Scott Troyer wrote:
> Almost every AS car had some sort of Harness bar
> or rollbar setup and even though they were all equiped with harness,
> the only one that was worn was by Mike Bullis.
Okay, let's forget for a moment the business about the construction of one
particular harness bar over another.
If a car has a harness bar, but it's not actually being used for a harness
... then just remove it and there will be no questions. That it's there but
not being used suggests to me that there's another purpose for it (say,
stiffening that flexy C4 chassis). And the rule clearly states
A horizontal "harness bar" may be used as part of the installation
hardware for allowed driver restraints. It may serve no other
purpose (e.g., structural enhancement).
I believe that lots of people are running harness bars under the guise of
safety, but they are really there for structural enhancement. That they are
in place but not used really drives the point home. Especially since the
Corvette has that nifty "cinch" feature on the shoulder belts that cause it
to act like a fixed harness -- why do you need to add another harness when
the factory one has the same function? Hmm, is there some other purpose?
The thing that I question about this particular harness bar is that because
it attaches in more than one place on each side, and is a large solid piece
of metal (not, for example, telescoping), it appears to me that it would
stiffen the chassis.
Yes, all of those roll bars stiffen the chassis a lot more than any harness
bar. I think they shouldn't be legal either, in stock (but they are, as
long as they meet all of the various construction and height requirements
outlined in the rules).
And for those of you who are going to say that any harness is safer than any
factory belt, I will buy that only if the harness is mounted in a proper way
and has the appropriate safety certifications. A home-grown harness
mounting that mounts to a rear seat baby-mount tether bolt, for example, is
not in any way safer than a stock safety belt. I think that if you are not
wearing a properly-mounted harness, that you should have to ALSO wear your
stock belt. I'll bet our insurance underwriters already think we're all
wearing industry-approved safety belts. In actually, lots of us aren't, and
I think if the insurance company ever realized that that we'd be in a load
of trouble.
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