Trauma Mechanisms and Injuries Associated with Go-Karting

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Came across this research article from 2010 today and thought it was interesting…

Annually, approximately 600 patients seek medical attention after go-kart accidents in the Netherlands. A large variability in injury patterns can be encountered. Knowledge of the trauma mechanisms of go-kart accidents and insight into the associated injuries is limited and requires improvement. Such additional knowledge may lead to customized trauma protocols for patients with a high index of suspicion on go-kart injuries. Research into trauma mechanisms may also lead to implementation of improved or additional safety measures for go-karting, involving both the go-karts itself as well as prerequisites to the go-kart tracks and qualifications for the drivers. The main trauma mechanisms involved in gokart accidents, and three cases to illustrate the variety of injuries are described in the current manuscript.

https://openorthopaedicsjournal.com/VOLUME/4/PAGE/107/FULLTEXT/

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Would be curious to know what the break down is of those who suffered an injury at an indoor electric kart facility vs an outdoor more professional kart track.

I had an accident at an indoor electric kart place a few years back where the other person just straight ran into my karts side. Thankfully nobody got hurt but the other person was inept because their helmet went flying off.

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I’m not certain that much of this applies to organized kart racing. The complaint about seat belts kind of points in that direction.

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I do see seat belts in some rental karts. There are rental race series that are belted.

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Like I said, no real relation with organized kart racing.

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It’s easy for us racers to dismiss it as applying only to concession karts with belts.

Looking at the injuries, that’s a mistake in my opinion.

Calcaneal or ankle fracture caused by pedals; humeral, shoulder, or clavicular fracture after side impact; wrist or hand fracture by steering wheel

Rib fracture, lung contusion, pneumothorax, fladder thorax, cor contusion, diaphragm rupture; rupture or contusion of spleen, liver, gal bladder, pancreas, kidney, or intestines; fracture or luxation of foot, lower limb, hip, or pelvis.

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I would not be surprised if there were far more rental karting accidents than in organized racing. Organized racing might amount to background noise, volume wise.

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the amount of leverage posed on the spine during a high speed rollover or crash due to the seatbelt would also cause lots of injuries. We can only look at one side of the story as both have not been tested. also, we would have to have full height seats, otherwise the seatbelt would just be a lap belt

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The only karts I have seen that have belts (like at gopro) have roll bars built into seat back. That being said, I doubt many actually crank the harness down.

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I look at it injury by injury. Some have more variables than others, that really goes without saying.
Really what I’m saying is that dismissing the report wholesale because there’s belts involved is not a perspective I share.

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Ah, I misunderstood.