Investing in roll cage safety can significantly reduce the risk of injuries in car accidents, making it an important consideration for competitive drivers. However, only a few drivers realize the significant implications of using a roll cage, especially for street use. If misused, a roll cage car can be more dangerous than one without it.
If you are considering modifying your street or racetrack vehicle with a roll cage, read along to make a well-informed decision and learn about the functionality, safety, and legality of roll cages and the issues you might encounter when fitting one yourself.
What Does a Roll Cage Do?
A roll cage is a specially designed metal framework built inside a vehicle to protect the driver and passengers during accidents, particularly rollovers and high-impact crashes. To do so, a roll cage improves the cabin's structural integrity and prevents it from collapsing in the event of a crash. Beyond this primary purpose, roll cages also contribute to the overall rigidity of the chassis. By reinforcing the chassis, they reduce flexing during high-speed cornering, which improves handling and performance. Some car enthusiasts may also opt for a roll cage for styling purposes.
Roll cages are made of steel, chromoly, or other high-strength materials to serve their primary purpose best. However, contrary to what many believe, a roll cage can even be made too strong. Welds that are too strong might result in the bars sheering and creating a safety hazard instead of preventing it. Certified roll cages undergo extensive testing to ensure their safety, and this is why it might not be the best idea to weld your DIY roll cage. The certification process involves complex destructive testing, which provides peace of mind to the owner of the roll cage-equipped car, and the safety enhancement is reliable and effective. In other words, developing a roll cage is a meticulous task and isn’t necessarily suitable for a DIY job.
Is It Safe to Drive a Car with a Roll Cage?
Roll cage safety can go both ways depending on how it is installed. In professional race events, cars are never equipped with a roll cage only. Instead, the roll cage comes bundled with other safety equipment, such as racing seats, seat belt harnesses, roll bar padding, and and other important items. The padding might seem unimportant, but even in a minor accident, hitting your head on the metal bars may have serious consequences. For this reason, padding should be carefully considered. Your car is equipped with all of those mentioned above, and the roll cage is professionally designed and welded, so it is most likely safe to drive. However, should you omit one of the safety features, it can quickly become unsafe during an accident.
In short, a roll cage car is safe to drive when the following criteria are met:
- The roll cage is professionally designed, tested, and welded.
- The vehicle also has a seat belt harness and racing seats.
- The roll cage is padded (to reduce the risk of injury should you come in contact with the roll cage in an accident).
- The driver and passengers wear helmets.
What Are the Cons of a Roll Cage?
The most significant con is the need to use additional safety equipment with a roll cage, as suggested above. For use on the street, it is at the very least inconvenient to wear a helmet and 5- or 6-point harness seat belts, yet it’s what you must do to stay safe. In another case, a roll cage could become a safety hazard.
Suppose you are looking to install a roll cage on a classic car. In that case, you should also consider that it affects its originality and may negatively impact its resale value in the future, as the chassis and interior trim may have to be irreversibly modified.
You’ll also have to deal with the vehicle being more cumbersome to get in and out of daily. The bars may also worsen the view out of the vehicle and make the interior feel tighter, making it less comfortable on long drives.
In general, if you’re looking for extra protection for your street car, opting for a roll bar instead is better. Especially on convertibles, this is a great solution that can benefit both safety and aesthetic purposes. It also improves the structural rigidity of a vehicle, all while not presenting any hazard in terms of safety, unlike an improperly used roll cage.
Are They Street Legal? Understanding the Regulations
The legality of roll cages is one of the major concerns when installing one on a street car. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, as laws vary from state to state. In most states, however, cars with a roll cage are legal when appropriately installed. Nonetheless, using a roll cage for street driving is not advisable.
Associated with this topic are the regulations of motorsports events. While these vary from organizer to organizer, most hill climb and autocross events require convertibles to be equipped with at least a roll bar due to the increased risk of injury in a roll-over accident. For some events, rules are even stricter than this and require half or full cages to participate. If you intend to partake in such events, you should gather information about the roll cage car policy for your events first.
In conclusion, adding a roll cage to your vehicle can result in serious safety and performance benefits thanks to the increased structural rigidity. On the other hand, its installation brings serious implications. The implications are easy to overcome for use on the track, as you should be using a helmet and seat belt harnesses regardless. However, using this equipment for street driving is uncomfortable, at the very least. On top of this come the different laws and regulations in each country. For these reasons, we recommend avoiding installing roll cages on street vehicles, especially if you are doing so for aesthetic purposes only. On the other hand, if you take safety seriously and drive on the track, a roll cage is an excellent modification if used with additional safety equipment.
