MOTOR racing drivers are becoming an increasing danger to themselves and
others. It’s not bravado, but heat and high levels of carbon monoxide that are
seriously impairing some competitors’ ability to drive. Safety measures such as
fire-retardant suits only make the problem worse.
Timothy Ackland at the University of Western Australia’s Department of Human
Movement and Exercise Science in Nedlands and his colleagues made the discovery
while running tests on drivers from the US National Association of Stock Car
Automobile Racing.
“It is most certainly dangerous,” says Ackland. “Anecdotally, NASCAR crew
chiefs have reported their drivers being unresponsive to directions,…
