Safety is a subject that is always simmering on the back burner in the auto racing world. When a fatal accident occurs, the outside world turns the heat up to high.
Over the last 25 years, the Verizon IndyCar Series has been in that position on a more regular basis than other mainstream forms of racing. Safety improvements have been made to both tracks and cars, but Indy car drivers still pay the ultimate price much more frequently than drivers in NASCAR or Formula 1.
The death of Justin Wilson, who perished from injuries suffered in an Aug. 23 IndyCar Series race at Pocono Raceway, has put IndyCar racing's safety record under the microscope again. Wilson was the ninth Indy car driver to die since 1992.
Meanwhile, it's been nearly fifteen years since the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt Sr., arguably the most important event in prompting NASCAR to take a proactive approach to safety. It resulted in structural changes to the cars, as well as tougher standards for driver safety equipment, including the mandating of full-face helmets and head and neck support (HANS) devices.
However, an even bigger advance in oval racing safety came with the development of the SAFER Barrier, a soft-wall system now in universal use at oval tracks across America, with both IndyCar and NASCAR reaping its benefits.
Formula 1 went through a bleak period from the late 1960s to the early 1980s when it seemed at least one driver was killed every year. But prior to the recent death of Jules Bianchi from injuries sustained when his car hit a safety vehicle in a freak accident during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, more than 20 years had transpired since the sport's last fatality. That record reflects the attention F1 paid to circuit safety, car construction and a pioneering approach to on-site medical staff and facilities.
In terms of circuit safety at road racing venues, IndyCar racing has long lagged far behind F1. Lined by concrete wall and fence, and featuring hazardous obstacles including trees and utility poles, the IndyCar Series' many temporary street courses are considerably more dangerous than the purpose-built road courses that make up 90 percent of the F1 schedule.
"IndyCar racing is dangerous, and I think that's always been a part of it," said 2012 IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. "It's not necessarily an oval or road course thing. The ovals tend to be more dangerous because we're traveling at a higher rate of speed.
"It's time to make that next SAFER Barrier," he added. "I think at oval tracks in general, we need to start looking into the next 20 years -- maybe making the walls a little bit higher, maybe coming up with something a little bit better than mesh fencing and poles. We need to start moving forward on it.
"IndyCar has always been at the forefront of safety and I give them a lot of credit for that."
Many of the safety advances developed in F1 cars transferred to Indy cars within a few years, most notably the carbon fiber composite chassis construction pioneered by McLaren's John Barnard in the early 1980s.
"The drivers had protection for the first time, and that was a big transition for safety. It was much more efficient," said F1 and IndyCar champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
"There is no way I would have survived the [IndyCar] crash I had at Michigan in 1996 even five or six years earlier. And it continues to get better and better."
Still, since the death of rookie Jovy Marcelo in a relatively low-speed wreck during practice for the 1992 Indianapolis 500, IndyCar racing has encountered a fatal accident roughly once every four years. It happened twice within a couple of months during the 1996 and '99 seasons.
The wounds are again fresh, caused by the death of Wilson in an accident at Pocono Raceway that was even more unforeseeable than Bianchi's. Wilson was struck in the helmet by a large piece of debris from another driver's crash and never regained consciousness.
The shock of seeing a racing driver killed caused some outside observers to overreact, with one national sports columnist calling for the IndyCar Series to be shut down on grounds of safety. Those within the sport took a more measured approach, acknowledging that IndyCar racing has more inherent risks than other forms of motorsport. There is plenty of work to be done, but today's drivers don't find the risks unacceptable.
"The series is always looking at safety, and I feel like they are at the forefront of safety in motor racing," said Ryan Briscoe, who has survived two spectacular Indy car accidents during the past decade. "But at the same time, I think that Indy car is one of the most dangerous forms of motor racing that exists. There's always that challenge. They have to be at the forefront of safety because of the dangers involved.
"The accident at Pocono with Justin is a brutal reminder that we just need to keep working on it," he added. "There's not much IndyCar could have done to prevent the outcome. It's just bad luck and a terrible situation."
That's the thing about Wilson's accident: It truly was an accident. He wasn't killed because he crashed his car pushing the limit, or because something on the car broke. He died because an almost infinite number of factors combined to cause a chunk of a car that had crashed almost half a mile ahead of him to hit one tiny area of vulnerability -- his exposed helmet in the open cockpit of his car.
Almost immediately, the call went out for the IndyCar Series to investigate whether some kind of roll cage or jet fighter-style canopy could have prevented Wilson's death. But sometimes, when attention is focused on one area, it can inadvertently cause problems elsewhere.
In the tiny confines of an Indy car cockpit, canopies could cause ventilation and visibility problems for the drivers and adversely affect rescue efforts after a crash.
There's also the question of whether any canopy would have protected Wilson from the force of what was estimated as an 8-pound piece of debris at an impact speed of roughly 160 mph.
"Obviously in IndyCar right now, attention needs to be paid to reducing any objects that could eventually fly off a car," said driver Graham Rahal. "You're never going to reduce them all, but I think there are some key things we could get rid of that would help. The rear pods, for an example, are an area for debate.
"We have a great opportunity to take a major step forward," he noted. "It's just sad that it always takes something like this to get to that point, but we do have an opportunity."
As a group, IndyCar drivers understand why the series is under fire. But due to the unusual nature of the accident that killed Wilson, they caution against a rush to judgment or knee-jerk reaction.
"I mean, Monica Seles got stabbed on a tennis court," Briscoe said.
"Anything can happen, so you just need to keep working on the things that you can work on."