Today Tonight, at it again.

[STEALTHY™]

Whilst i wasn't expecting anything too researched from them, it was quite scary how stupid they actually are.


They suggested a safer wall. Fair enough. Yet every single bit of footage they showed, was of an angle nothing like what Coopers car hit the wall.


This safer wall in that position wouldnt have had an any different outcome in Coopers crash. If his car hit more front on, yes, but then, theres never been a problem for any other driver in that situation.

[UNKNOWN]

First death id 20 sum years....

[VNexecutive]

what on earth are you guys talking about? any extra info we can read about this? lol

[badaz]

There talking about the V8 supercar driver the was killed in the race last weekend.

[CSP]

Typical scare mongering... Porter died at Bathurst last year. Deaths in motorsport are far LESS likely than on the public roads.

How about they address the lack of skill of most drivers on the road?

I'm glad I don't watch those stupid "current affairs" shows!

[STEALTHY™]

what on earth are you guys talking about? any extra info we can read about this? lol

Ashley Coopers Accident in the Fujitsu V8s at Clipsal.

If anything, a redesign would have prevented his death, such as using the original F1 circuit, as Rundle Road is about 500 metres long(which would be the straight leading up to a bend of the same shape as the current turn 8), whereas bartels road looks to be about 800 metres or so. I'd assume that would lower the speed enough for that bend.





Don't even get me started about how they said those menacing concrete walls also injured the utes driver, his car rested up against the wall. It was the impact with a car moving barely at all, then being T boned on the other side that cause his injuries.

[Torquative]

without trying to cause an argument here ...

1) one thing me and my mate noticed is that whenever a car hit that wall it didnt budge, yet in previous years whenever a car slammed into it at that sort of speed the wall would shift back 2 or 3 meters which required a forklift to shift it back into place

Perhaps the wall was different this year, which didnt help?

2) its a known fact that motorsport is dangerous, car + high speed = danger. Heck, its even printed on the back of your ticket and your just spectating.

3) as mentioned, the public road is far more dangerous, all it takes it your temple to hit a B pillar at the right angle and pressure and good night.

Perhaps rather then worrying about whats wrong with this picture, the media should be using this as an example to d!ckhead drivers. Heck, if a driver whose wearing a 5 point safety belt, 3 layer fire suit, helmet, HANS device in a specially moulded racing suit in a car thats surrounded by a rollcage can be killed in an instant, what chance do you and your mates have in an old VN exec on a back road?

[wildss]

why did you have to single out vn's lol

[Evolution_Ends_Here]

Typical scare mongering... Porter died at Bathurst last year. Deaths in motorsport are far LESS likely than on the public roads.

How about they address the lack of skill of most drivers on the road?

I'm glad I don't watch those stupid "current affairs" shows!

+1 i hate them full of C&&& hald the time

[STEALTHY™]

without trying to cause an argument here ...

1) one thing me and my mate noticed is that whenever a car hit that wall it didnt budge, yet in previous years whenever a car slammed into it at that sort of speed the wall would shift back 2 or 3 meters which required a forklift to shift it back into place

Perhaps the wall was different this year, which didnt help?

2) its a known fact that motorsport is dangerous, car + high speed = danger. Heck, its even printed on the back of your ticket and your just spectating.

3) as mentioned, the public road is far more dangerous, all it takes it your temple to hit a B pillar at the right angle and pressure and good night.

Perhaps rather then worrying about whats wrong with this picture, the media should be using this as an example to d!ckhead drivers. Heck, if a driver whose wearing a 5 point safety belt, 3 layer fire suit, helmet, HANS device in a specially moulded racing suit in a car thats surrounded by a rollcage can be killed in an instant, what chance do you and your mates have in an old VN exec on a back road?

Not that all the facts are out yet, but i'm pretty sure his race seat breaking was part of the reason for his death.

[vicarious]

yeah i saw that on TT, i walked out half way through in disgust they report it like they are qualified in motorsport and motorsport safety, that corner in my opinion is far safer now than it has ever been, back in 2000 i was seated on that corner when that had the little chicane part and brad jones overturned the ozemail falcon there. As for TT to report this so soon after the event, the safety official would not even have finalised ther investigations yet, so how can they judge

For shame today tonight

[NickVR]

Not that all the facts are out yet, but i'm pretty sure his race seat breaking was part of the reason for his death.

Apparently coopers hans device wasn't clipped in to the seat/not worn properly which was the major cause of his death. They are saying that if the safer wall was there he may be alive today, but if you don't wear the protective devices correctly how can you expect them to work properly.

[STEALTHY™]

Apparently coopers hans device wasn't clipped in to the seat/not worn properly which was the major cause of his death. They are saying that if the safer wall was there he may be alive today, but if you don't wear the protective devices correctly how can you expect them to work properly.

Oh, hadn't heard that. But i thought the HANS devices only stopped forward head movement, not side head movement, which is what would have been the case in Coopers crash.

[Torquen]

TT and CCA are trash talking bullsh!t artists. i dont even bother listning to the TV adds let alone watch the show. my mate was telling me they had a segment on last week (dunno what day) about a baby that rolled in green paint and they cant get him clean. i mean WTF. how bout using sum soap. **** wits.

[nicko]

without trying to cause an argument here ...

1) one thing me and my mate noticed is that whenever a car hit that wall it didnt budge, yet in previous years whenever a car slammed into it at that sort of speed the wall would shift back 2 or 3 meters which required a forklift to shift it back into place

Perhaps the wall was different this year, which didnt help?

2) its a known fact that motorsport is dangerous, car + high speed = danger. Heck, its even printed on the back of your ticket and your just spectating.

3) as mentioned, the public road is far more dangerous, all it takes it your temple to hit a B pillar at the right angle and pressure and good night.

Perhaps rather then worrying about whats wrong with this picture, the media should be using this as an example to d!ckhead drivers. Heck, if a driver whose wearing a 5 point safety belt, 3 layer fire suit, helmet, HANS device in a specially moulded racing suit in a car thats surrounded by a rollcage can be killed in an instant, what chance do you and your mates have in an old VN exec on a back road?

I was standing on the corner when this crash happened, it didnt move the fence back very far at all, however, the angle he hit it as caused the entire fence about 20 metres down from the impack to move inwards. It applied so much pressure that it crimped the fence inwards so i was a very big hit.

[NickVR]

Oh, hadn't heard that. But i thought the HANS devices only stopped forward head movement, not side head movement, which is what would have been the case in Coopers crash.

I think it stops all movements of the head and neck. But he suffered head and neck trauma apparently, so the HANS device could only have helped.

Just look at some of the roll overs and crashes that happen at 250+kph they have at bathurst. These guys come out a bit sore but live to tell the tale.

I feel sorry for his family and by all means don't think he deserved this but when you get TT saying that the racing/crash barriers caused his death and he could of lived cos of this new barrier it's just crap. Not saying the new barriers are sh!t at all or they wouldn't have helped his chances of living, I think they are great and should be implemented. But there are other factors that caused his death and I personally think the HANS device was one major one.

[CSP]

The issue with Cooper's injuries were that there is only so much safety devices can do for the human body.

I have a little inside knowledge thanks to someone who spoke directly with his father the day of, and days after the crash and it was the swelling in his brain they couldn't control, couldn't stop. The human brain moves around inside the head. Even with helmets, hans devices etc, it's still going to sustain injury INSIDE the human body. He also suffered other internal injuries.

His safety equipment was all in perfect working order and did its job. The sheer force of the impact is what ultimately lead to his death.

[immortality]

unfortunatly a side impact is the most dangerous situation of all, in a full frontal impact there is plenty of mass in front of the driver to help absorb energy sustained in the crash. in side impact there is almost nothing, all that energy is transfered to the driver.

[spauldj308]

Pftt...it I changed the channel to Austar as soon as Today Tonight came on. When I was forced to change it back I went outside. I can't watch that show. Too much crap.

[crazyspoon05]

The issue with Cooper's injuries were that there is only so much safety devices can do for the human body.

I have a little inside knowledge thanks to someone who spoke directly with his father the day of, and days after the crash and it was the swelling in his brain they couldn't control, couldn't stop. The human brain moves around inside the head. Even with helmets, hans devices etc, it's still going to sustain injury INSIDE the human body. He also suffered other internal injuries.

His safety equipment was all in perfect working order and did its job. The sheer force of the impact is what ultimately lead to his death.

But other drivers have walked away from crashes where their bodies have been subjected to much higher g's, some drivers have even had their helmets hit the wall and crack and survived, this is one of those unfortunate accidents that you could never replicate the speed and angle of again in 20 more years of racing at Adelaide

[CSP]

I agree with you. Have you seed the accident that killed Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR? From the outside it looked like a kiss of the wall.

Cirmcumstances for every accident are different. Unfortunately Ash found that out the hardest way possible.

[levymetal]

today tonight is full of crap... they just need things to report. like the other day there was an old lady on a pension, after she had done her shopping for the week and filled up her car with petrol and put away money for rent/bills or something she had like $7 left. ohhh poor lady, how much money does she want left over? a few hundred so she can go save it and then buy a new car? or a new house? pension isn't meant for saving, it's mean for spending. it's all just so people watch their tv show.

[Torquative]

they were back at it tonight again

This time they said the V8 Supercar is a representation of the road going car, in their words "its just a modified production car"

Then they tried to pass themselves off as experts in this field.

I read in a magazine not that long ago the only thing on a V8 Supercar that is the same between road car and race car is the front and rear lights and door handles and it wouldnt be far off it.

They've overglorified the topic, missed the issue completely and given everyone the wrong idea about the situation

I'd to see a road going VZ Commodore hit any wall at 200kph + like in their dream world

[Wombat]

Yep, as my old man used to say, it ain't the fall, it's the sudden stop...

It has been said by crash experts that in a normal street car, any impact with a solid object at 80 km/hr or more is "basically unsurvivable", as, no matter how many air bags and ABS and stability control programs you have, the soft squishy human body can't take a decceleration from that speed without serious and usually fatal internal injuries. Usually, as in Lady Diana's case, something will happen like the aorta tearing off the heart, or the brain being sloshed around inside the skull.

I know some people will occasionally survive absolutely massive crashes on the highway, but they are at the extreme end of good luck,and usually end up with serious injuries and are in hospital for a very long time.

On the race circuit, the guys are surrounded by roll cages, safety harnesses, and a hundred other safety systems, but there is still no escaping the pesky old laws of physics...all that energy has to go somewhere, and if it above the limits of what has been absorbed by the car and other systems, the left over energy goes into the person. This is what happened to the driver of that car.

Unfortunately, it doesn't make for sensationalist stories to quote hard facts...

[Mr Squiggle]

Humans can survive a 40km/h hit into something solid as that's the speed the fastest of us can run in the wild. Anymore than that are your going beyond what we are built to do. You can make a dedicated race circuit allmost totally safe but it's not so easy on a temp street circuit. The Adelaide circuit was a allways an unsafe track, Mika Hakkinen still has slight brain damage from his crash there. It probably never will be safe but in these post Senna days there just shouldn't be solid walls in any spot that a car can hit at big speeds on sharp angles no matter how freak a crash it is. If they can't provide a safe track then move the race, simple. There's a few areas up the top of Mount Panorama that need some work too