time for roll cages on karts?

[rabbit]

Saw this...
http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=1641&sid=494e5fd63f6b8407c4ae9c345aed1114&PHPSESSID=99b0d10d03d108bec99423f9abb0bd5e


The final round of the Nor-Cal IKF Regional Racing Series ended in tragedy Saturday with the death of Junior I Two-Cycle driver Caleb Maxwell of Merced, California. Caleb, age nine, was participating in his afternoon main event when his racing kart flipped and skidded upside down off the track on the second lap of competition.
:(
A couple years ago, a 15-year-old kid was killed in a street race near here when his throttle stuck and he ran into the back of a parked truck off course at 70 mph while trying to unstick it, almost completely decapitating himself.

Why don't karts have roll cages? Everything else in racing does. Yes, it would add weight to the karts, but wouldn't a little extra weight be worth the extra protection? And don't a lot of guys add ballast to their karts anyway?

My daughter told me the other day she wants to race karts when she turns five. (She's three now and I didn't even know she knew what a kart was.) But I'm not sure I'm willing to risk losing her. Maybe she'll take up ballet.

[JoeBob]

Since karts don't have seatbelts, I'd imagine that a roll cage would cause more potential for injury, as you'd risk getting caught up in/under the roll cage. (Which leads me to wonder why they don't have seatbelts either.)

If you want your kid to race under a roll cage, check out quarter midgets: http://www.quartermidgets.org

Jimmy Vasser won a few championships in them when he was a kid. (Ironic that the 1996 CART Champ did his first racing in 'em, eh?)

[rabbit]

Originally posted by JoeBob
Since karts don't have seatbelts, I'd imagine that a roll cage would cause more potential for injury, as you'd risk getting caught up in/under the roll cage. (Which leads me to wonder why they don't have seatbelts either.) So put seat belt on 'em.

[mapguy]

I think that putting seat belts and a roll cage is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. Especially in this case. Kart's flip all the time. I have alse experienced flipping a kart and I walked away with only banged up arms and a bruised ass.

That kid would still be alive today if he had a proper sized helmet on. Someone who was there told me that the kid's helmet was a bit too big and it came off in the crash. That kid's father has some explaining to do. :flame:

BTW. What the hell was a 9-year old racing a 2-stroke kart anyway? Don't kids under 12 stay in 4-cycles?

[RTKar]

Originally posted by rabbit
Saw this...
http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=1641&sid=494e5fd63f6b8407c4ae9c345aed1114&PHPSESSID=99b0d10d03d108bec99423f9abb0bd5e


:(
A couple years ago, a 15-year-old kid was killed in a street race near here when his throttle stuck and he ran into the back of a parked truck off course at 70 mph while trying to unstick it, almost completely decapitating himself.

Why don't karts have roll cages? Everything else in racing does. Yes, it would add weight to the karts, but wouldn't a little extra weight be worth the extra protection? And don't a lot of guys add ballast to their karts anyway?

My daughter told me the other day she wants to race karts when she turns five. (She's three now and I didn't even know she knew what a kart was.) But I'm not sure I'm willing to risk losing her. Maybe she'll take up ballet.

Wasn't that at a street race in Minnesota? I think the kids name was Aaron Anderson, he was good. ESPN or the Deuce used to have a circle track Karting show from some velodrome in Indy, he was always winning races......such a shame to be gone so young.