Championship Car Racing Accidents and Injuries.

In brief: Sixty-nine race car drivers were surveyed in a study of the Indianapolis 500 from 1981 to 1984 and the 1984 Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series. The purpose was to evaluate the frequency of accidents and the nature of the resulting injuries that occur in Indianapolis-type race cars. Findings revealed that lower extremity injuries occurred most frequently. Accident frequency was one per 1,414 miles of racing in the CART series and one per 3,000 miles at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The number of accidents per injury was 9.5 in the CART series and 3.2 at Indianapolis, compared with 8.2 on US highways. This study suggests that current technology, which has shifted the spectrum of injuries from life-threatening to limb-threatening on the race track, could be applied to everyday highway safety as well.