Safety Equipment

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Ed-Chenal
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Safety Equipment

Post by Ed-Chenal »

We had 138 buggies of all shapes, sizes and colors at Big Bear.  If we were having a car show that only focused on the cosmetic appearance of the buggies, the safety equipment and mechanical condition would be of little concern.  Since that is not the case, we want to feel confident that each of us is safe and that our buggies are in good working order.  Roll-bars and seat-belts are important among these items. 
While we each may have preferences for the style or design of both roll-bars/cages and seat-belts, few would argue against the need for them in our buggies.  It disturbed me when a buggy that went on a run at Big Bear had neither of these safety devices.  No one wants to have someone suffer injuries or feel responsible for having not prevented an injury.  If each of us follows safety guidelines not to mention the law, there won't be the need for creating technical inspections prior to runs.  After all, we are here for the fun.  







Here is an old posting from Mike and Mel.
We all love a good 'oldschool' buggy. But you should really consider going to a full cage as soon as possible. The single hoop has a tendancy to fold over if you roll over at any kind of speed. We lost a good friend in a buggy roll over a couple of years back. Here is a pic of another roll over that dramatically illistrates what could happen. Yes, we ran a single hoop for years, but after our friend's death, put the cage on the top of our priority list (Mel is STILL waiting for her new expresso machine Image . I just tell her to look at the new roll cage and pretend.....). Image

Image
Last edited by Ed-Chenal on Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ed
ManxManiac
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Safety Equipment

Post by ManxManiac »

Very important subject & very well stated!
Patricia & I were talking the other day after viewing all of the posted photos & the videos of the Big Bear Run & she actually brought up the lack of a roll bar first!
We thought it would be great if folks could get together, in or around their respective areas, & have a "safety inspection" &/or a general "once over"! No degrading anyone's buggy, but honest safety concerns about roll-over protection, e-brakes, brakes, tires, seatbelts etc., etc., etc.!
If everyone complied, our FUN FUN FUN with our crazy little cars, would have a better chance of remaining FUN FUN FUN!
Another thought... maybe put on a "dune buggy driving class/school", so some of the more experienced buggy drivers could pass along helpful ideas etc.! Have a on-road session (maybe in a large empty parking lot) & a off-road session! Just a thought!!!
I just want everyone to have a safe & FUN FUN FUN experience while on a run, an adventure or driving to the grocery store!!!
Michael Cates
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Old-Towd
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Safety Equipment

Post by Old-Towd »

Safety Equipment saves lives. Nothing would ruin a run faster then a accident and a accident with out 

Safety Equipment would be sad. It's not that we want to turn a new Buggy Buddy away it's just we need to educate them and hopefully they will be better prepared next Buggy Run. Nothing ruin's the memory's of a Run faster then a Buggy Buddy that got hurt.
Jay - We Sacrifice Quality So You Can Save
1969 Sand Rover T pickup
1962 Baja / 1986 CT110 Honda Trailbike
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Old-Towd
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Safety Equipment

Post by Old-Towd »

Right On Ed

Safety Equipment saves lives. Nothing would ruin a run faster then a accident and a accident with out Safety Equipment would be sad. It's not that we want to turn a new Buggy Buddy away it's just we need to educate them and hopefully they will be better prepared next Buggy Run. Nothing ruin's the memory's of a Run faster then a Buggy Buddy that got hurt.
Jay - We Sacrifice Quality So You Can Save
1969 Sand Rover T pickup
1962 Baja / 1986 CT110 Honda Trailbike
1973 Thing / Yorba Linda,Ca.
MC 2693, RBC, DSB, SoCalBajas, hondatrailcts, BurroBuggies
Scott-Drolet
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Safety Equipment

Post by Scott-Drolet »

Great topic Ed. I agree it's time the club start policing the buggies again. With your permission, I'd like to use excerpts from your post in a short article in the next Manx Mania.  Moving forward, we can prohibit buggies that lack seatbelts, roll bars, and emergency brakes from future runs.  Thank you for the reminder that we can do more to keep everyone safe.
Scott Drolet
MC Vice President

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5150bossman
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Safety Equipment

Post by 5150bossman »

Here is the link to the original thread.

Manx rollbar 
Ed-Chenal
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Safety Equipment

Post by Ed-Chenal »

Scott Drolet wrote:Great topic Ed. I agree it's time the club start policing the buggies again. With your permission, I'd like to use excerpts from your post in a short article in the next Manx Mania.  Moving forward, we can prohibit buggies that lack seatbelts, roll bars, and emergency brakes from future runs.  Thank you for the reminder that we can do more to keep everyone safe.
Scott,
The original post that Mike and Mel mentioned contains a good discussion about Roll-Bars, Roll Cages and Seat Belts.
Needless to say, I like your idea.

An Old Sheepdog.




  
Ed
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vincent9993
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Safety Equipment

Post by vincent9993 »

I like the idea, I just hope we don't go overboard though and require everyone ro have full NHRA roll cages and 6 point harness. Nothing wring with passing a quick safety inspection that checks the std stuff: Seat belts, brakes, e-brake and the likes. If I'm not mistaken, the extreme runs mention he requirement of a working e-brake.

The only concern I will raise is that once the club starts to force an inspection, there may be an inherent responsability they may be taking on as having 'certified' the buggy as safe. In the present situation, the honest is on the owner to meet and respect the safety req.

I still support the idea and welcome further discussions.
Vincent Parisien
MC Director - MC 2696
Long Haul League, '69 Kick-Out-S.S., '59 Berrien Nostalgia, '73 Manxter (in progress)
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FulsGld
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Safety Equipment

Post by FulsGld »

Hey;



So I personally think this is a silly idea and it should probably be stopped before it goes any further. I'm not going to have anybody (whose qualifications are suspect at best) going over my buggy looking to see if my seat belt bolts are tight, or if I had a certified welder weld up my roll cage, or seeing if my e-brake comes on after 2 or 3 clicks, or if I have enough brake fluid, or if my blinkers work, or any of probably 100 other things that folks can dream up (talk about a tar-baby). I don't want anyone educating me in any of these areas. I don't need anyone policing my equipment (are tow bars, lights, and trailers included??? Might as well). Now if you go on the technical run then you should have a skid plate, but even that should be left up to the owner. 99.9% of the folks on these runs are responsible people. Things break, and I think it's all part of the fun of the run. I've been on a number of outings with this and other clubs and no one has been hurt by a perceived safety problem that I can remember (my memory may be suspect). If someone backs into a tree on a snow covered road and damages their buggy, will this mean a safety report has to be written up and passed among the directors so a procedure will be created so it doesn't happen again? That is one scary picture shown above, but did this occur on the Mojave Road run, or Clearlake run, or Lone Pine run, or Death Valley run, or etc? Just a silly idea. Just what I think, your mileage may vary.
Gary Berry
Prosser, WA
1971 Turista
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Ed-Chenal
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Safety Equipment

Post by Ed-Chenal »

Vincent and Gary,
I understand your concern for the possibility of creating an official Manx Club Tech Inspection.  In this litigious world, it's probably not appropriate for the Club to take on such a responsibility.  Leaving it up to each individual to comply with a set of standards would seem sufficient so long as the standards are routinely published and brought up at the Driver's Meeting.  Since we tend to be a homogeneous group, I doubt that the need to bring up someones failure to comply with known standards would be a common occurrence.  This discussion alone, will probably cause many of us to take a closer look at our buggy from the standpoint of safety.

An Old Sheepdog

  
  
Last edited by Ed-Chenal on Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ed
BuggyBob
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Safety Equipment

Post by BuggyBob »

very good points of views from all angles. As the event coordinator for the club, I feel as though this topic needs to be sent to all. I will see to it that all attending members ensure that their buggies are street legal with all applicable safety equipment installed. There will be a reminder in future event flyers.

Good discussion!
Last edited by BuggyBob on Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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5150bossman
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Safety Equipment

Post by 5150bossman »

I do see the liability of conducting and enforcing safety regulations by the club. But safety on the runs is still important. Many new drivers are unaware of what equipment is needed or required to participate in a particular run. The age of our cars alone precludes much of today's safety equipment from being required (for example, our '66 pan isn't required to have seat belts, but newer pans are required). I think that if we come up with a general safety guideline, it can be included with the event flyer and also and passed out to all the attendees at the driver's meetings. Drivers/owners would be responsible for having their vehicles comply with the guidelines and being in a safe and functional condition, assuming the liability for what happens to persons/equipment should they participate without the appropriate (I don't want to say REQUIRED...) safety equipment. As such, we should not conduct safety inspections. There are too many nuts and bolts (both literally and procedurally) to take on that responsibility for every buggy.
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