There should always be teachable moments after a tragedy.

IndyCar Racing is at that crossroads now, much like NASCAR officials were in early 2001 after they buried their iconic hero, Dale Earnhardt. They zipped to it, fastidiously, making significant changes that included mandatory head-and-neck restraints.No driver has died in a NASCAR-sanctioned race involving its top three series since that fateful last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.Meanwhile, IndyCar keeps burying its dead: Dan Wheldon in 2011 after his car flew into a catchfence in Las Vegas and, most recently, Justin Wilson, at Pocono Raceway after he was struck on the helmet by what appeared to be the nose cone of a car. The dynamics of stock cars and open-wheel machines are apples and oranges, but there is one key thing that ties all of this together:Safety."Safety is not a goal you're going to reach," said former NASCAR star Jeff Burton, now an analyst with NBC Sports."You're not going to get done on a Friday night at 5 and say, 'Hey, we're done.' It goes 24/7, and it can never stop. And as long as that's the approach that's being taken, that's really all you can ask for."But the industry has to take that approach. It has to be in every form of racing. It has to be everybody - the drivers, the manufacturers, the sanctioning body, the racetrack. It takes everybody to make it work."Canopies - plastic enclosures over open cockpits - are now back at the forefront of the conversation, as they should be. That goes against the whole concept of a sport called "open-wheel racing" with a driver's head exposed to the air. But I suspect that tweaking the marketing plan is a far better alternative than dealing with more carnage."These cars are inherently dangerous with the open cockpit like that, head exposed," race-winner Ryan Hunter-Reay said that day in Pocono. "Maybe in the future we can work toward some type of [canopy]. We've seen some concept renderings of something that resembles a canopy - not a full jet-fighter canopy, but something that can give us a little protection but keep the tradition of the sport."Indianapolis-based Aerodine Composites - the best-known manufacturer of open-wheel chassis canopies - told racer.com that it would welcome the opportunity to work with IndyCar officials to determine whether the devices would be a suitable option to enhance driver safety.It comes down to whatever it takes. Automobile racing is arguably the most dangerous sport on the planet. Drivers know the deal they are making every time they step into a car. It could be their last ride.But it would be comforting to know that everything is being done on the front end to protect them from harm. And as Burton so eloquently noted, there is no final step when it comes to driver safety.NASCAR has recently been dealing with the ramifications of not providing foam protective barriers along certain sections of the track after Kyle Busch's car rolled into an unprotected infield wall at Daytona, leaving him with a badly broken right leg and a broken left foot."We try always to be proactive, but just as in life and in everything else, sometimes we get a step behind and we have to catch up. But that doesn't mean we ever stop trying," Kyle Petty said.IndyCar seems to be there today. NASCAR was there 14 years ago.Burton is right: Safety never stops.