This past weekend at the NARRC Runoffs I had one of the scariest moments in racing since I personally got in the car 13 years ago... and it was sitting in impound!
For some reason when I went to get out of the car I didn't open the door. Which to be honest is something we should all be "able" to do since the door could be jammed closed after an incident. When I went to get out my Hans device slid into the window opening. I was instantly stuck. I couldn't get out or even get back into the car. I litteraly couldn't move AT ALL. I could move my right hand but my left hand was stuck down between the seat and my side. With my right hand I was able to remove the Hans clip on my right side but I couldn't reach the left side latch no matter how I tried to fish my hand up or use my other hand to reach around. With the Hans on we all know you can't just squeeze your head down through it so my helmet was stuck on. It wasn't until after Dave Gran (another driver) noticed me that he was able to come over and unclip the other side and take my helmet off. After that I was able to pull the hans out of the door backwards behind my head and finally free myself. I couldn't help to think what if I was in the car and it was on fire! I know we have talked about window nets before but I wanted to share this story with everyone so they could share it with others before it is a real issue. I think with about 5 cents worth of tape I solved the issue from happening again in the future.
Please share any ideas that you may have AND share any resolutions to this or other problems you may have had.
This could save your life... Hans issue I had...
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