5 point harness unsafe in street cars?

You hang inverted in rolled car. You release your harnesses to get out but first you forget (like every other time) to brace yourself. You fall on your head and the HANS tombstone sticking up behind your helmet gets snagged on mainhoop, rallycars have more roof Xbars than roadrace cars, harnesses, intercom wiring, .....I don't know, don't have eyes back there but it was hung up on something.

My video was posted here. Not loading for me on this PC but if it doesn't work will look for the youtube version. NSFW un-muted on due to cursing.

http://www.bentmettle.com/videos/NEFR%202009.mov

Another codriver temporarily stuck here.

LHFR 2011 - Stage 3 - YouTube

Upside down, off a mountainside, buried in 4 feet of snow with lots of cold, white fluffy stuff inside w/ us, complete darkness w/ no clue which way to dig out and gloves lost in the jumble. Been there, done that.

And the usual roll-over scenario is you slide down embankment until you hit an object to stop you, usually a tree or boulder which pins the downhill side door while the hill keeps the uphill door from opening, both also making going out the window more difficult. Two people and two seats in the car make it more cramped. Out the window is also more difficult in rally (or streetcar) than roadracer because rallyrules require we keep them rolled up. Some not-so-brilliant weight-concious car builders install Lexan windows you must kick out while cramped headstand.

FatBilly, I know what you are talking about the scary ride smashing thru the forest waiting for impact. Seems surreal slow-motion thinking to myself, "Well, this is going to hurt".

 

You bring up another point. Who has a state of the art race car safety system? What is that? Whose car looks like a DTM car? Whose car even looks like a COT car? Whose car has been tested? Whose car has a centernet? Whose car has a full containment seat? A halo seat? Just an FIA seat? Who is running the 10 year FIA seats? Anyone running the double shoulder belt HANS harness? Who is running hybrid belts or greater than 6 pts? Who has their seats mounted to the cage not the floor? Who engineered the racecar's safety system? Porsche GT3 cup from the factory? Local famous Porsche race shop? Me and a buddy with a welder? Anyone do any FEA on the home made cage structure? There are so many compromises racers make with and without knowledge and near zero testing. OEM systems are by no means perfect but they have qualities I would love to have in my race car safety system.

 

The discussion here is fascinating to say the least. However, back to the OP questions.

Fave asked if the payoff having a 5 point harness greater than this apparent risk? (Referring to a rollover crash). He is talking about a street car for casual tracking 4-5 times a year. Much different than rally driving or competition scenarios.

If you summarize what can be agreed upon in this entire thread as it pertains to street cars, casual tracking, no cage, and whether a 5 point harness is better overall than the OEM system........we all know that answer. Stick with OEM. Other than that, it seems we agree that we disagree.

If you are serious about tracking and racing, then get a proper race car for the particular application and outfit it with appropriate safety equipment. I was given that great advice not too long ago and am glad I followed it.

Cheers!