124 replies to this topic

[retroracer1275]

ive been in a car (golf) with a cage when its rolled and if it wasnt for the cage i think i would have been killed

the rear of the car was crushed into the shape of the cage, there was no padding on the cage but we had proper seats and decent harnesses

both of us un hurt. (ill hunt for a pic)

[Zeemax Adventure]

Andrewo330, i thought ud be back to disagree lol. if you read through i say the chances of rolling a mini on the road are low, not impossible. Id also rather hit my head on steel padded with high density foam, than just steel!!!

All views taken into consideration i think its going to be down to personal choice for your own safety. Do you feel you are at more risk from rolling? I know on the roads id feel at more risk of being hit by another vehicle, therefore would want the shell to absorb the impact rather than stop dead immediatly. If the shell was solid,with no absorbtion for the energy that is generated on impact, this increases your chance of serious internal injury.

[Artful Dodger]

well no two crashes are alike, so no one has a definitive right or wrong answer, i have heard of a story of some bloke crashing his car and if he was wearing a seatbelt he would have died from the car crushing him.

so lets stop this silly " road cars shouldn't have roll cages" because its really annoying me. thanks:)


but that aside, id rather a massive piece of metal absorbing the impact than me and my interior

[Zeemax Adventure]

Well we do seem to be going round in circles here lol. Gotta say though, Andrewo330 gives a good debate and this thread has given some food for thought. Its always good to generate a wide selection of opinions to obtain your own conclusion

Thank you and good night

[AVV IT]

well no two crashes are alike, so no one has a definitive right or wrong answer, i have heard of a story of some bloke crashing his car and if he was wearing a seatbelt he would have died from the car crushing him.

so lets stop this silly " road cars shouldn't have roll cages" because its really annoying me. thanks:)

I can provide you with a similar anecdotal tale to that myself... When I was nineteen I was the rear seat passenger in a friends car that left the road spun and then struck a tree. Being the rebellious teenager that I was, I hadn't worn a seat belt and so was thrown into the front with the other occupants by the impact. When I looked in the rear of the car afterwards, I was quite disturbed to see that a large tree branch had smashed through the rear passenger side window adjacent to where I had been sitting and penetrated through the back of the rear seat. I therefore have reason to believe that I would have been seriously, or fatally injured had I actually worn my seat belt that night, as I was supposed to.

Tempting as it was to declare that I would never wear a seatbelt again, I knew that it would be rather unwise to base all my future seat belt use based on that one random event. So I certainly wouldn't recommend that anyone not wear a seatbelt based on my one single experience. It's not real evidence that seatbelts are dangerous, in that in many other circumstances a seat belt would have saved my life.

In the same way that I wouldn't recommend someone to fit a roll cage because of another persons anecdotal tale of how they believe their roll cage saved their life either. I would however recommend that everyone consider all view points, draw their own conclusions and make an informed decision on whether to fit one or not.

So I'm sorry that you find the notion that "road cars shouldn't have roll cages " silly or annoying. However some of us have considered fitting a roll cage ourselves, but having weighed up all the considerations, have then made a well considered and informed decision not to fit one because we genuinely believe this to be the case.

Besides without both sides to this debate being put forward, how can anybody reading this thread be expected to make a reasoned or informed decision as to whether to fit one or not?

Edited by AVV IT, 02 September 2011 - 12:01 AM.

[minidream94]

well no two crashes are alike, so no one has a definitive right or wrong answer, i have heard of a story of some bloke crashing his car and if he was wearing a seatbelt he would have died from the car crushing him.

so lets stop this silly " road cars shouldn't have roll cages" because its really annoying me. thanks:)


but that aside, id rather a massive piece of metal absorbing the impact than me and my interior

This reminds me of a day out i had with the school i went to about road safety and wearing a seatbelt. Basicly some girl went out with her boyfriends brother in his vauxhall vx220 and obviously he was racing and had a head on collision and she wasnt wearing her seatbelt and he was, and HE was killed, she wasnt because she got thrown out the car. Yes seatbelts save your live in 99% of collisions but im some cases a seatbelt is more deadly than anything else due to the sudden stop it causes.

im personally going to be fitting a cage and buckets in a year or so's time just to be on the safe side of things for when i get a bigger power plant under the bonnet so yeah, its up to you what you do

[Burnard]

I am fitting a cage to mine, but its going to be the full FIA spec saftey devices one from minisport:


Probably OTT, but it aint gonna go anywhere!

Where the hell are you going to sit in that?!

Getting back to the pits and hearing my older brother ask if I was hungry then offering me a roll, didn't see as funny back then as it does now...

I'm sorry, but I laughed at that. Good sense of humour.

The bar that goes from above the drivers head to the passenger foot well leaves plenty of space for a driver, but none for a passenger. It is also an optional £80 extra, which i wont be buying lol. Plenty of space for two people in reality.

[CHUNKY365]

I am fitting a cage to mine, but its going to be the full FIA spec saftey devices one from minisport:


Probably OTT, but it aint gonna go anywhere!

Where the hell are you going to sit in that?!

Getting back to the pits and hearing my older brother ask if I was hungry then offering me a roll, didn't see as funny back then as it does now...

I'm sorry, but I laughed at that. Good sense of humour.

The bar that goes from above the drivers head to the passenger foot well leaves plenty of space for a driver, but none for a passenger. It is also an optional £80 extra, which i wont be buying lol. Plenty of space for two people in reality.

Also just think about those side bars. Can be a right PITA when your trying to get in and out, especially if you have bucket seats.

BUT on the plus side, if you don't much like your girlfriend\wife\sisters cousin and you want to dump her in a subtle manner, then ask them to wear a short tight skirt and laugh your nads off as they try to get in the car. You might find yourself single quite quickly after they've managed to flash their knickers to all your mates outside the local pub\kebab house\shopping centre car park!

Edited by CHUNKY365, 02 September 2011 - 01:37 AM.

[Artful Dodger]

well no two crashes are alike, so no one has a definitive right or wrong answer, i have heard of a story of some bloke crashing his car and if he was wearing a seatbelt he would have died from the car crushing him.

so lets stop this silly " road cars shouldn't have roll cages" because its really annoying me. thanks:)

I can provide you with a similar anecdotal tale to that myself... When I was nineteen I was the rear seat passenger in a friends car that left the road spun and then struck a tree. Being the rebellious teenager that I was, I hadn't worn a seat belt and so was thrown into the front with the other occupants by the impact. When I looked in the rear of the car afterwards, I was quite disturbed to see that a large tree branch had smashed through the rear passenger side window adjacent to where I had been sitting and penetrated through the back of the rear seat. I therefore have reason to believe that I would have been seriously, or fatally injured had I actually worn my seat belt that night, as I was supposed to.

Tempting as it was to declare that I would never wear a seatbelt again, I knew that it would be rather unwise to base all my future seat belt use based on that one random event. So I certainly wouldn't recommend that anyone not wear a seatbelt based on my one single experience. It's not real evidence that seatbelts are dangerous, in that in many other circumstances a seat belt would have saved my life.

In the same way that I wouldn't recommend someone to fit a roll cage because of another persons anecdotal tale of how they believe their roll cage saved their life either. I would however recommend that everyone consider all view points, draw their own conclusions and make an informed decision on whether to fit one or not.

So I'm sorry that you find the notion that "road cars shouldn't have roll cages " silly or annoying. However some of us have considered fitting a roll cage ourselves, but having weighed up all the considerations, have then made a well considered and informed decision not to fit one because we genuinely believe this to be the case.

Besides without both sides to this debate being put forward, how can anybody reading this thread be expected to make a reasoned or informed decision as to whether to fit one or not?

sometimes its fate

but on to the roll cages, it could be that they can cause people in the cars to hit their heads in a collision, but what happens when someone has been persuaded to not fit a cage sticks it into a ditch and gets crushed? im just saying that its down to personal opinion, and also down to them fitting padding if they do, and if they want. and informing them is fine, and what you would expect from asking many many more experienced people, such as yourselves. i just think we are going in circles, a bit.

[AVV IT]

but what happens when someone has been persuaded to not fit a cage sticks it into a ditch and gets crushed?

The same thing that happens to some one who sustains a serious head injury or rapid deceleration injury, as a result of having a cage fitted. They have to deal with the consequences of the decision that they made for themselves. Which is why it's so important to consider all the information available and make an informed decision for yourself, based on a number of different factors and not just be persuaded solely by one persons individual experience or point of view.

[Andrew O]

but what happens when someone has been persuaded to not fit a cage sticks it into a ditch and gets crushed?

The same thing that happens to some one who sustains a serious head injury or rapid deceleration injury, as a result of having a cage fitted. They have to deal with the consequences of the decision that they made for themselves. Which is why it's so important to consider all the information available and make an informed decision for yourself, based on a number of different factors and not just be persuaded solely by one persons individual experience or point of view.

I think at the end of the day this is just one of those subjects where everyone has there own opionio. However I do think it is unfair and unrealistic to compare roll cages to seat belts as they are designed for and do two completely different things.
In my opinion I don't think people can argue not wearing a seat belt ( I know your only talking about 1% of the time ) as very extensive tests are undergone every year to improve the safety function of a seat belt.
As there is NO REAL EVIDENCE either way to say a roll cage works or not I do know that roll cages work very well in rally cars ( And don't kill there drivers ) and because of this I WILL be fitting when to my Mini when it is ready to be on the road.
Thank you.....Andrew

[GTIAlex06]

If you just have a rear roll cage, woll you need padding and things to protect the driver (no rear passengers)

[Andrew O]

If you just have a rear roll cage, woll you need padding and things to protect the driver (no rear passengers)

Doesn't protect as much as a full one then

[Black.Ghost]

I had intentions of fitting a roll cage a while ago, and then decided against it - not for safety reasons but aesthetic reasons.

However, once Oliver is sorted and on the road, I intend to build some kind of track car, and I'll put one in that, simply as the chance of a head on collision is fairly small in track use whereas rolling or flipping is more likely. However, it will have a proper seat and harness and I'll be wearing a helmet.

However, if you do fit a roll cage to a car, make sure its not just for cosmetic reasons and get a proper one. Clearly having one that will provide no rolling protection but will crush you anyway is not a good idea. I would also suggest anyone fitting one should at least put padding on the bars. Whatever accident you have, smashing your head off a steel bar isn't going to be nice.

An interesting debate though. A good read for anyone considering putting a cage in. I think we all know that the seat belts work most of the time but sometimes they are the cause of problems, and that sometimes cages save lives and other times they cause problems. A lot of people seem unwilling to see both sides though.

[Cooperman]

If you fit a proper roll cage, FIA-approved seats fitted solidly with no tilt or adjust mechanism, full harness belts, and if the roll cage is padded with the proper padding, there can be little doubt that in a serious crash you will be better protected. That's what I have in my rally cars.
But, I don't fit a cage in my road Minis as I want 4 seats, don't want to have to put full harness belts on every time I go out and don't want to have to 'climb' into the full-on bucket seats. To fit a cage without all these other bits will not really make you any safer. A Mini with all the safety kit is most definately just a 2-seat car and the seat is fixed for the main driver, requiring removal and re-fitting for a different sized driver.