Roll cage dangerous for a street car?

[lanemeyer14]

I've always wanted a roll cage in a festy because I thought it would help make things safer in the event of an accident, but reading online has me second guessing things. Many people say it is more dangerous to have a roll cage in a street driven car due to the fact that you won't be wearing a helmet. Anyone have any input? Good idea/bad idea? Will it make the festy safer or make it more dangerous?

[devon527]

I personally think it would be safer. I mean it IS a roll cage lol. If you were to roll on the road, the cage, if built right should help the impact. If you're wearing your seatbelt, then I'd bet everything would be fine

[hofficergrover]

It is safer but at same time not safe. Just like he said not wearing a helmet if start rolling you start smashing your head and arms and stuff on the bars. Unless you have 4 or 5 point harness seats that like cradle you in them so you don't flop much.

[Safety Guy]

In any crash in which you aren't wearing a helmet and are wearing your good condition seatbelts properly, your head could hit:

-the B pillar
-the left window glass
-the road (if the car is sliding on it's left side)
-the roll cage/bar main hoop (if it's close enough behind you)
-one of your passengers' heads (especially if they are unrestrained)
-or anything penetrating into the vehicle to impact your head (rocks, car parts, poles, etc.)

The roll bar/cage should be safer in that it minimizes the car body from crushing/caving in during a rollover or similar crash, which gives you that "room to live." However, as noted, you could hit your head on it if the main hoop was close enough behind you. This could occur even if you think the hoop is normally not close to your head while sitting in the car (greater forces, damage, seatback failure could all change this in a crash).

Personally, I would prefer to have the increased structural integrity of a roll bar/cage and try to keep the main hoop back a bit so it won't be as close to impacting my head in a bad crash. Appropriate roll bar padding could also possibly help mitigate this issue, and there may be seats designed to help protect your head in a crash (I don't know this for sure).

Wearing a helmet is one answer. You could also wear a lighter, more comfortable bike helmet. Yes, this may be seen as "strange," but it would be better than nothing and probably work pretty well to protect against interior hard ares of the car (just as if you were falling off a bike). I've thought of this as a way to make up for our cars' lack of weight and size, especially the relatively thin side door sections. I've actually done this before, but in the context of getting ready to get out and hop on my bike for the rest of my commute.

These are my thoughts, but I'm no crash expert and I have no particular knowledge of this besides an understanding of basic physics and some readings here and there on race car design, auto crash tests, etc.

I plan on installing a roll bar or partial cage in one or more of my cars some day based upon what I wrote above (subject to change based upon better info).

Just my two Gs worth, folks...

Karl

[Gforcefd]

I know with my gray car I wanted to lower the seats because they way I had them mounted my head was too close to the roll cage for my comfort. The roll cage definitely stiffened it up and made it handle like it was on rails though.

[kumalaba]

^

i would just add thick padding to the cage

[scitzz]

Heh, install airbags on the roll cage.

[lanemeyer14]

Thanks guys! I'm thinking it will be more help than harm

[mattman]

ive rolled a street car with a cage ....BELEIVE ME i was very very happy to have had the cage but i also had racing harness belts an seats the roll bars all had pads i walked away with some light bruises an a cut or two from flying glass ( the car did not fair so well ) an they way people drive today a full cage is IMO an added safety feature i am looking at getting one in the tank when i get it running again

[bravekozak]

I am just going to add two more stock roof reinforcements into my Festiva.

[thered56]

Karl has very good points. Personally, I would love to have a roll cage, especially since I love driving rally style. I would feel a bit better driving a small car on the roads if I had something that could take side impact also, because of (as mentioned) the way other people drive.

The roll cage definitely stiffened it up and made it handle like it was on rails though.

Another way in which a roll cage can be a safety feature: accident avoidance.