Seat belt not at fault in Earnhardt crash, says expert

Crash injury expert Dr Barry Myers studied autopsy photos on behalf of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper in Florida. He concluded that whiplash caused a fatal ring fracture to the base of Earnhardt's skull when his Chevrolet hit the outer wall of Turn 3 at a speed in the region of 170mph.

"As such, the restraint [seat belt lap belt] failure does not appear to have played a role in Mr Earnhardt's fatal injury," he said in his report.

Myers also wrote that Earnhardt's chin struck and bent the steering wheel when a lap belt broke in the impact. Although such an impact could have been enough to kill him in isolation, the fatal injuries had already been sustained.

The whiplash force was severe enough to cause a ring fracture at the base of Earnhardt's skull, causing major brain stem injuries.

Myers also concluded that a full-face helmet would not have prevented fatal injuries. Earnhardt was one of the few drivers still wearing an open-face helmet.

On the day of Earnhardt's death NASCAR medical expert Dr Steve Bohannon implied that whiplash was the cause, but this was then clouded a week later, when NASCAR released details of the belt failure.

As a result, the Orlando Sentinel, which had crusaded for increased safety in NASCAR's three main series after three fatal accidents in 2000, requested permission to view Earnhardt's autopsy photos under Florida's freedom of information laws. This was refused after petitions by the Earnhardt family, but a compromise was reached in which a court-appointed expert would view the photos and offer conclusions to the Sentinel.

Myers' report appears to have cleared seat belt-maker Simpson of blame for Earnhardt's death, but the question still remains as to why the belt failed anyway.

NASCAR says it will not publish findings from its own in-depth review into safety until August.

Myers recommended further study of head protection systems, and his report is sure to re-open the debate on whether the HANS head and neck support device should be made mandatory in NASCAR stock car racing.

Several drivers already use the system, including Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte, but several have noted that the device makes exiting a stock car (which is done through the window) more difficult.

HANS was originally devised for open-cockpit racing cars, but leading NASCAR drivers are working with the device's manufacturers to make the system more wieldy.