Date:         Wed, 4 Dec 1996 13:27:28 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Raistrick <xi8940@freenet.tlh.fl.us>
Subject:      Re: Safety: Harnesses better than seatbelts?

>From what i have peiced togethor from a: my drag racing family (mom's 
mom's side) and b: my streetrodding friends...

I think that in some states, someharnesses, 5 point in particular, are 
illegal for street use. And, in places, 4 points also are illegal.

But, as for saftey, what ive put together is: a four point harness holds 
you TO the seat, down, and back, from four dirrections...just watch out 
for whiplash when your head snaps forward after impact...since your body 
wont move with it, much..(the reason racers use the big neckbraces under 
thir helmets...

of course, they can be a bad thing at times...like this season, my 
cousin, Ed Chandler, last race of the season, and he feels the control 
gone..and undoes his harness, and dives head first into a little 
cubbyhole inthe rail..of course, only his head and hands fit into the hole,
but, when the rail split into 3 pieces, and bounced off the walls, other 
than a slight concussion, the only damage done was to his ribs, legs, 
heart, and other stuff...but he has a much greater chance of recovery, 
since there is no damage to the head, or the important stuff in it..

As for my great aunt, (Cleo Chandler, age 80 something) i'm not sure if 
she is going to start back the next season or not..(she drag's ina 
Chevelle, aptly named "Mom's Toy".....)

anyway...for VW content...about the roll cage..i know in my cousins nova 
(different cousin) when he used to race in it, it had a 3 inch cage...and 
i assume that the nova is just a tad heaver than your GTI...:)


anyway..just a bit of my history.....david

--
!...........................
                            The not so Keen one.............................!
  			http://www.armory.com/~y21cvb 
ex'74 Super 	        Links to a few pics of my VW's
ex '68 Beetle
    '75 Retired Westy-Canadian Model, Cody
'69 Westy-Itchigo				     xi8940@freenet.tlh.fl.us
<Pic's Coming Soon!>




On Wed, 4 Dec 1996, James Cohen wrote:

> On the subject of better safety, does anyone know if 4 point harnesses are
> a lot better than standard 3 point belts?  All race car drivers use them,
> and many auto crossers (and wannabes) use them over on the Corrado list.
> 
> Now they look like they would do a better job than the standard belts, but
> is it a marginarily better job, or a huge difference.  If anyone has some
> info please let me know.
> 
> I'm always interested in more safety and harnesses are fairly inexpensive
> and might be worth it if they provide a significant improvement.
> 
> I started giving this idea more thought when my girlfriend got into a
> head-on collison in her parents minivan with another minivan.  Both vans
> were totaled but she wasn't seriously hurt. Her head hit the steering wheel
> giving her quite a shiner, her knees hit the dash badly bruising them and
> she couldn't walk well for a week, and she was bruised across her chest and
> hips where the belt was.  It was a low speed impact (20-30 mph) and she was
> wearing her seat belt (if she hadn't her face would've gone through the
> windshield and she'd be having it rebuilt!) but a harness might've
> prevented almost all the injuries she did get.
> 
> James
> 
> 
> 
> 
>