Front bulkhead and roll hoop support?

[SR-Mike]

I've been interested to see the drawings of some teams new cars, especially when looking at how the rules regarding front bulkhead and front roll hoop support have been interpreted.

3.3.6.2 Front Bulkhead Support
(B) The Support must have node-to-node triangulation with at least one
diagonal brace per side.

3.3.5.2 Front Hoop Bracing
(C) The Front Hoop braces must be constructed such that they protect
the driver's legs and should extend to the structure in front of the
driver's feet.

Nearly all drawings i've seen meet one of these rules but not both. The front bulkhead support rule has been covered in the official forum ( http://www.formulasae.org/forums/formula/dispatch.cgi/r....6.2%20Triangulation (http://www.formulasae.org/forums/formula/dispatch.cgi/rules/docProfile/100075/d20051101140123/No/3.3.6.2%20Triangulation) ). The link includes a link to an excel sheet which is meant to clarify things. However as far as i can see most of the designs that are given the "OK" dont meet the roll hoop support rules.

I personally just dont like the word "should" being used in the rules, and by legs to they mean feet too?

Any thoughts?

Mike

[HenningO]

"Should doesn't mean must"

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

1.7.6 Violations of Intent

The violation of intent of a rule will be considered a violation of the rule itself.
Questions about the intent or meaning of a rule may be addressed to the Formula
SAE Rules Committee or by the individual competition organizers as appropriate.

[Wright D]

If you plan on driving the cars you build, and you like your feet, or at least using them in the fashion you are accustomed to, then you should not need a rule to tell you to reinforce the front of your car. I'm not saying make a an indestructible 100 lb battering ram out of your foot box, but accidents happen, even to fsae cars. If my or my teammates' feet are going to be crammed into the front of a fsae car, then I would like to know that if I/they hit a curb, light pole, tool box, whatever, that I/they will WALK away.

[KU_Racing]

I agree with Wright D for sure- you should have to be told to make your car safe. If you read through the SAE forum, one guy asked about this already, and was told that 'should' means that it is unecessary, so not running the front hoop supports to the front bulkead does not violate the 'intent of the rules' clause.