckle out of these people.  Maybe when she sees the business end of my pelvic...<not funny> 

 

So we get into this rythme of her grinding her hand all over me, and I do mean ALL over me... I'm fine the first series of scans because I have a full bladder and it is uncomfortable with her hand all around my junk pressing down on everything from my upper chest all the way down to the hang lows... But then she says "Break, now I need you to go empty your bladder."  I'm thinking maybe I'll come back to disco porn music and Nurse Ratchet in fishnets... Nada... Second verse, same as the first.  So now I don't have a distracting full bladder.  Now she is spending a LOT of time around the pelvic region... <For the love of everything that is holy do NOT pitch a tent.  DO NOT pitch a tent... please don't...> 

 

Twenty minutes and two cigarettes later (I don't smoke) we're done and I'm back in the hospital room where I started off... Doctor comes in with his sidekick and they are chuckling.  He says "Let me tell you a story... you're going to like this story because it is about you...  I asked the technician her opinion about the internal injuries you might have and she said it looked like you had been in a bad car accident."  They both laugh and I'm looking like a doofus thinking <Genius that's what I told you when I came in here 3 hours ago>.  "You'll love this... I told her... Yea he did, 9 days ago"  And they laugh some more... And "She just deadpanned it and said could you imagine how bad he looked 8 days ago?"

 

Ealrier I couldn't get a peep out of these mooks.  Now they're killing themselves cracking up over my busted organs... Turns out I have bruised lungs and kidneys.  The lungs are gonna be "OK" but the kidneys are sufficiently jacked enough that on Friday I get to go see a Nephrologys.  Thankfully I googled it a second time after I mistyped it as "Phrenologyst" at first...  

 

Goddam I hurt...

Edited August 26, 2014 by Mikelly

[RebekahsZ]

So, did you stay overnight at the hospital?  You should have seen the nurse that assisted with my vascectomy-total knockout.  It took every ounce of my concentration to stay "at-ease."  Then the pain and pullling started....

[Tony D]

My old ExMarine Gym Teacher (1MAR, ret) in elementary school used to say "GET A MOVE ON OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD I'LL BRUISE YOUR PANCREAS!"

 

I believe, after seeing him launch Frankie Meyers towards the Dodgeball Line one day, he not only bruised Frankie's Pancreas, but his lungs, Kidneys, and Anal Sphincter. I swear I saw the toe ENTER Frankie....

 

Anybody not going to school in the 50/60/70's won't understand ex-Marine Island Hoppers and Korean War Survivors that decided the GI Bill was a good way to get that degree in PE, play a little ball in College, and get that De-Gree in Physical Education. Red Foreman? That was my Pop Warner Coach, along with another guy named "Boomer" D'Amos.... you figure that one out...

[Trevor]

My grampa swears beer is good kidney medicine.