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Stock Car Racing

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Racing has been a beloved sport for many years, by many people in America. People are able to release their stress and focus on a hobby with friends and family by racing many different forms of vehicles. Overtime, racing safety standards have changed and become stricter in order to prevent fatalities. Unfortunately, there are many dangers involved in racing. As time progresses, so does the modern technology of many different forms of racing. Many different types of racecars are getting faster, and in turn making them much more unsafe. Although, some may argue that as the motorsports industry gets faster, the safety technology also gets more effective. The National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) is one of the most popular forms of …show more content…

Modern changes in technology are bound to happen with anything. For example, the ways that cell phone’s have changed overtime is very significant. The same modern technological changes have appeared in racing. There are many different ways that the changes have been made including the helmet technology, racing suits, cars overall, and even the race tracks have modern updates. The Peltzman effect is a theory studied to see if modern changes or just a simple change of rule, will create more risky behavior among racers. According to Adam Pope and Robert Tollison (2010), “The Peltzman (1975) effect predicts that when automobile safety regulations are made mandatory, at least some of their benefits will be offset by changes in behavior of drivers” (p 507). This theory is very interesting when viewing the behaviors of drivers and something that may stand to be true. The tragic loss of Dale Earnhardt resulted in major safety changes. Adam Pope and Robert Tollison also …show more content…

With over 75 million viewers, they must stay on top of safety to ensure no one is hurt on live television or at the racetrack with families out having a great time. The sport is not about people getting hurt, and it is time that drivers and families are able to enjoy all types of racing, including NASCAR without the worry of fatality. Although there is not a quick and cheap fix to preventing fatalities in racing, it is important that technology is being put to its best use to lessen the chances. NASCAR has came a long way in safety since the death of Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt’s death was a huge and unfortunate wake up call to track owners, families, and drivers. If they are going to race these cars, they need to utilize the safety technology available to them. New and improved safety technology for racing comes at a steep cost, but it is hard to put a price on life. The Peltzman effect is a very interesting theory, which views new safety rules and regulations and how they increase dangers in other forms. It was found after NASCAR made the HANS device a requirement after Earnhardt’s death, that cautions while racing were more common. This Peltzman effect makes people rebel and become more dangerous because they are implementing a new safety mechanism. This could be because they feel more safe in their racecars, or that they believe it is unfair they have to use the new

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