How I Became a Death-Defying 'Danger Angel'
From the June 1995 issue of Car and Driver.
The most convincing testimony as to the driving skills of the daredevil flock that has evolved into the Joie Chitwood Chevy Thunder Show is that, in more than 50 years of crash-and-burn mayhem, only two drivers associated with the Chitwoods—one a guy called Lucky—have been killed in the line of duty.
The stunt that killed Lucky Teeter at the Indianapolis State Fair during World War II was called "The Aerial Rocket Car Leap." Lucky had dreamed it up a decade earlier. It's a ramp-to-ramp leap in a car, and when his vehicle fell short of the second ramp, that was it for Lucky.
After Lucky went to his reward, a young stuntman in his troupe named Joie Chitwood bought his equipment and started his own show. And when Joie died in 1988, he left behind his name and his show to his sons Joie Jr. and Tim.
The rocket leap is now the specialty of 39-year-old Tim Chitwood. For 29 years, Tim has made a living spinning cars around on a dime and turning them into metal roughage. For this, the show's grand finale, he drives a Chevy Camaro full-throttle into the mouth of a steel tube just eight feet in diameter and 20 feet long. Barreling upward through it, he launches the Camaro through a shower of fireworks and over a row of four or five junkers before he lands some 65 feet away.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
The Chitwood fleet of Chevys.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Lattimore creates the Wall of Doom.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Dominick teaches Padgett the finer points of groping a 1978 Olds.
As I will soon find out, the interaction between the fire and my skull will deliver the same thrill, approximately, as breaking down a locked door with my forehead.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
The team also buys a not-so-fresh set of junkyard-ready bombers for each fair, and subjects each one to a unique form of mercy killing.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
I scribble frantically to keep up. How fast do we go anyway, Bill? "It's about 50. The faster you go through, the less you feel it."
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
The Chitwood Danger Angels line up and then instantly break out of formation, leap into the Chevys, and erupt into a spray of dirt on the main straightaway.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Tim heads for the Ferris wheel—sideways.
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
Dick Kelley
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Car and Driver
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A survivor becomes an activist Kuhn, who is starting law school at New York University this fall, took action and founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward. Its aim was to raise public awareness and eventually encourage members of Congress to sign onto a bill that would require NHTSA to incorporate a more advanced female dummy into its testing. The agency has the final word on whether cars get pulled from the market, and the kind of dummy used in its safety tests could impact which ones receive coveted five-star ratings. 'It seems like we have an easy solution here where we can have crash test dummies that reflect an average woman as well as a man,' Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican who has introduced the legislation the past two sessions, told The Associated Press. Senators from both parties have signed onto Fischer's 'She Drives Act,' and the transportation secretaries from the past two presidential administrations have expressed support for updating the rules. But for various reasons, the push for new safety requirements has been moving at a sluggish pace. That's particularly true in the U.S., where much of the research is happening and where around 40,000 people are killed each year in car crashes. Evolution of a crash test dummy The crash test dummy currently used in NHTSA five-star testing is called the Hybrid III, which was developed in 1978 and modeled after a 5-foot-9, 171-pound man (the average size in the 1970s but about 29 pounds lighter than today's average). What's known as the female dummy is essentially a much smaller version of the male model with a rubber jacket to represent breasts. It's routinely tested in the passenger seat or the back seat but seldom in the driver's seat, even though the majority of licensed drivers are women. 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Europe incorporated the more advanced male dummy developed by Humanetics' engineers, the THOR 50M (based on a 50th percentile man), into its testing procedures soon after Kuhn's 2019 crash in Ireland. Several other countries, including China and Japan, have adopted it as well. But that model and the female version the company uses for comparison, the THOR 5F (based on a 5th percentile woman), have been met with skepticism from some American automakers who argue the more sophisticated devices may exaggerate injury risks and undercut the value of some safety features such as seat belts and airbags. A debate over whether more sensors mean more safety Bridget Walchesky, 19, had to be flown to a hospital, where she required eight surgeries over a month, after a 2022 crash near her home in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, that killed her friend, who was driving. While acknowledging the seat belt likely saved her life, Walchesky said some of the injuries — including her broken collarbone — were the result of it pinning her too tightly, which she views as something better safety testing focused on women could improve. 'Seat belts aren't really built for bodies on females,' Walchesky said. 'Some of my injuries, the way the force hit me, they were probably worsened.' The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, said in a statement to the AP that the better way to ensure safety — which it called its top priority — is through upgrades to the existing Hybrid dummy rather than mandating a new one. 'This can happen on a faster timeline and lead to quicker safety improvements than requiring NHTSA to adopt unproven crash test dummy technology,' the alliance said. Humanetics' THOR dummies received high marks in the vehicle safety agency's early tests. Using cadavers from actual crashes to compare the results, NHTSA found they outperformed the existing Hybrid in predicting almost all injuries — including to the head, neck, shoulders, abdomen and legs. A separate review by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research arm funded by auto insurers, was far more critical of the dummy's ability to predict chest injuries in a frontal crash. Despite the vast expansion in the number of sensors, the insurance institute's testing found, the male THOR dummy was less accurate than the current Hybrid dummies, which also had limitations. 'More isn't necessarily better,' said Jessica Jermakian, senior vice president for vehicle research at IIHS. 'You also have to be confident that the data is telling you the right things about how a real person would fare in that crash." The slow pace of changing the rules NHTSA's budget plan commits to developing the female THOR 5F version with the ultimate goal of incorporating it into the testing. But there could be a long wait considering the THOR's male version adopted by other countries is still awaiting final approval in the U.S. A 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office, which conducts research for Congress, cited numerous 'missed milestones' in NHTSA's development of various crash dummy enhancements — including in the THOR models. Kuhn acknowledges being frustrated by the slow process of trying to change the regulations. She says she understands why there's reluctance from auto companies if they fear being forced to make widespread design changes with more consideration for women's safety. 'Fortunately, they have very skilled engineers and they'll figure it out,' she said. Jeff Mcmurray, The Associated Press
