I am sorry.. I disagree. There are reasons you stay in place until med. team shows up.
First off, god forbid another car runs into the same problem you are somewhat still protected.
Second, if you have been in a accident no matter what you think you should remain as still as possible until a trained professional has told you otherwise.
I have seen people while racing motocross jump up from rather small crashes thinking the're OK only to injure themselves seriously.
Same thing goes for any crash in a automobile.
Adrenaline and shock hide a lot of stuff, its important to sit and seriously check yourself out before moving.
Also you can see what the adrenaline did for the passenger as he jumped out immediately without thinking if there was a possibility of getting himself hit in the process.
There is nothing the passenger could have or should have done with the driver post impact.

 

Agree with this. Part of the drivers meeting that's always the same when I go lapping with the ASE lapping club:

"If you're stuck off the track, stay in your car with your helmet on. Only exception to that is if your car's on fire or appears to be on fire. In that case, GET THE HELL OUT!"

 

From an outside point of view it doesn't seem like a lot of smoke, but if I was in the car and had that happen to me, I would probably have tried to get out as well. The smoke coming out of the engine bay would have me wondering what's causing it and I wouldn't try and stay around to find out. Had I just blown a motor or crashed I would stay in the car, but smoke to me is a sign to gtfo.

 

Exactly.

 

Yep, agreed, I am not saying what he did was smart by any means. I'm only trying to give reason why he would have jumped out in the first place. I know that if that had happened to my little brother, natural instinct of being the older brother would make me act similar, care more about his safety than my own, however dumb that may sound.

 

WOW...just saw the video on You Tube....I hope the driver has a FULL recovery!! Not sure if the passenger was hurt or not...but i'm sure he was sore the next day... You can tell how bad it was once the camera got over to the scene...

Sad to see people get hurt like this and watch another evo bite the dust...

Wishing both the best!!

Oh, I too would have stayed in the car after that....reminds me of when a friend got into an accident in a tunnel...he got out to see what the damage was and ended up getting a large gash on his leg after another vehicle crashed and flung debris at him....30+ stitches later he limped out of the emergency room.

 

Same with NASA. I hope he makes a full recovery.

Either he had brake issues or he just completely blew his braking point. Don't understand the very early turn-in which put him on the course to miss the tires and find the concrete. You would be braking hard far right there getting set up for a nice late apex. He's already turned and headed across 1/2 track as he comes into the vid.

A full weight Evo with 470 awhp. Hope he had some real race pads on there.

 

stay in the car unless it's on fire. if you must get out off the car, then get behind the wall as quick as possible. if you went off because of fluids on track, another car could hit the same fluid and will be flying at you. if someone has neck injury, you would do more damage by trying to help them. never grab the outside of the door or roof unless you don't like your hands or fingers.

 

it's hard to sit here and say what you would do in a situation like this unless you were in the driver seat. in a different scenario, aiming for the tire wall head on might have been a better option. the tire wall would have absorb some impact and the front of the car has a better crumple zone. also the seat belt and air bag would support the body and head more, instead of just the door panel. although if you loose your brakes, going side way might scrub off some speed, but you risk flipping the car. it's hard to say how much speed he scrub off but it looks like high water and mud might have slow the car down enough.

 

That sucks Most likely he lost his brakes! Usually, you get a little mushy pedal warning the turn before it goes completely out.

 

^^^

The guy on the Mustang was very intelligent to keep on straight in the grass all the way to the end. If you watch the video carefully, he knew he came out to fast and was going straight to the grass, he didn't try to correct "exit" the car and he just kept on straight and aim for the grass. If he tried to battle a little with the steering wheel, he would spin the hell out and it was going to be worse.

 

^What amazes me is how much students are told to straighten out, but many don't and try to save it. Since February of this year, I've seen 4 accidents caused by drivers trying to bring thear back on the tarmac.

 

serious question here since im a newb on track. i have ingrained the "go off straight" menatlity in my head, but does jamming on the brakes (if you have them) better or worse? (lock up/slide vs coast?)

 

^ depends on the situation

There is a saying "in a spin, both feet in". Meaning press the clutch to keep the engine from stalling and press the brakes to lock the wheels up and scrub speed.

Holding down the brakes takes away the tires ability to roll and also your ability to steer. If you are going off in a controlled manor, not like the poor guy in the video, its best to come off the brakes and ride it out straight, or try to actually make the turn, while looking where you want to go. If you're already spinning when exiting the track then go both feet in if you aren't already.

The former is hard to do because your natural instinct is to slow the car down before the turn, but sometimes the act of turning the wheel is enough to scrub speed and allow you to make the turn.

 

thanks, clarified what i thought. if spinning, both feet in, if off track somewhat controlled (like too wide an exit or missed apex and still following the track sort of) keep it straight and careful slow/coast.

last time i was out, two rear wheel drive cars tagged the wall for what really seemed to be an over corrective steering input when heading off after the car got light cresting a hill.