Earnhardt crash sets off chain reaction
August 17, 2001
6:59 PM EDT (2259 GMT)
ATLANTA -- When Dale Earnhardt was killed on Feb. 18, 2001, it set off a chain reaction of events that promise to affect both sport and society for years to come.
The death of Earnhardt on the final lap of the Daytona 500 directly or indirectly led to changes in attitudes in safety towards drivers, the resignation of one of the most respected safety pioneers in motorsports and sweeping legislation designed to protect autopsy photos in the state of Florida.
“Undoubtedly this is one of the toughest announcements I've personally had to make," said NASCAR President Mike Helton just minutes after the fatal crash. "After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt."
"NASCAR has lost its greatest driver," said NASCAR chairman of the board Bill France Jr., "and I personally have lost a great friend."
Immediately following the tragedy, a dramatic increase was seen in the amount of drivers -- not just in NASCAR -- who began to wear head restraint devices, like the HANS (head and neck support).
“Somebody has to take the leadership role when it comes to issues about safety,” said Ward Burton, whose life might have been saved by a device made by Simpson earlier this season in a heavy crash at California Speedway. “There is so much information and so many products out there, but there isn’t one source we can go to, to tell us what to do and what not to do; what’s safe and what’s not.”
Earnhardt, who did not wear such a device, was killed by a basal skull fracture caused when his head whipped forward on impact with the Turn 4 wall at Daytona International Speedway.
On Feb. 23, just five days after the accident, NASCAR announced that the left-side lap belt of the five-point restraining harness in Earnhardt’s cockpit had come apart in the crash. Simpson Race Products, owned for many years by Bill Simpson, had made the seatbelt used by Earnhardt and many other drivers.
"Our belt didn't fail. Bill's statement is when the belts are properly installed, they won't fail,” Simpson spokesman John Malone said.
The strain on Simpson was significant. Simpson felt his reputation was ruined, and he requested a meeting with NASCAR in May. Simpson traveled to Daytona Beach but did not meet with NASCAR officials. He ultimately resigned from his company in late July.
Tommy Propst, one of the paramedics who tended to Earnhardt, later claimed that the seatbelt was intact when he reached the car -- a claim that NASCAR disagreed with.
The doctor who performed Earnhardt’s subsequent autopsy, Dr. Barry Myers, later determined that the seat belt played no role in Earnhardt's death.
The Orlando Sentinel confirmed that suspicion earlier this month when it reported that NASCAR’s investigation did not blame the broken seat seat for Earnhardt’s death. Rather, the newspaper said the investigation found that cars weren't safe enough in crashes.
According to the newspaper’s report on the probe, NASCAR race cars, built by racing teams and inspected by NASCAR, don't have enough crush resistance in the front ends to adequately protect drivers in crashes. Redesigning probably will be recommended, with energy-absorbent bumpers and the aluminum-foam "crush box" under development.
NASCAR refused to comment on the rumors, saying it would release the report at an Aug. 21 news conference.
Manufacturers of the so-called "Humpy Bumper," the brainchild of Lowe's Motor Speedway president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, were hopeful of receiving NASCAR approval soon after the completion of six crash tests scheduled later this month.
Earnhardt died in Florida - a state that, at the time, had no strict laws concerning public viewing of autopsy photos. Immediately, several news outlets fought to gain access to the Earnhardt photos, a fight led by the Orlando Sentinel. The Sentinel wanted the photos so that experts could independently investigate circumstances regarding the accident.
On March 4, just two weeks after the accident, the widow of Dale Earnhardt flew to Las Vegas to make a plea for the photos not to be released. Teresa Earnhardt argued that if the photos were released, it would violate her families right to privacy.
On March 30, the Florida Senate unanimously passed SB 1356, also dubbed the "Earnhardt Family Protection Act," which made releasing autopsy photographs a third-degree felony.
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