legality of a roll cage in a street car?

[bmoha2]

I guess it had never occurred to me but I read recently that wearing a helmet on the street or having a rollcage is illegal. Is this right? The reason I'm putting this post in handling tech is that I was wanting to put in a rollcage that tied into the windsheild pillars and the side pillars to stiffen everything up.

 

[inneedof]

as far as i know... at least in washington having a cage is not illigal, but a helmet is... but having a cage in a street car is unsafe... i do it... but its not safe

 

[bmoha2]

unsafe? Why? You mean of the possibilty of hitting your head on a tube etc? Eventually I'd like this car to be still streetable with 4 point harnesses, performance seats, no rear seat

 

[inneedof]

unsafe? Why? You mean of the possibilty of hitting your head on a tube etc? Eventually I'd like this car to be still streetable with 4 point harnesses, performance seats, no rear seat

if your head hits a steel bar at 60 mph its not going to feel good... trust me

 

[Boo5t_Addict]

Any decent cage is designed with that idea in mind. Whether your car is going to be used in a racing application and you'll be wearing a helmet or not, any well-designed cage is nowhere near where your head could go if you get into an accident. If you hit your head on any part of a cage during a wreck, then the placement of the bars was very poorly designed.

 

[Defiant]

A cage might get you a ticket if you whiz off a cop and he decides it's a visual obstruction. The helmet thing -besides looking like the ultimate poseur- could get dinged for both visibility and muffling your hearing. Although most onlookers would probably assume you're just a sorry child with autism, or a brain surgery subject.
As for rollbar pipes being a hazard to your head, you're lucky if you're short enough to never have been head-walloped by the edge of the sunroof hole.

 

[Slo2gen]

Although most onlookers would probably assume you're just a sorry child with autism, or a brain surgery subject.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

I roll cage is suppose to be 2inches above your head while you are wearing a helmet. Thats nearly impossable in a 2g unless you are short. Wear your seat belt so you dont get thrown around. Also put some padding around your roll cage, its not going to hurt any more than if you hit your head on the windshield.

 

[2gAWDTalon]

Here is how it should be laid out...

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[TSIfreek]

Its competly legle. It adds saftey to you.

 

[Zero Bar]

It varies state to state. In terms of safety, I think if you put in a roll bar you should install a good aftermarket seat in. A stock seat is designed to work in a certain way and from what several NASA guys have told me that in a wreck some stock seats had hit the rollbar and caused them to break and cause some serious injuries. Best bet it do all 3, roll bar, seat, harnesses.

 

[Boo5t_Addict]

Whatever you do, if you decide to put in a roll bad and a seat, DO NOT take the harness straps and mount them straight down to the floor. They should at least go over some cross bar on the rollcage behind the seat. The reason being, if they're mounted straight to the floor, then in an accident the force exerted on you by the harnesses will be pulling straight down (seatbelts pull you straight back), which will compress your spine. Worst case scenario = you ending up in a wheelchair. Not really something you wanna take a risk on though. Whatever you decide on, just be safe.

 

[Talesin]

Never heard of a rollcage being illegal, other than the obstruction of visibility thing... helmets just red-flag you for police trouble. Seriously, who the hell wears a helmet while daily driving?!

 

[Defiant]

Its competly legle. It adds saftey to you.

Ah, there's one of our helmet-wearers now. It's just heart-breaking, isn't it?

 

[Zero Bar]

I did it once on the way back from the track as a joke when I was ###### 16, got lots of wierd looks...

 

[bmoha2]

I can't stand to drive my car with the either the front or rear strut tower braces out of the car. Feels like a big wet noodle. Trust me I'm not going to be running around driving with a helmet on the road any time soon.

 

[turboaddict21]

Ah, there's one of our helmet-wearers now. It's just heart-breaking, isn't it?

just too funny

 

[Dragon TalonTsi]

I wouldn't do it. Just for the fact once you get into the cage, its no longer a fully streetable machine. You have the 8pt/10pt cage holding you back from daily driving REGULARLY, meaning you have to have a helmet or fire suit, whatever, just to go to the store. Its a hassle, and you compromise all safety. Its no longer a "stock interior", you have a big roll cage in your view, and you limit your passengers. Eventhough, we all know you can only fit really tiny adults/teens in the back, its only there for insurance purposes though.

 

[GVR4592]

This comes up every few months, it's pretty simple once you think about it. If you're in an accident and your head smashes into the steel bar(padded or not) it's going to cause serious damage. Roll cages are for race cars end of story.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

I wouldn't do it. Just for the fact once you get into the cage, its no longer a fully streetable machine. You have the 8pt/10pt cage holding you back from daily driving REGULARLY, meaning you have to have a helmet or fire suit, whatever, just to go to the store. Its a hassle, and you compromise all safety. Its no longer a "stock interior", you have a big roll cage in your view, and you limit your passengers. Eventhough, we all know you can only fit really tiny adults/teens in the back, its only there for insurance purposes though.

My car has a 6 point roll cage and I drive it daily. Yes its a little pita getting in and out, but after that its fine. Now if I had a family then of course it would be hard to daily drive it, I have 2 seats and the rear seats eliminated. I really like my roll cage for use of my harnesses. Without those at the track, my arms get sore from holding me in place.

This comes up every few months, it's pretty simple once you think about it. If you're in an accident and your head smashes into the steel bar(padded or not) it's going to cause serious damage. Roll cages are for race cars end of story.

I properly installed roll cage should not cause any harm in an accident if you are wearing your seat belt. There are a million other things I think that could cause just as much damage to your head. However, it IS NOT safe if you still use the rear seats and have passengers in them. That would be deadly!

 

[EclipseSH21]

It's not that you'll hurt yourself slamming your head into a steel bar, yadda yadda yadda(even thouhg that will probably hurt.) Think of it like this. You're driving a standard unibody tin can car. A structurally reinforced car with a cage slams into you. This car will expend more energy into your car, seeing as how it is reinforced, and less of the energy from the impact will be absorbed by the car crunching- and that extra energy gets transferred into your car, making the accident worse. The roll cage is safer for YOU, not the other people on the road who do not have a roll cage.

As far as legality goes, you'll have to check your local laws, it's different everywhere.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

It's not that you'll hurt yourself slamming your head into a steel bar, yadda yadda yadda(even thouhg that will probably hurt.) Think of it like this. You're driving a standard unibody tin can car. A structurally reinforced car with a cage slams into you. This car will expend more energy into your car, seeing as how it is reinforced, and less of the energy from the impact will be absorbed by the car crunching- and that extra energy gets transferred into your car, making the accident worse. The roll cage is safer for YOU, not the other people on the road who do not have a roll cage.

As far as legality goes, you'll have to check your local laws, it's different everywhere.

If you crash into a geo, then yes you'll probably hurt the other guy more than yourself, but most autos on the road have a much greater mass and weight than a DSM. Unless your roll cage extends into the engine compartment, your car is going to absorb the collision the same with a roll cage in the event of a front end collision.

It's hard to argue the pros and cons of a cage in a street car. There are so many different possibilities of the type accident and I am sure there are times a cage could help or hurt the situation. But that's the same with everything else; seat belts can sometimes do worse the good in the given situation. There is nothing in the world that will give a 100% pure positive result.

On a side note, I don't think a roll cage is necessary in a pure daily driver, if you track the car, then maybe.

 

[Zero Bar]

I believe there is NO reason to have a cage in anything but a nearly dedicated track car, there's no reason for it. My car has a 4 point cage and I only drive it on the street to get to the events, that's it.

 

[Talonracn50]

Go look at the salvage auction at an eclipse that got hit from the side -- there is a reason for a cage.

 

[Talonracn50]

Plus, there are way more idiots on the roads than on a racetrack -- at least all of the participants on a track are trying to drive the same direction and not on a cell phone or punching on a blackberry.