While my bike was in shop, I seen my cousin asphalt racing in soft ass bedroom shoes, sweats, tank top, no helmet, no gloves. Warned him before the race that he should throw gear on but he had all kinds of excuses as to why not to wear it. Grown men make their own decisions and he is regretting it now. Ran off the road a little and hit a dip and the struts made the bike bounce all over the place and ended up flipping through the finish line. He was thrown from bike as high as the power lines and landed in ditch after sliding on gravel for a few yards. cuts, holes to the head and road burns to the body. It took an accident to make him realize that he need to protect himself. He lived to see another day but to see that first hand I though he was a goner for sure. After seeing that I went and bought boots to add to my helmet and jacket and gloves. Some see it as extreme but I see it as me living to see another day. Now im looking at getting a brace since you guys mentioned it. I never thought about the brace. Hell i even take a socket to the tire bolts and axle nuts to make sure everything is tight before a race. Anything can happen at anytime. Its best to be prepared for it. I go the extra mile and will not race if other guy do not have jacket and helmet. I also look at their practice runs to see if they can hold the bike in their lane or not. If not then its not worth the money to race. So i agree with having a standard for protection with any type of racing.