Demolition Derby Research Articles

Punch-Drunk Love

Punch-Drunk Love

Two cheers and a question

Observing the NHS reform agenda over the past eighteen months has been like watching a demolition derby. The fascinating, almost tragically inevitable procession of car crashes and wanton destruction - from ‘Commissioning A Patient-Led NHS’ to Baron Crisp of Eaglescliff to tariff to PCT and SHA redisorganisations - has managed to make the end sequence of The Blues Brothers movie look like a road safety advertisement.

Neck pain in demolition derby drivers

Simotas AC, Shen T. Neck pain in demolition derby drivers. Objective To investigate neck pain in demolition derby car drivers. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2005;86:693–6. Design Retrospective survey. Setting Internet administered. Participants Demolition derby drivers who visited the Web site of the International Demolition Derby Association. Interventions Not applicable. Main outcome measure Demolition derby neck pain questionnaire. Results Forty drivers participated in a mean of 30 career events and had an average of 52 car collisions per event, 55% being rear-end. Mean and maximum collision speeds were 26 and 45 miles/h (41.6km/h, 72km/h), respectively. Only 2 drivers reported their worst postparticipation neck pain lasted more than 3 months, and for 1 it lasted more than a year; for the majority, the worst neck pain event lasted less than 21 days. Three participants reported having mild chronic persistent derby-related neck pain (never went away). The remaining 37 drivers reported no chronic neck pain. The average pain episode was moderate or severe for 8, but for all respondents, the average pain episodes lasted less than 21 days. Ten reported chronic neck pain they believed was unrelated to derby competition (7 mild, 2 moderate, 1 severe). Conclusions These data suggest that derby drivers sustain less chronic neck pain after multiple car collision events than might otherwise be expected. Further study of this unique population of car drivers may contribute to understanding whiplash disorder.

A chemist contemplates models of intermolecular collisions: A game of billiards or a demolition derby

AbstractThe kinetic molecular theory is one of the major triumphs of the physical sciences. In the following essay, we trace its current quantitative formulation, which was derived from concepts introduced during the early decades of the 19th century. Its evolution incorporated a sequence of refinements of models and of detailed mathematical analyses. Remarkably, it bridges measurable macroscopic properties and molecular parameters. However, for chemical kinetics applications it is incomplete, and its intrinsic conceptual simplifications should not be overlooked when using the theoretically derived relations. Consideration should be given to limits of applicability, and to be cognizant of features that are not fully compatible with other molecular models that are derived from diverse sources. In some measure, quantum mechanical formulations of molecular encounters bypass some of the inadequacies of the classical treatment. Herein, the designation “molecular models” refers not only to the postulated shapes, sizes, and interaction potentials of the elementary particles but also to the underlying mathematical analyses that lead to relations between observable quantities. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 191–200, 2005

Art of the Demolition Derby: Gender, Space, and Antiproduction

Geographers have productively employed recent theories of performativity to investigate the ways in which space and identity (that is, gender, sexuality, and race) are interdependent, in that they produce and reinforce each other. Expanding on such work, in this paper I explore the spatial and performative aspects of artist Bill Featherston's representation of the sports and pastimes of his working-class hometown, specifically that of demolition derbies. Such theatrical spaces, both actual and represented, present a somewhat unusual challenge to geographers interested in how meaning and identity are negotiated within and through the production of specific sites. I examine how gender and the performance of capitalist production are at once reinforced and subverted through the creation and consumption of the spaces of realist art.

Demolition Derby Drivers and Chronic Whiplash Pain

Demolition Derby Drivers and Chronic Whiplash Pain

Thursday, October 31, 2001 3:47–4:17 pm Focused Review: Cervical Spine Surgery Complications: 3:47 Neck pain in demolition derby drivers

Purpose of study: The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of neck pain and associated symptoms in an unusual population of car drivers with high-risk behaviors for whiplash disorder.Methods used: Fifty members of the Demolition Derby Association returned a neck pain questionnaire that had been contacted through the association's internet website. Questions included the participant's exposure to demolition activity (years of participation, estimated number of collisions, approximate impact velocity, and so forth; demolition-related acute and chronic neck pain symptoms, divided into worst and average events and nondemolition neck pain history.of findings: Of the 50 respondents, (44 male, 6 female), 40 completed the entire survey. Average age was 27.8 years (range, 18 to 46). Sixty-six percent were employed full time. Drivers had participated in an average of 11 events over the previous 3 years and an average of 30 events over their total careers. They reported an average of 48 car collisions per event, 54% of these being rear-end collisions. Eighty-four the respondents were restrained drivers all of the time. Thirty-six percent respondents reported that they never wear neck protective gear. Participants estimated average collision speed was 26 miles/hour. Their estimated average maximum collision speeds were 45 miles/hour. Ten of the 50 respondents reported injuries requiring a physician's evaluation, although only 3 reported visits to a physician regarding neck pain. Two of 40 reported their worst postparticipation neck pain to have lasted more than 3 months, 1 of 40 lasting more than 1 year, but for the majority the worst neck pain lasted less than 21 days (27 or 40 less than 21 days, 9 of 40 none). Three participants reported mild chronic persistent neck pain (never went away) as a result of demolition driving experience. The remainder reported none. The average episode of neck pain was moderate or severe for 8 of 40 participants, but for all respondents average pain episodes lasted less than 21 days. Thirteen of 40 respondents reported experiencing some form of chronic neck pain they felt was unrelated to derby competition (33 none, 10 mild, 2 moderate, 1 severe).Relationship between findings and existing knowledge: Considerable controversy surrounds the understanding of whiplash injury with regard to its significance in the causation of chronic symptomology. Some studies suggest that as many as 50% of collision victims report persistent pain 6 months after the collision. By contrast, studies performed in sociological settings where no remuneration for injury exists suggested recovery by 95% of subjects within 6 weeks or less. Participants of demolition derby sport willingly subject themselves to repetitive car collision trauma and might be subject to a high incidence of whiplash. Demolition derby participants reported having undergone high numbers of car collisions in their lifetime at low to medium velocity collision speeds. In spite of this repeated traumatic exposure, only 3 of 40 respondents attributed any chronic neck pain to the sport itself, and those who did rated it mild.Overall significance of findings: The possible injury to the cervical spine resulting from motor vehicle collision appears to result in significantly less chronic pain in this setting where there is little or no medicolegal remuneration. Further study of this unique population of car drivers offers the possibility of greater understanding of whiplash disorder.Disclosures: No disclosures.Conflict of interest: No conflicts.

How Small Firms Innovate: Designing a Culture for Creativity

How does a company with 180 employees develop 90 new and radically different products a year? For IDEO, the answer lies in consciously establishing a corporate culture oriented toward creativity. Established as David Kelley Design in 1978, and renamed in 1991, this Palo Alto, California company does product development for hire--from computers (IDEO has done some 50 designs for Apple Computer Inc.), to medical equipment (including a laser-based blood analysis station), to automotive electronics (a recharging system for electric cars), to toys (a yo-yo is currently under development), to movie special effects (three-ton robot whales for Free Willy). IDEO sells itself to companies as offering a fresh look, top product designers, and speed, speed, speed--small projects can wrap up in a month or two, big ones rarely take longer than a year. In the past 15 years, IDEO has won some 27 Industrial Design Excellence Awards presented by Business Week, more than any other company. Tom Peters highlighted IDEO's creative culture in his book, Liberation Management. And Fortune magazine recently called the company one of Silicon Valley's secret weapons. IDEO's creative culture starts with hiring. The company does not recruit; in fact, it has never had any plans or desire to grow. We only hire people who [approach us] who we can't stand not to have in the company, founder Kelley said. Such people exhibit extremely high levels of intellectual curiosity. IDEO doesn't look for people who want to become experts on a certain subject; rather, it wants people who are always interested in doing something new, moving on to the next thing. Kelley calls people who prefer to design generation after generation of the same product, each time making it slightly better, concert pianists, and doesn't see a place for them in his lab. IDEO identifies its curious intellects by requiring that any potential hire be lunched by 10 current staffers. They rate the applicant in 10 or so categories, including love of product design, communication skills, technical knowledge, and drawing skills. A person needs all 9s or 10s to get hired, but once in, receives the company's full commitment. IDEO has never fired anybody, although a few employees have left because they got tired of the pressure to constantly innovate. Banning Bureaucracy IDEO keeps its staff creative by operating without a hierarchy. This company has taken the idea of the flat organization to an extreme. There are no organization charts, no titles. Titles, said Craig Sampson in IDEO's Chicago office, would focus attention away from what is important, which is the quality of the work. Most business cards contain only a field of specialty, like electrical engineering or interaction design. Only some 10 people around the company handle bureaucratic functions such as purchasing or tracking bills and payments; the other 170 dedicate themselves to innovation. With no opportunities for promotion or advancement to spur employees, motivation comes from peer pressure. It is about who can do the best job, who can come up with the most clever things, Kelley said, and employees think nothing of working 50 or 60 hour weeks to try to be the best. The no-promotion policy is an added plus for some employees, who elsewhere might be pushed up into management ranks and forced away from their first love, development. Other motivation comes in the form of internally produced trophies, presented at project completion ceremonies, and frequent parties and other gatherings. The company's Palo Alto offices hold a weekly bike ride, for example, and the company is currently holding a robot contest, where employees design mechanical devices to fight in a high-tech demolition derby. The key to avoiding hierarchy, in Kelley's view, is smallness. A typical IDEO site only houses about 25 employees. Too many more, Kelley said, and people wouldn't recognize everybody in the building, the company would have to institute security procedures, perhaps regulate vacations, and the bureaucracy would begin forming. …

What Lee Anne Hawkins Did With Her Life

FICTION What Lee Anne Hawkins Did With Her Life Elaine Fowler Palencia Ifyou've ever been in the office at the shirt factory, you've probably seen Lee Anne Hawkins's graduation picture. It sits in the glass display case by the door, along with her Best Student Award and the softball trophies won by the company team. Maybe you even remember when Lee Anne herself used to play under those big trees out front, making acorn dolls and drawing pictures on cardboard shirt inserts while she waited for her mother's shift to end. In those days old Mr. Tanner was still running things, and it amused him the way Lee Anne would sing out, "Hello, Mr. Eldon Tanner Senior!" as he was leaving at the end ofthe day. He would holler something back as he walked to his car, like asking what game she was playing, and one time Lee Anne shouted back that she was counting her money. She was about the age of his grandchildren, so he strolled over to see. Lee Anne showed him a pile of acorn caps that she said were dimes, some acorn nuts that were her nickels, and a bunch of pebbles that served for quarters . She was barely in school and small for her age. Mr. Tanner was so tickled by how tiny and serious she was that he pulled out several coins and told her that if she could tell him how much they totaled, she could have them all. Now Lee Anne had helped her Grandpa Hawkins at his roadside vegetable stand, so she counted up that change like a cash register. After that, Mr. Tanner would call out a simple addition or subtraction problem whenever he saw her, and if Lee Anne got it right, he'd give her a quarter and tell whoever might be passing that he was training her to be his payroll clerk. Elaine Fowler Palencia, who grew up in Morehead, Kentucky, and Cookeville, Tennessee, is a freelance writer and editor in Champaign, Illinois. This story is from her manuscript collection Small Caucasian Woman and Other Stories. 25 Lee Anne's mother Ada and two of Ada's sisters had each started working at the factory when they finished the eighth grade and they were proud as they could be of the way Lee Anne came up with those right answers for an important man like Mr. Tanner. They even started saying within the family that maybe Lee Anne could grow up to be the payroll clerk for real. It was the highest post they could imagine any ordinary person attaining: a clean job away from machines, and having to do with the most important part of people's lives, their salaries. The Hawkinses lived in a trailer out on Elliott Creek, but with Lee Anne showing so much promise, they decided to move to town so that she could have the advantages. They rented a little house on Second Street and enrolled Lee Anne in the college lab school, which charged a stiff tuition. Almost no county kids went there; it was twelve grades of town kids, a good part of them from faculty families. Ada worked overtime whenever she could and Buell, Lee Anne's daddy, took to fixing cars in their backyard after he got offwork at the Ford garage. In the summers he would enter demolition derbies at the various county fairs to bring in a little more extra. His sister, who worked at the laundry, made Lee Anne the most beautiful school clothes out of unclaimed dry cleaning. Once at a travelogue I heard that in France villages are known for their vineyards and in England for the age of their churches. Around here, towns are known for their high school stars. Mostly that means the homecoming queens and the basketball teams, but an excellent student can reach almost the same level of renown. The town owns these high school stars the way that a voting district owns its state representatives: you do what you do, not for yourself or even for your school, but for everybody, old and young. Early on, people knew that Lee Anne was...

Noise exposure from demolition derbies

Today's world of recreation offers a variety of opportunities for noise exposure. Demolition derbies are a popular activity at midwestern county fairs, where afficionados can attend two or three a week during July and August. A survey of three events yielded A-weighted sound levels in the grandstand varying from 60 dB to over 100 dB, depending on the activity and the proximity to the “pit.” Dosimeter readings for a 212-h event showed an Leq of 87 dB(A). Typical durations of these events do not appear to pose significant hearing hazards to members of the audience unless they are also exposed to other noisy hobbies or occupations. The drivers' noise exposures, however, are another matter.

Determining Factors in Choice of Arcade Games and their Consequences upon Young Male Players

Two experiments, one conducted with male university students and the other with male high school and junior high school students, investigated (a) determinants of preferences for driving‐type games widely available in public game arcades, and (b) the effects of extended play upon mood and motivation to continue playing. Four games were investigated: these were Death Race and Demolition Derby, which simulate violent, antisocial driving behavior; and Night Driver and Le Mans, which simulate skilled prosocial driving behavior. Preference for arcade games simulating aggressive behavior was found to be independent of personality and mood. However, preferences were closely related to the performers' c]apabilities. Players who exhibited higher levels of skill preferred the more skilldemanding games and those who showed less skill preferred aggression games, suggesting the operation of competency motivation in that the players preferred games appropriate to their level of skill. Subjects reported that the games were exciting, but extended play produced discomfort or an increase in negatively toned moods (fatigue, anxiety, and depression) and a decrease in positively toned moods (social affection, surgency, skepticism, concentration and vigor). However, these effects were not found to be a function of the anti‐ or prosocial content in the specific games studied and may well be effects accompanying activities that are subjectively fatiguing.

Norm Demolition Derbies: Rites of Reversal in Popular Culture*

Norm Demolition Derbies: Rites of Reversal in Popular Culture*