#1752: DriverDuct

Following several tragic deaths and injuries to racing drivers recently, today’s invention attempts to provide a measure of added protection for the heads of drivers of open cockpit racing cars.

When any piece of airborne debris breaks one of a number of infrared beams which form a ‘cage’ around the cockpit area, the engine airduct is fired forward to encase the driver’s head and the rollbar.

The duct is propelled by a strong spring to cover the cockit in a few milliseconds. It moves on a pair of rails and when in the cover position, still allows the driver some forward field of view.

A driver might even be able to retract the hood, once the danger of impact had passed.