Helmets - Open Face or Full Face?

[timarnold]

I know that this subject has been discussed before, but I was running one of our track days at Teesside Autodrome yesterday and we had an incident that I think brings to light good reasons for always choosing a full face helmet! I'm adding some picture below that I took with my phone, and I have the permission of the driver to post them here...

First though, Chris, the driver involved, has (had! []) a nicely prepared BMW 318is with an M3 engine installed. He has done two or three of our previous days with no problems, the car has been reliable and the driver very sensible - but quite quick!

Yesterday Chris had been driving the car all day with adequate cooling down breaks. In the afternoon he asked me to jump in with him and give him a few laps of instruction, which I did. At about five to three in the afternoon I got out of his BMW and ran across to jump into a Caterham R400 race car with a friend of mine's girlfriend. We had literally just been strapped in and were about to set off when the red flag was put out and my son came running over to tell me that Chris had crashed heavily at the second corner, an acute right-hander, almost a hairpin.

It wasn't the driver's fault, it turns out the brakes had failed! Eye witnesses said the brake lights never came on! On the BMW the brake light switch is operated by the hydraulics, so it would appear there was a loss of fluid. Chris's car was approaching that corner at almost 90 MPH and with no brakes there was very little loss of speed. The BMW skipped across the gravel trap straight so there was no retardation and he hit the tyre wall head on, coming to an almost instant stop. The car is a write off, the shell bent like a banana!

In the impact Chris head-butted the steering wheel! To be fair the car only had the standard inertia reel seat belts fitted, but it is still possible for this to happen even with full harnesses. Fortunately he was wearing a good quality full face (motorbike) helmet, yet even with a full face helmet, he still suffered some quite severe facial injuries - a broken nose, bruising to his cheeks and forehead and his two lower 'fangs' pierced his bottom lip! He also has a deep weal diagonally across his chest, from shoulder to hip, from the seat belt. The cars steering wheel has a large dished dent right in the middle made by Chris's face!

It is worrying to think about what damage would have been done if he had been wearing an open face helmet!

Here's the pics I took, again, with the permission of Chris Downes, including one of Chris's face after he had been checked over by the medics...

Latest from Chris this morning is he's OK, he's been to his local walk in medical centre, he has a little whiplash and his nose is definitely broken, but otherwise he's fine!

But perhaps those of you who wear open face helmets should think again? []

Edited to correct some typos!

 

[madmoog]

A lesson well illustrated, and I'd never wear anything else.

Glad Chris is relatively unscathed given what could have been much worse.

 

[chfs911]

I had better ebay my £20 Lidl open face helmet then!

 

[spyderman]

Thanks for posting, Tim; good wishes to Chris. Both the Lotus Driving Academy and the Porsche Driving Experience use open face helmets, but the Porsche track day loaners are all full. Makes you think, doesn't it?

 

[timarnold]

Yes well I've often used one myself, spidy, mainly for easier communication without an intercom. I left my GP Jet in a team truck a couple of years ago and they let everybody and their dog use it, so I started using my full face all the time. I've thought about getting another open face recently but always have this sort of thing in the back of my mind because I've seen it a few times over the years and have been in two minds whether to get one or not. I think I'll be sticking with the full face!

Chris sent me this pic of his very bent steering wheel earlier...

 

[PhilRS]

Says Ricky Fulton [][][]

ORIGINAL: chfs911

I had better ebay my £20 Lidl open face helmet then!

bruising

 

[Rotorhead]

I think the problem is not the helmet (afterall, what do most rally drivers wear?).

Surely a full harness would have been much more effective in preventing him hitting the steering wheel, than a simple inertia reel belt?

 

[timarnold]

Rally drivers are increasingly wearing full face helmets. Of course the problem is the helmet, because if for any reason your face hits the wheel or some other part of the car it's the only thing that will give you any protection against getting your face smashed in. You can't rely on a harness as a guarantee that you won't hit the wheel or something with your face, harnesses like all seat belts are designed to stretch during heavy impacts to absorb energy. Cars can bend, twist and distort in all shapes and directions in a heavy impact, and it's entirely possible for the steering column to come up and meet you.

Over the years I've been involved in motorsport I've seen quite a few injuries caused by facial contact with the steering wheel, even with full harnesses, and at various levels of the sport. One was Rubens Barrichello in 1994 when his Jordan was launched off a kerb and hit the catch fencing, despite being strapped into a Formula 1 car with a six point harness and wearing an Arai full face F1 helmet, his face hit the steering wheel and he suffered similar but slightly worse injuries to Chris's - Rubens was knocked unconscious, got a broken nose, several facial cuts and swallowed a lot of his own blood (as well as receiving several cracked ribs from the harness).

Ultimately as far as track days and some racing categories go (full face helmets are compulsory in single seaters) it's down to personal choice. I think my personal choice will continue to be that where there's even the slightest possibility of my face hitting the steering wheel, I'd prefer to have some carbon/kevlar and padding in the sandwich!

 

[jason]

Certainly worth considering.

I really think the issue here is more the harness however. Inertia seat belts are just not sufficient for driving on track.

There is a balancing argument for open face helmets allow you to see more and move your head more freely and depending on your track level/standard this may help you make fewer mistakes actually on track - i know it has done me when starting off.

Food for thought though.

 

[timarnold]

ORIGINAL: jason
I really think the issue here is more the harness however. Inertia seat belts are just not sufficient for driving on track.

It really isn't, Jason. The issue is protecting your face. Hitting the steering wheel is only one way, there are all kinds of possibilities.

I agree an inertia reel belt isn't the ideal for track use and a full harness is the better option. But it would be stupid to believe that a full harness will provide you with guaranteed protection from hitting your face (or head). Otherwise, why bother with a helmet at all?

 

[timarnold]

Going slightly off topic, did anyone see this accident just over a week ago in the Indy 500? British driver Mike Conway was launched high into the air and into the catch fencing at over 200mph... very lucky to escape with just a broken leg! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4CCWoF-DCU

 

[Neil Haughey]

Well you may as well go a step further and wear HANS, I have met 2 ppl know who reckon HANS saved their life. I have an open face helmet that I bought originally for track days, one of the reasons being like Jason says and the other to stay comfortable as in a closed cockpit car you don't get the airflow like on a kart or bike etc. Having said that though I think I will be getting a full face version of my Jet 4 with HANS posts fitted at some point, its more than just the wheel, what about glass work coming in.

 

[jason]

ORIGINAL: timarnold

ORIGINAL: jason
I really think the issue here is more the harness however. Inertia seat belts are just not sufficient for driving on track.

It really isn't, Jason. The issue is protecting your face. Hitting the steering wheel is only one way, there are all kinds of possibilities.

I agree an inertia reel belt isn't the ideal for track use and a full harness is the better option. But it would be stupid to believe that a full harness will provide you with guaranteed protection from hitting your face (or head). Otherwise, why bother with a helmet at all?

Think you missed my point [8|]

A harness would have made it less likely of hitting the wheel obviously.

The only 'guaranteed protection' is not getting in the car at all.

 

[blaine54]

Neil has a good point re Hans (with a full harness). To be fair if the neck is snapping forward enough to hit the wheel a broken nose could be the least of you problems full face or open. Was chatting to Stand 21 at Brands & they have a new mid range carbon version which is much lighter than the plastic version for the same money. The next set up for me will be a full face and a hans device

 

[Neil Haughey]

Given the weight of the helmet and the seating position in the 944 its something that worries me much more than potential face wheel interfacing, that and the fact that many of the heavy impacts in racing 944/968s in recent years have a heavy side impact or twist effect.

 

[Melv]

Fair comments chaps but I'm sticking with my six point harness, fitted and done up correctly (more food for thought fellas -I'll put money on those that use them aren't wearing them correctly.....) and my light, cool, comfortable open face helmet.

 

[Steve Brookes]

Indeed some good food for thought about safety equipment however I can't help thinking that sudden catastrophic brake failure is very rare. You'd need a line to suddenly break to go from good brakes to no brakes. I'm sure many of us have had a soft pedal warning us that problems are afoot and no amount of cooling between sessions is going to make the problem go away. I'd be very surprised if the driver had no hint earlier in the day that the brakes weren't happy.

 

[Neil Haughey]

ISTR it happened to Paul Smith at Snett a couple of years back on a cool down lap. Total failure resulted in him pitching it sideways into the tyres, wasn't pretty.

 

[h_____]

Steve, not sure I agree. Failure of anything on the front suspension can cause loss of brakes, even if the fluid remains in the system (err stub axle failure, bearing failure possibly). Hitting oil or coolant will pitch you off the circuit in a similar manor, and if you leave at high speed, grass/gravel might not do much to slow you down. I was suprised how far a heavy car like the porsche will travel in gravel even at low speed. Its very unpredictable what will happen, which I think is Tim's original point.

Personally, I have a full face and HANS device, with HANS specific belts in the Porsche. I have driven with an open face, and understand the appeal, but fitting an intercom helps (I cant hear passengers anyway), also a HANS with a flexi tether doesnt reduce head movement once in the car that much either.

You can now buy a very cost effective HANS device, as opposed to the nearly 1000 pounds they used to be. If you want the full ins and outs speak to Jen at MSAR www.msar-safety.com , she races and has had a couple of big accidents so speaks from experience. She did a great job of getting my belts right in the Porsche.

To Melv's point - he is right, most people dont do belts up tight enough. Often people have the lap belts loose, and sometimes even the shoulder belts.

As with all this stuff, you will probably never need it, but for that one time.....

 

[Melv]

Absolutely Hugh -the lap strap needs to be across the hips, not across the stomach or upper legs (seen both....).

And while we're on the subject, how many drivers check that their passengers straps are secured correctly and that they are briefed on how to undo the straps and open the door in an emergency? [8|] (and that doesn't include my late braking[])