The four-cylinder of Morgan Harper blew a right-front tire at Wyoming’s Sheridan Speedway. The truck then proceeded to roll over three times. During the second rollover, Harper’s anti-submarine belt (aka sub belt or crotch belt) broke free, according to Harper’s father Mike. Mike bought the race-ready truck for his son not knowing that the belt was improperly mounted.
“We found that [the anti-submarine belt] was bolted through the floor pan of the truck — there was nothing connecting it to the frame,” said Mike. “I had welded extra bars to the roll cage because I was worried about my son’s safety, but I never caught that the sub belt was just anchored to the floor pan with nothing behind it.”
Morgan, 17, of Buffalo, Wyoming, briefly lost consciousness. However, he did crawl out of the overturned truck under his own power.
“Never mount any belt to the floorboard of a vehicle — they are made of very thin material,” Kevin Shaw, of RaceDay Safety, said. “Belts have to be mounted to a tubing structure welded to the frame or roll cage.”
The anti-submarine belt plays a vital role in a safety harness doing its job.
“This belt was mounted flat to the floorboard, which would result in shearing in the manner it did,” said Shaw. “The sub belt is very important. It keeps the driver from sliding out from under the waist belt, which would cause the shoulder belts to become loose on the driver, rendering the head-and-neck restraint system ineffective. All of the restraint systems work in conjunction with each other. One fails, and they all can fail.”
In addition to how you mount the belts, the hardware you use also factors into the equation. Shaw and Jim Fairbanks, of A&A Manufacturing, recommend using double-shear tabs for mounting belts.
“A double-shear tab should be mounted on a bar welded to the frame, and the tab’s double end inserted up through the floor to attach to the sub belt at the proper position to keep the driver in the seat,” Fairbanks said. “The AA-421 tab [see this link] allows the belt to swivel between its two arms, resulting in is less force pulling on the belt in case of a crash.”
Morgan and his father worked on their truck throughout the week to make it race-ready. It needed both rear leaf springs, a lower A-arm, and one more important item.
“Of course, we bought new seat belts,” said Mike. “And, we installed them properly.”
Morgan’s grandfather, along with four other relatives, race at Sheridan Speedway. His two older sisters and brother are rodeo riders. Morgan breaks in colts on the family ranch. However, Morgan Harper chose stock car racing over rodeo as his sport.
“I had a few bruises when I got up to go to school the next morning,” Morgan said. “I’ve been hurt worse being bucked off a horse. I was lucky this time.”
Sources
A&A Manufacturing
Spring Lake, Mich.
800-473-1730
aa-mfg.com
RaceDay Safety
Dallas, Ga.
770-505-0193
racedaysafety.com
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The Outside Groove Director of Photography has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
