You're welcome. I have to note that my sister Nancy got me this info at my
request (*anything* on HANS, please!) - she works for GM, and has had
experience working in their Advanced Safety lab, etc. She knows some of
the people who did some of the sled testing of the HANS and has offered to
lend me one to try. The Professor who did the seminar was John Melvin, BTW
- apparently a major name in bio-mechanics.
In my opinion, a horse collar is useful only for supporting the helmet and
preventing neck strain in normal operating mode - during races. I don't
believe it has any useful significant effect of any kind during a crash
situation. I want to find more information about the Simpson Decelerator -
a strap type device attached to the shoulder belt mounts on the car, that
self-destructs in a controlled fashion during a crash.
What I found most immediately interesting was the 6 point harness - rear
attached crotch strap thing. That's something that anyone could
probably do for $200 or less, and get a 50% improvement in the operation
of the belt system right now. I bet there's a lot of guys with 6 point
harnesses that have the crotch straps attached forward, and the change
would be simply re-attaching them to the rear. I had to weld in a new
mount when I put in my Willans this year - now I'm happy that I did.
Brian
At 12:59 PM 7/9/01 -0400, MHKitchen@aol.com wrote:
>Brian:
>
>THANKS MUCH for passing this info along. The more we know and better
>informed we are, the better we can help protect ourselves and each other.
>This forum is an EXCELLENT arena for such discussions.
>
>I was at the SAE Show in February and stopped at the Univ of Mich booth as
>they had a HANS on display, and were promoting their in-house test
>capabilities, showing some crash sled video footage. Several things stood
>out in these. That the HANS did provide the best frontal crash protection
>for head protection thus far.
>
>But more surprising to me was the footage of crashes with dummies using
>"horsecollars". I have been using them ever since seeing the Palm Springs
>crash on Speedvision (during my race there) of the Alfa rear ending the Lotus
>7. I was very surprise to see that even with a horsecollar, there was severe
>head movement (whipping)...almost as much as without it. I'm sure they help
>some, but how much??
>
>I also have some experience with the airbag business (really total occupant
>restraints). Most often, severe injurires are caused by "secondary
>collisions" of your internal organs with your skeletal structures. That's
>why the primary job of a seatbelt/airbag/occupant restraint system is not
>holding you in place, but rather MANAGING the energy of the impact to
>minimize trauma on the body. Think of it like falling off a bicycle while
>holding an egg, while trying to keep the egg from breaking.
>
>While we now know quite a lot about body dynamics during a crash, there's
>still a lot to learn, and even more to learn about how to provide maximum
>protection. I'd urge everyone to study their own situations and think about
>how your can be better protected in your own vehicles. The crotch strap
>change is most interesting, and I will certainly consider it. I'm also
>thinking a HANS device is a good idea (still damn expensive, though....but I
>guess I'm worth it!!).
>
>Regards,
>Myles H. Kitchen
>1965 Lotus Cortina Mk1 #128
Brian Evans
Director, Canada
MCI Wholesale Internet Services
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