SAFETY CORNER

[Wally]

Getting home safely is no accident.  It is a time worn cliche that rings of fact.  An accident by definition is "an unintentional or unexpected happening, etc."  Over the years it has been my observation that accidents don't happen, they are caused.  There are primarily three causes of accidents: material failures, ignorance, and indifference/inattention.  Material failure accounts for very few events in our lives resulting in an accident.  Ignorance has a larger proportion but is still small because of the wealth of information available to us.  That leaves inattention/indifference as the cause of the majority of "accidents".  Inattention is easy to understand, if we engage in talking on cell phones, groom ourselves, prepare for a meeting, etc. while we are driving we are destined to get into trouble.  No matter how much we hone our driving skills by doing DE or AX.  Indifference is a whole other subject.  If you are working on your car and a 10.8 bolt is required and you only have a 4.6 on hand and use it, if it fails because of overstress, you caused that "accident".  If you jack up your car without chocking it and placing jack stands underneath it, even just to look at something or change a tire, and the jack fails or slips, whatever damage or injury that results is not an accident but indifference to known safe practice.

When we are on the track or auto cross course everyone is "tuned in", no distractions, clear minded and focused on our driving.  Let us take that attention with us home, in the pits, or wherever we are in whatever we are doing and the only "accidents" we will be involved in will be the ones out of our control.

On a lighter note, with our first event approaching, how many of you have an "emergency" kit with you at the track?  I'm not referring to a first aid kit, but items that are small in context but if we don't have them it could cause you unnecessary anxiety.  I am referring to items such as drive/serpentine belts, motor oil, light bulbs, and fuses.  At least one car fails grid tech because of a burned our brake light.  While there are stores near the track where you can obtain these items, you will lose up to an hour or more running out to get them.  This may cause you to miss a run session, which is almost as bad as forgetting to ice down the beer for the end of the day.hock:

Let us get our cars and ourselves ready, the season is HERE!

WALLY

[George3]

Good one, Paul.  That's very good common sense advice.  DE's and AX absolutely sharpen your skills.  Keeping those skills tuned on the street needs to be more of an individual awareness issue and it does not hurt to keep being reminded of safety.

Regarding keeping extra car parts at the track. . . When I first started doing DE's, I knew nothing and carried nothing with me.  When a tool or parts need arose, I had to ask and borrow.  As time went on I began to carry more tools, spares and supplies, for just in case. Clearly you can't bring the entire garage, but carrying the nessessities and primary consumables is almost a must these days. 

Plus with the friendly commaraderie of the Porsche community at Driver Ed events, any needed parts can usually be found by someone in the paddock.  That's one of the great things about this club and this sport . 

[ninjabones]

Paul:

Great intro to what will hopefully end up being a long thread on safety issues for the season.  As a newbie to the club and to driving in general, I don't feel many opportunities to contribute anything meaningful to the forum discussions.

However, as a former USAF flight surgeon and public safety officer, I have made a few observations that I thought I'd bring forward. First, I am amazed at the lack of attention to hearing protection at our events.  As someone who unfortunately sustained some hearing loss due to over 1,000 hours in rotary and fixed-wing military aircraft, I've become pretty fastidious about my own hearing protection.

We'll gladly spend $900 on a new Hans device or $600 on a new helmet, knowing that the likelihood of ever testing their purpose is exceedingly low.  However, our hearing is challenged at every DE event (driving, observing, working on our cars) and few have made the 25-cent investment on a pair of earplugs. 

I remember working the tech line at VIR a few weeks ago and I didn't see one other guy wearing earplugs.  Torqueing lug-nuts in that tech line was every bit as loud as working on a flightline... but you'd never see an aircraft mechanic or pilot step anywhere near the flightline without hearing protection in place (actually one of the more successful air force safety programs... primarily driven by huge disability pay-outs for hearing loss). 

I'll admit, it doesn' look too cool... but neither is a sqawking hearing aid, or being that annoying old guy at the movie theatre barking out to his wife, "heh, what did he say".

I'll be bringing a bag of earplugs to the events this season and everyone should feel free to come by and ask for a set at any time. 

[Wally]

Point taken.  We will talk next weekend.

Any suggestions or ideas about or for safety will be greatly appreciated.

Be safe,

Wally