IMPROVING SAFETY
BEARD OFFERS A LATCH-
AND-LINK-STYLE FIVE-POINT
HARDNESS IN BOTH 2- AND
3-INCH COMBOS. THERE ARE
PADDED SHOULDER STRAPS,
STERNUM STRAPS, HIGH-
VISIBILITY RELEASE TABS,
AND A FIFTH ANTISUBMARINE
BELT INCLUDED.
WWW.
MASTERCRAFTSAFETY.COM.
shoulder line. Shoulder harnesses
that are mounted below what is
optimum, parallel to no more than
10 degrees below the shoulder
line, can potentially cause spinal
compression injuries in a vehicle
rollover."
To ensure that safety harnesses
keep the occupants in the seat,
most manufacturers recommend,
at minimum, using a standard
five-point harness. "A five-
point harness is generally what's
minimally accepted for competition
and would be comprised of two
shoulder harnesses, one for each
shoulder, a lap belt and a Negative
G belt. The most ideal restraint set-
up would be at least a six or seven-
point restraint system," said Pierce.
"Six and seven-point harnesses
provide the state of the art
protection needed to get through
the biggest wrecks," says Bishop.
"But most importantly, it's the
harness point mount to the seats
and chassis that is vital. So load
design becomes an important
factor if you are mounting the
harness to the seat." Making the
case for a six or seven-point
harness is MasterCraft's Pierce,
who refers to a report by the late
Dr. John Melvin, a bio-medical
engineer at General Motors and
NASCAR consultant. Melvin's
testing indicated that a five-point
harness results in nearly 60mm of
chest compression whereas a six-
point harness results in only 20mm
of compression. "The take-away
from this data is that the likelihood
of chest injuries is drastically
reduced by simply going to a six or
seven point restraint," said Pierce.
"NASCAR has not had a single
sternum injury since they mandated
six and seven point restraints."
063
SCORE JOURNAL
