About a week ago VARA's Golden State Classic event at the Cal. Speedway was
highlighted by having a detailed presentation by Dr. Robert Hubbard
(inventor of the HANS device). Lots of video clips and hard data. Dr.
Hubbard, Phd in Theoretocal and applied mathematics did his dissertation in
1970 on the mechanical properties of the human skull bone at the U. of
Illininois.
His presentation was eye opening. He gave a detailed historical perspective
on head and neck restraints during the past 20 years and the mechanics of
basilar skull fractures. I have seen Cranio-Cervial dislocations and
such... Do you remember the movie "The excorcist"? It is one thing to see
this in movies but, a whole other to feel it in your hands.
It was just amazing to see in-car and deceleration test videos and the
dynamics of rapid decelerations. By the way... those foam neck collars...he
said they are cute and cuddley but, actually increase neck loads during
rapid frontal decelerations and recommended not to use them!! The fire and
safety crew says they are good for maintaining the stability of the neck
after you are unconcious and helps maintain an airway if you break your
neck....
After the talk the club announced that these mandatory neck collars can now
used by personal choice.
The neck collars are usefull for limiting side g loads and excess neck
muscle strain during turns but, that is a personal preferance....It is more
a comfort device than a safety device...
Bottom line.... they sold out of all the HANS units they brought to the
track. Mind you that these units are not cheap... about $960.00 installed
for the units that work with upright seats. They installed the hardware and
fitted each driver on the car to demenstrate how to do it and make
adjustments or rec. adjustments to the shoulder harness geometry---- A
crucial aspect to the proper installation of this device .
Nice thing about the HANS unit is that you can get out of the car easily.
I like that alot.
After the talk I chatted with Dr. Hubbard about the esoterics of the
Woodpeckers pecking proclivities..( I happened to tell him that years ago
while at the Neuropsychiatric institute at UCLA doing some basic brain cell
research. While there my lab had discussion as to why Woodpeckers didn't
have more brain injury from their pecking). It was a fun discussion.
Vara will mandate all drivers to have a head and neck restraint device this
next season. I suspect that once this happens insurance underwriters for
Vintage Racing will likely take notice (if not already considering this) and
require clubs to have such as a requirement.
BTW...no financial or other bias for HANS -NONE of the current units on
the market are FIA approved -yet.
M. Dunst
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