xcarguy Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 To all, I’m posting this for 4MARIO (his forum user name on this site), a friend and fellow Stalker owner, in order to post a few photos with this post. On Saturday Nov 9th, 4MARIO had a major accident involving his Stalker (chassis #142) and a Ford F150 pickup. The pickup ran a red light and 4MARIO impacted the Ford in the right side at 50 MPH flipping the truck over onto its side. Except for some temporary soreness, and a few stitches to the right hand of his passenger (braced himself for impact using the RH mirror support), both 4MARIO and his friend walked away from the accident without any serious injuries; both were wearing their 5-point harnesses. :blueangel: When the Police and EMS personnel arrived, they were amazed to see both of these guys out of the car, up and walking around. 4MARIO’s message (his words) to all is this: 1) WEAR ALL YOUR BELTS AT ALL TIMES (hopefully you have 5 point harness) 2) SCOTT MINEHART BUILDS ONE HELLUVA STRONG FRAME (ALL the structural welds were intact in spite of a very hard hit) I (4MARIO) was Chief Engineer for Vehicle Safety at Chrysler when they introduced airbags as standard equipment. I've seen hundreds of crash films. Belts are super important to prevent the secondary collision of occupants into whatever is in front of a moving crash victim. These days we presume that we'll be OK in most crashes because airbags yield miraculous protections. However, the belts in our kit cars are the primary occupant safety device. Please use them ALL. I tip my hat to Scott Minehart. I urge you to be careful out there. thx 4MARIO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Truely amazing! I would have predicted serious injuries to the Stalker passengers. And that the F-150 would have been unscratched. TG it wasnt the Stalker that got T-boned. Five point harnesses are a pain to put on, but clearly worth the time and trouble. Was the F150 driver using a cell phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Truely amazing! I would have predicted serious injuries to the Stalker passengers. And that the F-150 would have been unscratched. TG it wasnt the Stalker that got T-boned. Five point harnesses are a pain to put on, but clearly worth the time and trouble. Was the F150 driver using a cell phone? The word I got was that the F-150 driver was engaging in adult-beverage abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Wow thankful everyone walked away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 "1) WEAR ALL YOUR BELTS AT ALL TIMES (hopefully you have 5 point harness)" I know the sub-belt is to keep the other 4 properly located. Where would I attach the fifth point? I have a 4 point harness system on my '95 Caterham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super7guy Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 One way to have a 5the or 6th attachment point on the Caterham, is to install a threadsert into the crossbar in front of the seat. Another is to drill into the floor pan. Wayne in San Diego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Wow thankful everyone walked away. That's assuming the person(s) in the pick-up are okay - I can see no mention of their well being in the posts above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Pickup occupant was okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blubarisax Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Glad everyone was OK. My 2009 Caterham has fixing points on the chassis crossmember behind the seats. Caterham sells a kit if bushings to work with lowered floors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDingo8MyBaby Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 One way to have a 5the or 6th attachment point on the Caterham, is to install a threadsert into the crossbar in front of the seat. Another is to drill into the floor pan. Wayne in San Diego Wayne, I personally do not believe those are proper mounting locations. Even with a giant washer, I imagine the harness would pull right out of the floor. It very much depends on the type of seat you have. Assuming the seat has a provision for a 5/6 point, you'd be better off mounting to the tube behind you. This is where the caterham academy cars attach their 6 point belts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xflow7 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 (edited) Yeesus, that's scary. So lucky. I'm amazed the car doesn't appear to have submarined under the pickup more, although it must have to a degree as I'm almost sure that would have been what rolled the truck. That is my absolute biggest fear when it comes to potential accidents with other vehicles. Anyway, very relieved that everyone was okay. While there have certainly been some tragic 7 accidents, I'm always amazed that people often walk away from even the pretty serious ones. On the topic of harnesses, another alternative may be to use a 6-point formula car belt in which the straps go back under your thighs and can be attached to the same mounting points as the lap belts. This assumes that your seat is such that it will not interfere with that routing. Probably workable with a foam molded seat or a thin bench seat, but probably not with a normal racing seat. Dave Edited November 21, 2013 by xflow7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 You need a solid mounting point for all belts including the sub belt. Here is what I did to Stalker chassis #85: http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=21959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1Steve Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I'm very happy everyone walked away. I started shopping for new belts last week. This just reinforced the need to be belted in correctly. Going from 4 points to 5 for tech. Stay sharp my friends...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Going from 4 points to 5 for tech Sounds like the Big Dog is getting ready to stretch his legs. :driving: :seeya::seeya: Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) Glad everyone is ok. I bet many people who saw the remains of the accident thought it was the Stalker's fault (racecar looks etc..). Well now you'll get to do all those "if had to do it over again" things to the next car... there's always something. . Edited November 22, 2013 by Mondo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pi7ot Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Yeppers. I'm glad that they are ok. I'd agree that The roll bar and the numbers may cause some hassle later. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Yeesus, that's scary. So lucky. I'm amazed the car doesn't appear to have submarined under the pickup more,.... Dave - you said exactly what I was thinking. Submarining is my biggest concern in our cars especially against SUV and feral F150 drivers. I am curious if the passenger compartment cage played any role in stopping the Stalker from submarining further? I think the Brunton Auto team deserve a big thumbs up for building a good strong car that can stand up to an accident like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 I am curious if the passenger compartment cage played any role in stopping the Stalker from submarining further? Croc, The brunt of the impact never migrated past the engine bay. However, I would have to say the cage definitely added additional 'overall' structural integrity to the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick47 Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I expect the forward motion of the truck pulled the front of the Stalker sideways a few feet before the truck tipped and the Stalker came to rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Wow, glad driver and passenger walked away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now