“Is karting actually safe for kids?” You’re probably thinking…

One of the first questions every single parent asks before letting their child drive a kart for the first time is simple, is karting actually safe and well, you can argue that it is not, but the reality is that quick disclaimer, of course, karting is a dangerous sport. As anything related to motor sports, you have to deal with high speeds, and anything that deals with high speeds is going to have a factor of danger. Now, how dangerous it is, does the danger actually outweighs the benefits and the feelings of driving a go kart then, well, nobody can actually answer that. In my case, when I got into the kar for the very first time, it was just love at first sight. I could feel the speed, I could feel excitement. I could feel the passion, the adrenaline, and it was just not going back ever since. And I just cannot see my life without driving a go kart. And yeah, that’s probably what other drivers felt as well, and that’s why the passion began. It’s to be honest, a very, very highly addictive sport. So yeah, that’s another quick disclaimer. Once you start karting for the first time, be ready to to get addicted to it, because it’s really addictive. I have not seen many other things in my life that are as addictive as karting. So you need to really be ready to take that into your life, because once you try the kart for the first time, or your child tries a go kart for the first time, it’s going to be very, very hard to get him rid of it. So, yeah, just think carefully before getting him for the first time into a go kart. Anyways, in this guide, I will reply some of the most frequently asked questions about this very common topic, which is whether karting is safe for kids or not.

How safe is karting compared to other youth sports?

Well, of course, you cannot say that karting is the safest sport in the world. That would be a lie at the end of the day, the speed level is a high risk factor, and the fact that you’re driving with other kids on track also makes it even more dangerous. So yes, karting is definitely not the safest sport for kids. Is it the most dangerous? I don’t think so. I think, for example, Motorbikes are actually more dangerous. Perhaps even downhill biking or even skiing could be on the same level of danger when it comes to extreme sports. So it’s one of those extreme sports that you know, kids do, and overall athletes do. So yeah, it’s definitely a risky sport, but I believe is not actually the most dangerous one of all.

What are the most common injuries in court?

The most common injuries you get from karting are broken ribs, especially if you are not using a proper rib protector. And if you have high G forces, there can be the chance that you may hurt your ribs. But also if you have contacts, I mean, if you have big contacts, you can have broken ribs as well. I think that is the most common thing, and I guess it’s a it’s part of the game. I’ve had fracture ribs a couple of times. And, I mean, I’ve seen other drivers do it as well. So it’s, it’s quite a common injury, to be honest, but you recover it quite quickly. Within two months, you’re back in the kar. Besides that, if you flip, you can also perhaps break your collarbone. For example, I have broken my collarbone once, and I am still alive today, no problem, but I guess, yes, it was very painful at that moment. I’m not trying to scare you, but I’m just like, you know it happened. I flipped trying to go a bit too fast through a chicane, and I clipped the New Jersey on the inside of the chicane, which basically launched me and flipped me over. But again, within three weeks, I was back in the kart with a recovered surgery. Then another common injury is, for example, wrists. So if, for example, somebody drives over you, over your steering wheel, they can damage your wrists. But I believe this is a very uncommon injury. To be honest, anything could happen, really, because you’re exposing yourself and you’re driving without seat belts, but I believe that, to be honest, it is not as dangerous as you expect. Yes, you might flip over sometimes and get some bruises. I mean, that’s going to be quite not common, but you know it’s going to be possible. And I guess every driver has probably flipped at least once, but it’s not the end of the day. I mean, it happens. And thankfully, the karts are not too heavy, and so they actually are not going to be that bad on your body if they get over you in case of a flip.

How often do serious accidents actually happen?

I think not that often. I think it really depends from the competitiveness of the category and the amount of drivers that are racing that specific race. It’s really, really hard to assess how many serious accidents are happening, but I would say probably in the world, karting world, probably like one or two major accidents per year, like very big accidents per year, like shocking ones that somebody completely breaks their bones, etc. But again, it’s not that common. Of course, you very often see drivers flipping, but yeah, again, as I said, you can flip every once in a while, but it’s unlikely that you’re going to get an injury every time you flip. You know what I mean, it’s not that likely that you get injured every time you flip.

What safety equipment protect kids the most?

I feel the equipment that protects the most. I mean, it’s quite obviously the helmets. I mean, you would be a fool not to dry with a helmet. And I mean, obviously it’s not allowed even to race without the helmet. You need to have not just the helmet. You know, you need to have a specifically homologated helmet under FIA regulations. So you need to have everything basically homologated, from your safety equipment, from your suit, your gloves, your race boots, your rib protector. So you really need to have everything that is homologated so that you’re going to drive in a safe way for yourself and for others. Besides the helmet, of course, there’s also the rib protector. I think the rib protector is a major thing that you need to really have. And it’s, of course, need to be a homologated as well, and it’s going to prevent you to have rib injuries. And really just

from the casual driving. You know, it’s not just about impacts or crashes. You know, it’s just like casually driving around the track. You need to really have a re protector. Otherwise, with the high grip conditions, you’re going to crack your ribs, and you don’t want that, because that’s going to be very, very painful. So make sure you always use a protector.

How safe are modern according circuit?

I feel the modern circuits are very safe. Of course, it really depends from circuit to circuit and from country to country. I mean, some circuits and some countries have got higher safety standards, whereas other circuits and other countries have lower safety centers. I mean, at the end of the day, the circuit also plays a massive role in terms of safety. For example, if there’s not enough runoff areas and there’s, like, for example, walls instead of, you know, like fences or new jerseys, you know, it’s obviously going to be 10 times more unsafe than if you had something that is much more protective and much more absorbing.

What role do marshals and race directors play in safety?

For sure, marshals and race directors need to be very experienced and have a clear idea and all the standards for safety, because based on their decisions, it’s going to affect massively the consequences of a specific race in terms of safety. For example, if there is a big crash and race director doesn’t give a yellow flag, or, for example, doesn’t give a slow procedure or a red flag, given it’s going to actually create a massive dangerous situation for the other kids that are, either, you know, having an incident, or that could potentially have an incident,

are rental karts tracks safer than racing circuits.

I feel they’re quite safe because they have the tech pro barriers that are very protective. Of course, the speeds that the indoor rental karts are are definitely lower than professional go karts. Therefore you cannot expect, really, to compare apples to apples in a way, the lower the speed, the lower the dangers at the end of the day. So yeah, I guess actually the rental tracks are safer in a way, but simply because the speed is less. But still, the tech pro barriers are going to make the tracks also very, very safe.

At what age is karting considered safe for children?

There is no real age that is going to declare it safe for children. To be honest, I’ve noticed kids as early as four to five years old getting started in karting with very skinny bones and very, you know, skinny bodies. But still, they did it, and was no problem with that. Of course, yes, if they crash and the heaviness of their karts goes above them, for sure, it’s quite a bit more dangerous than then. Of course, if they were like 910, or 11 years old, that’s definitely a thing to keep in mind. If you are getting your kid involved, it needs to be driving karts that are much lighter, so in case of a bad accident, he’s going to be able to withstand the weight of the kart. So yeah, that has to be a thing to pay attention to. The weight is big thing, of course. Karts. You should not overpower the karts for very young kids, I mean, it should be driving low power karts, and ideally, they should be in a safe environment where there’s no fast kids with the faster karts, because that will make it very dangerous, because it’s not just about you, it’s also about who is around you. So if you are putting a very unexperienced kid inside of, let’s say, very experienced drivers, is going to create a massive danger situation for all the other drivers, including the kid himself that has no idea what he’s doing. So yeah, if you want to put a kid that is very, very young into karts, then of course, you need to choose a day or a track where there’s basically nobody else and get him to drive in a safe way without getting overtaken left and right by much faster karts. So there’s many things really to pay attention to. So it’s not just the kart, it’s not just the speed of the kar, it’s not only the weight, but it’s also the track conditions, the track facilities in terms of safety, as well as the presence of other karts on the track.

At the same time, what mistakes make karting more dangerous than it needs to be,

I think, not wearing proper safety equipment. That was probably the most dangerous thing. That is definitely when you have, for example, rib protectors that are not perfectly fitting the driver, maybe too small or too large, as well as seats maybe too small or too large, you’re gonna create a situation of danger. Besides that, I think that the common mistakes that parents do is, for example, throwing a completely inexperienced driver into a track that has high experienced drivers that are going way faster than him, and so of course, that’s going to create a situation of dangers in case one of the drivers may crash into him because he may be going too slow or in an unpredictable way. So the best way to avoid that is to simply choose a day where there’s not many kids on track and that are not that much faster than him. And of course, you know that’s going to create the least amount of danger.

What should parents look for in a safe karting Academy?

The things that they should look at, of course, are things like safe go karts that are well maintained. So maintenance is key. That is the number one thing. And besides that, it’s the truck facility. So the specific tracks that the racing academies go if they choose very high safety standards circuits, or if they choose low safety standard circuits, I think that is what we do at baby race. We are going to take the kids to the safest environments, and I feel that it’s the number one thing that we do. Besides that, yes, we make sure our karts are very well maintained. But besides Yes, choosing the right circuits, we also make sure that the days we choose are the best, so that we are getting the kids in a safe environment without other drivers that are flying by around them that are going to create situational danger.

What safety habits should kids learn from day one?

One of the safety habits that kids should learn from day one is that when they are coming out of the pit lane, for example, they should be careful when joining the track. That’s a very, very important thing. The second thing they want to make sure is that when they are coming back into the pit lane and they’re coming off the track, basically they need to raise their hand to signal the driver behind that they are basically going through the pits to avoid the driver behind crashing into them. And then, of course, they will need to drive in a predictable way so they will not have to do sudden change of direction is like a zigzag, because that’s going to basically create massive situations of danger. So like many sports, karting carries big risks, but when done in the right environment with proper equipment and coaching, it can be one of the fastest ways for kids to experience the thrill of motorsport. This is adrenaline streets purists, and it would be a shame to not experience this, just for the dangers the sports present, as many, many other sports that include dangers you will have to deal with proper safety equipment, safety standards from the circuit, as well as safety behavior that the drivers need to follow. So if you want your kid to become the next max or stop and let’s get in touch, I will try my best to make that happen. I’ve got a six month training program that is designed for that, as well as a remote online coaching service that helps you do just that.