We are learning more and more about the seriousness of concussions as times go by. Motorsport does a great job of providing support for the head to the sides, rear and even forward with HANS, but it's still open from above and deceleration is probably the main issue. Sarah Fisher having memory problems from multiple concussions.
Given the number of accidents- AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti both are pretty something at their ages.
But I bet more will come out thanks to Sarah- and that's a good thing.
One of the reasons I stopped riding sportbikes and went back to playing with cars after my wreck at Hallett.
I came off the motorcycle somewhere around 70-75mph going into "The Bitch"
According to my friends there, I was knocked out long enough they red flagged session. I woke up face down in the grass, with visor ripped off the helmet and my eyes and mouth full of grass/dirt. My gait is still a bit off from the accident, that was 9 years ago.
I hate to see this. Fisher was a really fine driver and always a good ambassador for the sport.
I think I give it to mud dragging for ringing your bell. Though some boat racing sure can do it too.
z31maniac wrote: One of the reasons I stopped riding sportbikes and went back to playing with cars after my wreck at Hallett. I came off the motorcycle somewhere around 70-75mph going into "The Bitch" According to my friends there, I was knocked out long enough they red flagged session. I woke up face down in the grass, with visor ripped off the helmet and my eyes and mouth full of grass/dirt. My gait is still a bit off from the accident, that was 9 years ago.
A friend of a friend of mine was killed in a similar wreck at Grattan in the late 90s. He went down, a passing footpeg ripped his helmet off, and his head hit the pavement. Dangerous business....
Obviously football is at the forefront of all this concussion stuff because of sheer numbers and publicity. But I'm glad to see more attention to all the sports where there are head impacts. It can only help. Better helmets, rule changes, whatever it takes.
foxtrapper wrote: I think I give it to mud dragging for ringing your bell. Though some boat racing sure can do it too.
Ow, that can't be healthy 
But it makes a great 007 Martini.... shaken not stirred. However brain damage it not really funny, thankfully people are working on it now.
My cousin was a semi-pro Hockey goalie. He was told to give it up last year by the team's and his own doctor. 9 concussions will do that to you
Eric Medlen. Can't forget his story. He died from the shaking.
Concussions are weird and very specific to precise dynamics of each incident. They are also specific to the individual.
Look at what happened to LeeRoy Yarbrough. He had a hard crash, while testing tires at Texas World Speedway later in 1970 and seemed kind of disoriented aftwerwards. Then he couldn't remember fellow driver Cale Yarborough picking him up in Texas a few days later and flying him home. Then he couldn't remember flying on to Martinsville, or running in the race at Martinsville. Then he spent most of the season crashing or pitting after a few laps because he couldn't remember fueling or getting tires, or he thought the race was over only a few laps in. That pretty much ended his racing career. Then in 1980 he got admitted to Florida State Hospital, after he was tried for attempted first-degree murder of his mother and battery to a law- enforcement officer. His mother, Minnie Yarbrough, testified that he had walked up to her and started strangling her for no reason.
I stopped playing football, lacrosse and stopped running karts as well as open cars after number 13 documented, and likely several others that I didn't get checked out for. I'm not sure that I'll allow myself back onto stage when I'm able. I'll likely opt to just run rally cross and maybe do a hillclimb or 2 a year.
A friend of mine stopped playing hockey after #5 or 6. He said he had a continuous headache for almost a year. He's in his mid-40s now and doesn't seem to have any ill effects, but it was enough to get him to stop.
In reply to Tom_Spangler:
The scary thing is what will the effect be on him I 10-15 years. This is the big issue the long term effects decades later.
In reply to Tom_Spangler:
The scary thing is what will the effect be on him I 10-15 years. This is the big issue the long term effects decades later.
it's true Adrian, the long term effects are horrible.. like posting the same thing twice in a row 
only time I've ever gotten my bell rung... Brass Castle Junkyard in NJ... was stepping across a trunk and slid... hit my head on said trunk... nearly passed out... felt bad for a few days....
That sucks.
Tom_Spangler wrote: A friend of mine stopped playing hockey after #5 or 6. He said he had a continuous headache for almost a year. He's in his mid-40s now and doesn't seem to have any ill effects, but it was enough to get him to stop.
"Post-concussion syndrome" affected me for approximately 4 months after my motorcycle wreck. It was hell. Pain that literally made me happy I didn't have a pistol in the house.
To finally get the insane headaches under control took 3000mg of Ibuprofen per day + amitriptyline to kill the pain and knock me out so I could sleep.
I still have floaters in my left eye just from helmet contact with the roll cage in a wreck 2 years ago. It wasn't even a bad wreck - strut bolt broke and just auto-steered into the barrier with a hard stop at a funny angle from maybe 60 or so then some loops in the grass. My friends wife (and acting crew chief) notice my pupils were whacky.
The cure for a rung bell was "Don't go to sleep" so I stayed up drinking late into the night until my eyes looked funny for the right reasons. I'm pretty sure the fog I had on Sunday was a hangover so I don't expect to dog pile on a class action against Shoei or anything.
The floaters though... very annoying.
Wait... are floaters a head injury thing? I've got a ton of those little bastards flying around in both eyes and terrible long term memory- maybe I've clanked my head more than I thought!
Pat Richard stopped rallying a couple years ago for this reason, too.
In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:
Well, that is what my eye doctor said. He also said as you get older you naturally can get some anyway but not all at once just after a coincidental whack to the left side of your head. Those ones... are apparently from getting whacked in the head.
BMX legend Dave Mirra was diagnosed with "CTE." Before reading this article I had never heard of it.
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