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Re: Placement of emergency decals

To: Bob Spruck <Bspruck@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Placement of emergency decals
From: Brian Evans <brian@uunet.ca>
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 14:01:41 -0400
I would have placed both controls on one side or other of the dash, so that
they were at a corner of the cockpit, so to speak.  Then, when you put the
decals on the door or cowl, they are within 6" or so of the actual control.
And should the workers need to reach the controls, they're at the side of
the car rather than in the middle under the dash.  In sedans, I've put
duplicate controls on the dash for the driver and outside on the cowl for
the workers.

I fully admit to having a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this sort of
thing.  To me, the only reasonable and effective solution is for the highest
level of standards setting in the sport (probably SCCA/CASC in North
America) dictate the position of all safety elements that might have to be
operated by a worker, and allow no variance.  Nascar, Champcar, F1, et-al do
this, and when a worker gets to a disabled car they know how to help without
undue risk to themselves.

When I scrutineer cars I see unique solutions to master cut-off switches,
fire systems, window nets, and so on, and standard solutions would go pretty
far towards a major uplift in ensuring that the drivers (me, for example)
were safer in the event of an incident where I needed help.

To add my input to your specific question, I'd put the sticker on the cowl
of the car directly above and as close to the switches as possible and put
further decals beside the switches on the dash itself.

Cheers, Brian ( who has a whole 'nother opinion about the wisdom of putting
a highly pressurised bottle of gas under his knees in a racing car in the
first place).


At 06:44 PM 4/7/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Once again, I'd like the input and advise from a most valued source.
>
>I got an on-board fire system for Christmas and have just finished
>installing it. Dan Davis of Victory Lane Magazine asked me to write an
>article about the installation, so you might see it in the near future. One
>of the remaining questions I have is where to place the decal so if I ever
>need to use it, corner workers, etc will know where the pull handle is. I
>mounted the bottle on the passenger side floor of my '67 Midget and located
>the activater handle on a panel I bolted to the underside of my dashboard
>just to the right of the shifter. I also relocated the master kill switch
>to the same panel from the top of the right fender. I originally place it
>there in the radio antenna hole, but I cannot reach it when I am belted in
>the seat, and if I was to go upside down, it would be unreachable by the
>emergency folks.
>
>The question is should the two decals be placed on the cowl, ahead of the
>windshield in line with the switch panel, or on the side of the car in line
>with the dashboard (left, right, or both sides)? Your wisdom and experience
>would be greatly appreciated.
>
>TIA,
>Bob Spruck  
>Sharpsburg, GA
>'67 Midget Vintage Racer
>'72 Midget Street/Show
>Many parts cars
>


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