14yr old dies at SCCA auto-x event

[mikey]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/21...cmp=latestnews

very sad news. not much for detail, other than an apparent acceleration after the finish line and hitting a cable of some sort.

[rickb99]

A little better coverage by the Huffington Post (not my fav news source) including a more complete copy of the SCCA statement:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/0...ml?cps=gravity

[Brian C in Az]

The part that jumped off the page while I was reading it was they said that her helmet came off when she hit the fence. How does a correctly fitted kart helmet come off your head if it is properly strapped? Not possible. So apparently, her helmet was not properly fitted and or strapped.

Sad tragedy.

[iamuwere]

Brian, with enough force, helmets will traumatically come off. I have seen it before, unfortunately.

[MarkBMC]

A very sad tragedy.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/07/23/g...s-his-silence/

[Matt King]

Brian, with enough force, helmets will traumatically come off. I have seen it before, unfortunately.

Yes indeed. It's burned in the memory of anyone who saw the video of Marco Simoncelli's death.

[Lynn]

The part that jumped off the page while I was reading it was they said that her helmet came off when she hit the fence. How does a correctly fitted kart helmet come off your head if it is properly strapped? Not possible. So apparently, her helmet was not properly fitted and or strapped.

Sad tragedy.

It wasn't really a fence. It was a cable strung between fence posts.

[Jim Kleinklaus]

The part that jumped off the page while I was reading it was they said that her helmet came off when she hit the fence. How does a correctly fitted kart helmet come off your head if it is properly strapped? Not possible. So apparently, her helmet was not properly fitted and or strapped.

Sad tragedy.

It happened to me in a write -off wreck at Nelson Ledges in 2000

[Rick Kirchner]

Gordon Smiley, too

[DaveW]

The part that jumped off the page while I was reading it was they said that her helmet came off when she hit the fence. How does a correctly fitted kart helmet come off your head if it is properly strapped? Not possible. So apparently, her helmet was not properly fitted and or strapped.

Sad tragedy.

I am guessing that she hit the cable just below the helmet, the cable caught under the front edge of the helmet as her head bent back, and the cable ripped the helmet off. With the forces likely generated here, there might not be a way to prevent even a perfectly-fitting and strapped helmet from coming off in that scenario.

Scary thought. And really awful that it happened.

[stonebridge20]

I think we all got the gist of what happened here. Can we all say a prayer for the young lady and let this thread fade into the distance.

[tim gaffney]

Amen Mike,
God bless her soul and comfort her family.