Make Head and Neck Restraints Mandatory?

[evanwebb]

On the off chance that anyone would like to get back on-topic, I posted this also on the Prod website:

Just a note, if the HNR requirement is for an SFI 38.1 rated device there are several available on the market so the choice is not just the HANS. I am especially interested in the new DefNder unit which seems to have very good numbers especially in the angle/side impact scenario. Lots of people also like the ISAAC which is not SFI rated, hopefully some provision can be made there.

In terms of making the devices mandatory, maybe just ponder this: if you have a HNR already or plan to purchase one, the "rational consumer" theory of economics would seem to indicate that you should be in favor of making the devices mandatory in SCCA since there is no downside to having your marginal insurance risk reduced by having everyone on the grid wearing one (and thereby reducing risk by some amount.) If you wear one and a competitor doesn't, and that person is injured and insurance rates go up then your total cost goes up more. I don't think anyone expects that our insurance rates will go down if we are all racing wearing HNRs, the risk is rather that the current rates will go up if we don't and there are preventable injuries incurred.

In a perfect world we would have unbiased medical opinion to evaluate whether a HNR would have helped in cases of club racing accidents (SCCA, NASA, BMW, etc.) and that would help us objectively quantitatively evaluate how much extra risk we are incurring by not mandating these devices. I don't know of any such study, maybe someone on here knows of any studies or at least collection of statistics across multiple club racing organizations?

Lastly, if your opposition to these devices is based on some past event where you hit a wall with your racecar and walked away without a scratch, please don't be convinced that you have a superhuman neck and you don't need an HNR. You got lucky that time, relatively minor changes in the impact geometry might have resulted in large increases in the loads imparted to your body and you might be telling a significantly different story today. Just think about it a bit...

I've worn the HANS and the ISAAC (borrowed from friends) in the past and really its not a big deal, try it before you make a statement like "I'm not interested in racing while wearing one of those devices", borrow a HNR from a buddy at the track and wear it for a couple sessions and see what if anything you specifically don't like about it, there is probably a workaround like the sliding tethers or quick release for the HANS or using a different type of device like the damper-based ISAAC or the devices that are securely attached to the driver only like the R3 and Hybrid systems.

I'm buying an HNR before next season...

[tom91ita]

.....I'm buying an HNR before next season...

i am too. i plan to buy it early in 2009 (birthday present/excuse). after the 2009 GCR is issued.

i expect that it will not be SFI compliant. it will be from Isaac. and it will be the least expensive variant that meets a performance level that i deem is appropriate.

and if i am SOL due to changes in the future, i will give up one race event that summer to fund any replacement if i continue to race.