Legs out the windshield - embedded video NWS
 

One lucky dude...

Second luckiest guy on earth!

Yeah, saw this on Speed Society on Facebook this morning. Pretty crazy and very lucky.

Looks like there is a roll bar. Wonder what kind of harness seeing how he got turned around inside. One more roll and he'd likely been out of the car.

Sure looked shaken coming out and like they said in the post.... bet he was sore the next day. LUCKY dude right there!!!!

That's one lucky SOB.. NO roll bar and read he had 2 point belts

Sept. 21, 2014) Fountain, CO -- Drag racer Kelly Harvey walked away with only minor injuries yesterday after his 1955 Chevy took several rolls during the Colorado Street Outlaws Drag Racing Event at Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR).

The racing style seat belts worn by the driver failed during the crash. "My seat belts were not mounted properly and pulled through the floor of the car," Harvey said. "I'm grateful to the staff and safety crew at PPIR for such a rapid response to my situation," he said.

Fortunately, Harvey was able to climb from of the car on his own and walk away.

"PPIR sets standards for all its events to keep drivers, crew, and spectators safe," said PPIR General Manager Bob Boileau. "However, it is the responsibility of the car owner, driver and crews to be sure their vehicles are prepared to take to the track. We're glad there were no serious injuries" he said.

I've been seeing the links around the web but just watched the video for the first time this morning. Wow...

I don't even know where to start. Guy was so lucky...so very lucky.

Shame about the car but hopefully a lot of people learn from his misfortune and build their cars correctly for safety.

So the belts were mounted incorrectly and failed??? And the tech guys did not check your belts as you went through tech? Seems like that might be the most important thing to check then the other items. Next it will come out this guy has been racing this car at the track like this for a couple years.

No matter where I've been asked to be a TECH.... Seat Belts and helmet are two things I've never just "glossed over". They ARE life savers. The rest of the stuff is important (loose items in the cockpit etc) but the seat belts and helmet will most likely make the biggest difference in personal safety.

How many techs actually crawl under every car to inspect if the seat belts have been mounted properly?

NHRA certified is one thing, but local grudge match racing, autocrosses, PDXs etc is another. I know that nobody has ever looked under my car or carpet to check my seat belt attachment points. Hell even NASCAR missed Dale Earnhart's seat belt mounts.

Doesn't the large part of driver safety really fall onto the driver\owner's shoulders?

It was the squid in the Camaro's fault. :secret:

Bet his next car is caged with a 5 point.

And if left to the driver it would also fall into driver ignorance, the driver probably thought it was fine, but it was not. The mounting points are more important then the date on the belt in my book. From the story it seems that the tech guys where willing to look under the car after the guys feet were flopping out the window. To bad he could not have stopped the flip on the roof to make it easier for the tech guys to see it.

Most of the time something does not become an issue until it is. Safety is not one of the items you want to enforce with hindsight.

I have NEVER understood why anyone would want to skimp on the safety part, like helmets, belts, honestly the only one who will be lying in a hospital bed or Coffin is YOU!!!. just stupid. sure crazy how fast **** hits the fan!!

Seeing that his helmet wasn't strapped on, I wonder if he even latched his belts. The event was put on by Colorado Streetoutlaws. I wonder if there was a tech inspection? There was no track prep either.

Here's what that guy Kelly races.... you'd think he knows better

Couldn't agree more. Guys spend tons of $$ on go fast parts and then count on drum brakes and a lap belt for protection. Really? How stupid is that?

I bet your right, He may have thought this car was a slow so there was no way anything bad was gonna happen. See that one bit a guy in the ass.

When you least expect it..........expect it. Bicycles, skateboards, motorcycles, ATV's, farm equipment, boats, etc.......in happens quick and sometimes hits extremely hard!

Track was horrible, made for the pedal fest and Kelly flinched when the Camaro came over on him.......

He obviously took safety in that car way too casually. Imagine if he was in a head-on on the street.

The budget gets spent on glamour and performance then the safety measures are procastinated. On what, like 80+ percent of the builds we see?

All of this reminds me of my motorcycle friends. I know guys who'll buy every known part for their motorcycles. I mean, aftermarket wheels, upgraded engine kits, full exhaust, etc. Then, go buy the $99 HJC helmet because the Shoei and Arai helmets are $800. :wacko:

The $99 helmet totally compliments the flip-flops, shorts, and tanktops they wear riding though. :sieg:

Maybe it's a good time to rehash good, better, best seat belt mounting?

Why would you bother with good and better???

at the very least use the factory mounts. at least they were engineered ( all be it 40 + years ago.
if there is a roll bar in the car then its a no brainer as long as it is mounted correctly other wise. well you know .

Wow,...that is scary. Very scary. Glad he walked away okay.

Wow. Scary for sure.

Also highlights that anytime you are not alone on the track you have the risk of someone else being the cause of your misfortune...

Guy needs to thank God that he isn't paralyzed after that!

Don't get me wrong here because I'm really not trying to minimize safety at all. But seriously guys, there are a whole bunch of stones being thrown here about his cars setup and how important safety is. So you guys are tellin me that you never increased your performance BEFORE you stepped up your safety??!? Really?:poke: The obvious "logic" (albeit bad logic) is that the other 300 times that he has raced or ripped the car, nothing went wrong. So the human mind "minimizes" the importance of it all because it hasn't happened so far, so that must mean that it won't happen.
We ALL know better, but poor judgment gets in the way sometimes. I guess I live in a glass house and already have too many windows broken out for me to throw rocks at him. :underchair:

DRIVER SAID THIS...

“i’ve gotten complacent”


it was his wifes street car he was just playing with it. it happens you make a ton of runs in faster stuff without incident it’s easy to lay back a little when you drive slower car. we’ve all done it. it’s human nature

The probably used the factory seat belt mounts to hang the exhaust. Then drilled holes in the floor pans for the seat belts. :superhack:

Yup. I've been on the fence about running a roll bar and harness setup till now. I have the Morris three point setup to install, which is great for street driving. But if I ever did any events I would really want the roll bar and harness. This reminds me of when Bad Penny was rear ended on the freeway a few years back. The cage really saved Steve' behind... not so much Penny's, but it did what it was supposed to and we still have Rupp to pick on.

Off to call Mike at Muscle Rodz.

I hear you! I am amazed at the Events that are held that don't require Helmets, Belts, etc. I'm more amazed at the Number of People that participate in these events without taking Safety into consideration!

You'd be surprised how many drivers complained when Allen Curtis and I were tech-ing cars at RTTC.
"Oh my god, why are you checking that?"
"Why does it take so long to tech a car?"
"That's been like that for so long, I don't know why its a problem now."
I bet tech guys get complacent when friends and colleagues are involved.

I wonder since it was a "Street Outlaw" race there was a self tech situation.

Did Chevrolet have seat belts in 55? I know my Plymouth didn't.

Gosh, I haven't done Tech in so long I forgot about People constantly Bitching in the Tech Line! Glad I don't do it anymore!

Vin you forgot the often repeated line at RTTC tech, "Do you know who I am?"

My response, "No, why would I?"

Jokers :lol:

^^This.
I agree.

I doubt it because my 58 has "dealer installed" front lap belts that might slow you down a tiny bit before you hit the dash in an accident! :hitaxeonthehead: