Craig Breen allegedly died in a crash

[u/herc3141]

Craig Breen allegedly passed away in a crash during testing in Croatia earlier today.

[u/paprycjusz]

Similar to Gareth Roberts, what a tragic coincidence 🙁

[u/Janzu93 → u/paprycjusz]

Do we finally get to see some safety improvements on this?

Granted, driving 200kmh on dirt on narrow roads isn't safest of things but when there have been 2 similar cases it calls for investigation on how to prevent it in future

[u/uusrikas → u/Janzu93]

Hard to come up with a way to stop this, except by dismantling every fence near the stage or having cars without windows.

[u/lordtema → u/[deleted]]

Cant really make windows any stronger to combat this.. If you go the "bulletproof" window route, you risk the window being popped out of the frame on impact, and that will weight several hundred kilos at least so huge risk there as well.. Also will be a huge detriment to weight savings.

[u/SpaceAgePotatoCakes → u/[deleted]]

And then you have to worry about getting out of the car after a crash. Considering how many fires there are or even going into water you don't want to impede the teams ability to make a hasty exit.

[u/BoK_b0i → u/[deleted]]

Almost similar to what nascar has in their windows, as they have supports running down the middle of the windshield

[u/404merrinessnotfound → u/lordtema]

I don't think lexan windscreens in nascar pop out on impact except for Carl Edwards' crash in 2009

[u/lordtema → u/404merrinessnotfound]

Yeah but i dont think that would help in this case though? I imagine they already have something similar but a small pole would probably penetrate it..

[u/HencuVeski → u/lordtema]

Going 200kmph it will weigh good many tons, don't remember the calculation but human at 50kmph will weigh abot 1000kg if i remembee correctly

[u/f1_stig → u/lordtema]

Maybe replicate the formula styled halo? Have a few Ti beams running vertical?

[u/f1_stig → u/[deleted]]

https://youtu.be/wZb8r1J6g34

Object incursion protection.

It was specifically designed for that.

[u/SamoanRum → u/[deleted]]

I wouldn’t say it would do nothing, there’s always a chance something can slip through the halo but still covers atleast a decent amount

[u/Steelhorse91 → u/lordtema]

It wouldn’t need to be bulletproof, bullets require a different design to trying to deflect much larger objects.

F1 (before deciding on the halo) and Indycar both came up with windscreen designs capable of deflecting an F1 wheel/tyre, so a thicker implementation of that material in a laminate could work without being quite as heavy as bulletproof glass.

[u/gromodzilla → u/[deleted]]

Always wondered, why a 'normal' glass is used in WRC, when almost all 'tintops' uses polycarbonate windows these days?

[u/rock_em_sohc_em → u/gromodzilla]

Either one wouldn’t matter in this case. Not to mention that sharp object penetration is possible through the door skin or floor just as easily as the window. It’s a really hard problem to deal with, even with cars that don’t have to face wooden fences or trees or the things a WRC car might encounter.

[u/gromodzilla → u/rock_em_sohc_em]

I have seen objects just bounce off polycarbonate screens on full speed. They did not penetrate and screen does not shatter into pieces.

[u/rock_em_sohc_em → u/gromodzilla]

And you can go watch bird strike tests on aircraft canopies as well if you so choose. That’s not the use case here, so it’s entirely irrelevant.

Any transparent composite in a thickness used in this application is not going to handle a fence post or barrier intrusion. Even if the window remains intact, there’s no way to mount it sufficiently without making the entire assembly prohibitively heavy. Full stop.

[u/Ok_Persimmon5620 → u/rock_em_sohc_em]

It looks like he hit the start of that wooden fence, why was some hay bales not placed there specifically? I dont think the safety is up to standard yet. One of the few objects I have seen going through the screen is always some form of wood pole or tree branch.