American Society of Safety Engineers Urges NASCAR to Take the Lead Now To Improve Driver Safety

    DES PLAINES, Ill., Aug. 21 Despite what NASCAR officials
unveiled today on their investigation into the death of racing legend Dale
Earnhardt, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), as it did in a
letter to NASCAR's Mike Helton last January, urges NASCAR to take the lead now
in formulating and implementing solutions to improve racing safety.
    "How many more deaths must occur on the racetrack before they take
positive safety steps," Carmen Daecher, ASSE's transportation practice
specialty administrator, said today.  "NASCAR is just keeping their head in
the sand."
    Following last year's deaths of drivers Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper and Adam
Petty in racing accidents, ASSE sent a letter to NASCAR President Mike Helton
January 8, 2001 urging NASCAR to take steps to improve safety before the
Daytona 500 race kicked off the 2001 NASCAR racing season.  Dale Earnhardt
crashed and lost his life at the Daytona 500 held February 18.
    In the letter, ASSE officials applauded NASCAR's pioneering inventions in
the area of safety resulting in many life-saving products and systems now
utilized by the general public such as the fire safe/retardant protection
suit; the self-contained gas tanks; the vehicle roll cages; and, their
research into aerodynamic vehicle body changes aimed at slowing speed.
However, ASSE suggested that NASCAR move forward with increasing safety by
putting up soft, energy-absorbing walls on race tracks, increasing the use of
the HANS (head and neck support) system and utilizing "black box" crash
recorders to garner data, and much more.
    "NASCAR must take responsibility for the safety of the drivers," Daecher
continued.  "We applaud the fact that they did announce at today's news
conference that they are moving forward with putting in the 'black box' crash
recorder in cars as we had recommended back in January of 2001, however they
must move forward with mandating the use of head restraint systems.  We also
applaud the drivers and their teams for taking the initiative and using the
HANS device for their safety, as we all know that any frontal impact at high
speed causes catastrophic injuries.
    "For NASCAR to move forward in providing as much crash absorption devices
as possible to protect the drivers such as on the walls or in the vehicles
would be a parallel step in the right direction like using the HANS.  We urge
them to do so," Daecher said.  "Anything that can be done to dissipate that
crash energy from the occupant should be used.  Using the black box recorder
is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't help all that much when
you're hitting a wall at 120 mph."
    ASSE noted that the investment NASCAR makes in putting up the protective
walls and implementing other such safety features will quadruple in worth over
time as fatalities and injuries are reduced.
    "It doesn't cost NASCAR a penny to implement most of these life-saving
initiatives," Daecher added.

    ASSE is the oldest and largest society of safety professionals in the
world.  Founded in 1911, the non-profit ASSE represents more than 30,000
safety professionals including Certified Safety Professionals, Certified
Industrial Hygienists, Professional Engineers, Ergonomists, Academicians, Fire
Protection Engineers, System Safety Experts, Health Professionals,
Transportation Specialists, and a wide collection of other disciplines,
skills, and backgrounds.   Additionally, the ASSE Foundation funds
scholarships and research in the area of occupational safety and health.  More
information can be found on ASSE's web site at http://www.asse.org .

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