The Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety (AIMSS), a not-for-profit organisation, was established in 2007 and is the peak body for motorsport safety and related research in Australia.
AIMSS works in conjunction with Motorsport Australia in an advisory role and is a research partner of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Institute for Motor Sport Safety and Sustainability to develop safety through research, education and industry liaison.
As a result of its partnership status with the FIA Institute, AIMSS works to disseminate safety breakthroughs, news and information from around the world to the Australian motorsport community.
Contributions to AIMSS help keep Australia at the forefront of motorsport safety – benefiting Motorsport Australia members and licence holders at all levels.
When you think about, at all levels of Motorsport Australia accredited motorsport – from circuit to tarmac and off-road, we all ‘kit up’ and strap ourselves into our various race cars with a degree of expectation that we will remain safe. This expectation is often taken for granted with little thought as to how we arrived at this point.
Motorsport death and injury as a proportion of participants has plummeted in the modern era. Most of this a direct consequence of ongoing research, development and education around motorsport safety.
It’s only usually in an incident we appreciate that the current helmet, racesuit or Frontal Head Restraint (FHR) device standards may have saved us from injury or worse, or that our certified harness suitably restrained us whilst the rollcage did its job. The pursuit of increased safety in our sport will never stop and the FIA Institute is generally at the forefront of most motorsport safety related research, and AIMSS as a research partner of the Institute, has been involved in several key projects since its inception in 2007.
So as you keep up on some of the latest developments and research around motorsport safety, often conducted and first implemented around the elite levels of the sport, remember much of this research filters down and ultimately finds its way into even the very grassroots level of our sport.
AIMSS is very much part of that process. Not just research, but also dissemination of information, industry liaison and education. So your support as a Motorsport Australia licence holder via your licence fee, will ensure we can continue to play our role in advancing motorsport safety.
AIMSS is a not for profit organisation and engages industry, universities, specialised testing houses and other research bodies to carry out important research on behalf of AIMSS and the FIA Institute on motorsport related safety matters.
AIMSS work is primarily funded via memberships and the voluntary contributions from Motorsport Australia licence holders and research grants from the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety and Sustainability. AIMSS is also supported by the unpaid work of the AIMSS Directors and members of our Research Advisory Panel, and various motorsport industry suppliers and race teams.
Adequate funding is critical to the ongoing ability to conduct motorsport safety research and provide safety information and education programs for the benefit of all the Australian motorsport community.
AIMSS will be seeking to enhance its research funding base via Professional & Corporate Memberships.
Please contact us should you have interest in becoming a member.
AIMSS Research Rundown
The AIMSS Research Rundown outlines a snapshot of projects AIMSS has been active in to date, whilst reliant on appropriate funding being put in place, several new projects are being discussed/assessed/considered, some of which are also listed below.
This research program is part of a wider program commissioned by the FIA Institute. In Australia units are fitted to all V8 Supercars, the crash information from all cars from various FIA categories around the world are creating a bank of information that is of great importance in extending our knowledge of biomechanics and human tolerance to injury, influencing the design and regulation of safety equipment to ultimately benefit all Motorsport Australia licence holders.
Research commissioned by AIMSS has studied the effects of heat, hydration and carbon monoxide on drivers and crews over two major motorsport events. Those studies have provided up to date research data to the FIA Institute, and contributed to the development of the useful hydration guide for Motorsport Australia members, known as ‘Clear to Steer’.
This study collated data drawn from routine Motorsport Australia incident and injury reports over a 12 month period. This is a fundamental step towards rational risk assessment and countermeasure identification to develop improved safety measures for Motorsport Australia licence holders, officials and spectators.
Research and testing commission by AIMSS, determined that for Motorsport Australia licence holders, (excluding international events) the validity period of your FIA approved restrain harness is extended from 5 to 10 years.
Enhancing the safety of drivers through front and side impact testing of a full scale race car, allowing accurate data to be collated and a ‘bullet’ sled to be modelled and built from the results. This sled is already in use assessing impact outcomes and solutions, providing information for the FIA Institute in its ongoing pursuit of improved technical specifications for roll over and side intrusion protection systems.
Implementation into the Motorsport Australia regulations of specification for roll cage padding to protect the head and arms of drivers during an accident.
Providing a guide for Motorsport Australia competitors and owners of Historic Racing regarding how magnesium components are affected by age and stress.
Topics include Driver Hearing & Protection Guide, the use and fitting of Head & Neck Restraints, Safety Equipment and Apparel, Competition Seat & Fuel Cell validity period extension, Review of Extrication and Egress practices for crashed closed cars, In-car air filtering options, Protective Clothing for Drivers, Materials Degradation studies, Non Flammable Paints & Resins, Flammable materials audit in Cockpits, Restraint Harness releasing when Inverted, and the use of temporary road barriers for single release speed events, and Aging Competition Driver’s Capability.
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Motorsport Australia acknowledges Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.