Its really sad for indycar and racers in general...just a few inches more and it woulda missed him...im not sure what anyone can do now though. I hear alot about canopies but i think those would bring just as much trouble as they solve.

There's a growing group that support the idea of a Supermodified-style rollcage with a lexan panel on front in addition to(not in place of) the current rollhoop structure. All the potential benefits of a canopy with none of the drawbacks, and the car is still open-cockpit for the purists(Aside from the whiny ones, at least).

It probably won't be enough to prevent deaths like Dan Wheldon and Jules Bianchi -which need catchfence redesigns and better caution procedures respectively- but they could do a great deal for debris deflection.

Im all for full canopy but it cant impact periferal vision. Thats my biggest knock for them especially in indycar because it would cause rather serious accidents. Plus the material has to be dense enough to take a 5lb pice at 200+mph without caving in. But if its too dense it will be harder to see from and with getting dirty on the track you would need tear offs and even then alot of tear offs makes it hard to see...its choosing the lesser of two evils weather to make one or not. Strong arguments can be made for both...just gotta see how it plays out.

My biggest concern about a canopy is driver extraction in an inverted flaming car - a rare occurrence outside of top fuel dragsters these days, but one that cannot be discounted. The obvious solution is doors on the sides like on an LMP, but that will impact structural integrity - LMPs have bigger cockpits with more structure to make up for this.

Thing with the rollbar idea is that materials like lexan and perspex actually gain strength in thinner forms when they're properly bolted to a frame. So if you've got to put the cage in to maximize the strength of the canopy without loss of vision, do you even really NEED the full canopy?

The only thing stopping me from suggesting a pair of forward pillars reinforcing a top fuel-style windscreen and nothing else is because of the concern over a car slipping off of the rollbar and onto the driver's head - something that nearly happened to Mikhail Aleshin last year.

I heard alot of talk about that idea from a max Chilton interview said there were issues with that design like structural integrity and impacts from objects. The FIA is testing a few designs next month on f1 cars so we will see how that plays out

That we shall.