Updated 01/31/2009 07:31 PM
Monster truck safety is a must
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Crunching cars and performing death defying stunts. Scenes like these are what monster truck fans outside the TU were waiting to see, but before show time, safety is issue number one.
“For instance, if I needed to get out in a hurry, the steering wheel comes off,” said Mark Hall, monster truck driver.
Monster truck driver Mark Hall shows off safety features found in all performing vehicles.
“While maybe it looks kind of wild and all that, we're in good control. With all this new safety features, and the seats and all that stuff, it holds us in here and we can keep pretty good track of what we're doing here,” said Hall.
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The 37-year-old sport has always kept safety as its main priority, but after two fatal accidents, one in Wisconsin and the other in Washington, crews are reevaluating their protocals.
“We can see really good, the problem is that we can't see directly in front of us,” said Hall.
That's why drivers rely on ground crews to act as their second set of eyes.
“Sometimes the officials will put certain markings on the floor and those are parameters that we can work within and if we start to get close to one of those I can mention to him, hey go move a little bit this way, and that all helps in the safety of moving them around,” said Tim Hall, Hall Brothers Racing Crew Chief.
Another mechanism that keeps both drivers and fans safe, a remote ignition interrupter, or an RII.
With a push of a button the entire vehicle can be shut down from either inside the cab or on the arena floor.
Tested before every show stopping stunt, it’s just one of the many precautions crews take to ensure a safe and enjoyable performance.
“There is so much safety built into these events. I mean from the time we get here to the time we leave. It's safety, safety, safety,” said Hall.
According to TheMonsterBlog.com , a website for industry news there are about 15 to 20 of these shows every weekend around the country, and as the Associated Press reports only 5 people have died at monster truck shows from 1992 to 2007.