HANS Device
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A HANS device (head and neck support device) is a type of
head restraint Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each car seat, seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a Traffic collision, col ...
and a safety device in
motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...
s. Head restraints are mandatory when competing with most major motorsports sanctioning bodies. They reduce the likelihood of head or neck injuries, including the often fatal
basilar skull fracture A basilar skull fracture is a bone fracture, break of a bone in the base of skull, base of the skull. Symptoms may include Battle sign, bruising behind the ears, periorbital ecchymosis, bruising around the eyes, or hemotympanum, blood behind the ...
, in the event of a crash. There are many such devices on the market today, but the HANS is the original and the most common.


Description

Primarily made of
carbon fiber reinforced polymer Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
, the HANS device is shaped like a "U", with the back of the "U" set behind the nape of the neck and the two arms lying flat along the top of the chest over the
pectoral muscles Pectoral muscles (colloquially referred to as "pecs") are the muscles that connect the front of the human chest with the bones of the upper arm and shoulder. This region contains four muscles that provide movements to the upper limbs or ribs. P ...
. The device, in general, is supported by the shoulders. It is attached only to the helmet, not to the belts, the driver's body, or the seat; the helmet is attached to the device with the help of an anchor on each side, much like the Hutchens device, but placed slightly back. In a properly installed 5- or 6-point racing harness, the belts that cross the driver's upper body pass directly over the HANS device on the driver's shoulders and buckle at the center of the driver's abdomen. Therefore, the HANS device is secured by the body of the driver, not the seat. The purpose of the HANS device is to keep the head from whipping in a crash, preventing excessive rotational movement as a secondary protection, without otherwise restricting movement of the neck. In other words, it allows the wearer's head to move normally, but prevents or restricts head movements during a crash that would exceed the normal articulation range of the
musculoskeletal system The human musculoskeletal system (also known as the human locomotor system, and previously the activity system) is an organ system that gives humans the ability to move using their Muscular system, muscular and Human skeleton, skeletal systems. ...
and cause severe injury. In any kind of crash, the person's body, when not protected, is decelerated by the seat belt, with the head maintaining velocity until it is decelerated by the neck. The HANS device maintains the relative position of the head to the body, in addition to transferring energy to the much stronger chest, torso, shoulder, seat belts, and seat as the head is decelerated.


History

The device was designed in the early 1980s by American scientist and researcher Dr. Robert Hubbard (1943–2019), a professor of
biomechanical engineering Biomechanical engineering, also considered a subfield of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, combines principles of physics (with a focus on mechanics), biology, and engineering. Topics of interest in this field include (experiment ...
at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
. After talking to his brother-in-law, accomplished American road-racer Jim Downing, following the death of
Patrick Jacquemart Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...
, a mutual friend who was killed in a testing accident at the
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...
when his Renault Le Car Turbo struck a sandbank, leaving him dead on arrival with head injuries,
IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...
officials decided that some sort of protection was required to help prevent injuries from sudden stops, especially during accidents. A major cause of death among drivers during races was through violent head movements, where the body remains in place because of the
seat belt A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduce ...
s, but the momentum keeps the head moving forward, causing a basilar skull fracture, resulting in serious injury or immediate death. Notable race car drivers who died from basilar skull fractures include: * Formula 1 driver Roland Ratzenberger in the 1994 San Marino Formula One Grand Prix. *
IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...
drivers Scott Brayton, Bill Vukovich and Tony Bettenhausen *
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
drivers
Adam Petty Adam Kyler Petty (July 10, 1980 – May 12, 2000) was an American professional stock car racing driver. A member of the Petty racing family, he was the fourth generation from the Petty family to drive in races in the highest division of NASCA ...
, Kenny Irwin Jr., Terry Schoonover, Grant Adcox,
Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby a ...
,
John Nemechek John Frank Nemechek (March 12, 1970 – March 21, 1997) was an American racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Life and racing career The younger brother of four-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Joe Nemechek, John f ...
,
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...
, J. D. McDuffie, and Clifford Allison * ARCA driver
Blaise Alexander Blaise Robert Alexander Jr. also known as BR Alexander (March 26, 1976 – October 4, 2001) was an American professional stock car racer from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began racing at the age of 12 in go-karts, winning the coveted World Kart ...
*
CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...
drivers Jovy Marcelo, Greg Moore, and Gonzalo Rodriguez * Trans Am,
Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting Autocross, Rallycross, HPDE, Time Trial, Road Racing, RoadRally, and Hill Climbs in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs ...
(SCCA) driver Jim Fitzgerald While death from such injuries is usually immediate, some drivers have survived basilar skull fractures, such as NASCAR's
Larry Pollard Larry Pollard (born 5 May 1954) is a Canadian former NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driver. During his career, Pollard was the Pit stop#NASCAR pit crew roles, crew chief for NASCAR drivers Richard Petty and Phil Parsons during the 1980s befor ...
,
Ernie Irvan Virgil Earnest Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is perhaps best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...
, Stanley Smith,
Rick Carelli Richard Dean Carelli (born November 9, 1954) is an American former race car driver from Arvada, Colorado. He was nicknamed the "High Plains Drifter". He won multiple times in the No. 6 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series truck. He is the spotter for Er ...
and F1's Philippe Streiff. Hubbard had extensive experience as a biomechanical crash engineer, including in
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
' auto safety program. His first prototype was developed in 1985, and in crash tests in 1989 – the first to use crash sleds and crash dummies using race car seat belt harnesses – the energy exerted on the head and neck was lowered by approximately 80%. Prior tests had established the thresholds for acute basilar skull fracture to be 740 lbs of vertical neck tension and 700 lbs of forward neck shear; the HANS device greatly reduced both these values to 210 lbs. Neck compression was also reduced by about 28 millimetres. After major racing safety companies declined to produce the product, Hubbard and Downing formed Hubbard Downing Inc., to develop, manufacture, sell and promote the HANS in 1990. However, the product languished until 1994, when Formula One showed interest in the wake of the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and
Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Senna won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with McLaren, and—at the time of his death—held ...
. In 1999, CART driver Gonzalo Rodríguez was killed after suffering a basilar skull fracture in a crash. At the same time, Mercedes was completing research of the HANS on behalf of the FIA for Formula One, finally deciding that it out-performed their airbag project. The device was first adopted by the
National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...
(NHRA) in 1996, following the death of Top Fuel driver Blaine Johnson, though was not mandatory in the series until 2004, after the death of 2003 Top Fuel Rookie of the Year Darrell Russell, who was killed by flying debris during the Sears Craftsman Nationals in
Madison, Illinois Madison is a city in Madison and St. Clair counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is also a suburb of St. Louis. The population was 3,171 at the 2020 census, down from 3,891 in 2010. It is home to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gate ...
. Other racing series were also slow to follow suit. Many drivers, including seven-time
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
Champion
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...
,Hinton, Ed (2002)
Daytona: From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black
Warner Books. p. 426. . Google Book Search. Retrieved on 2009-06-07.
resisted the HANS devices or anything that was similar to them, claiming that they were uncomfortable and more restrictive. There were also fears that it would cause more injuries and problems than it prevented. Some even stated that the positioning of the device made the seat belts feel less secure or rubbed on the shoulders or the collar bone. Earnhardt referred to the device as "that damn
noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...
", claiming the tethers would more likely hang him than save him in the event of a crash. On February 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the
Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...
. Earnhardt was the fourth NASCAR driver killed by basilar skull fractures in an eight-month span, following
Adam Petty Adam Kyler Petty (July 10, 1980 – May 12, 2000) was an American professional stock car racing driver. A member of the Petty racing family, he was the fourth generation from the Petty family to drive in races in the highest division of NASCA ...
in May 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr. in July 2000, and Tony Roper in October 2000. While it is still debated whether Earnhardt's death was the result of a broken seat belt or an inadequate head and neck restraint, he died of a basilar skull fracture, which likely would have been prevented by the proper use of belts and a head and neck restraint. Media members immediately turned focus to the HANS device after Earnhardt's death. HANS device co-founder Hubbard was quoted: Even after Earnhardt's death, use of the HANS device or similar products was resisted. The following weekend,
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...
said at Rockingham, "I would not wear one for anything. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and take my chances". Following an extensive investigation into Earnhardt’s death that ended in August 2001, NASCAR did not make any immediate changes regarding use of HANS. Then on October 4, 2001, in an
Automobile Racing Club of America The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. A subsidiary of NASCAR since 2018, the current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position i ...
(ARCA) race being held in conjunction with the fall
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
racing weekend at the
Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...
,
Blaise Alexander Blaise Robert Alexander Jr. also known as BR Alexander (March 26, 1976 – October 4, 2001) was an American professional stock car racer from Montoursville, Pennsylvania. He began racing at the age of 12 in go-karts, winning the coveted World Kart ...
was killed in a two-car incident while battling for the lead in the final laps of the race. Coincidentally, the other driver racing with Alexander for the lead was Dale Earnhardt's oldest son Kerry Earnhardt. The younger Earnhardt's car flipped on its roof after Alexander went into the wall, but he was in the lead when the race was halted with four laps to go. Due to carnage of the accident, the race was never restarted, so Earnhardt was declared the winner.
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
mandated use of the HANS device in its top three series on October 17, 2001. Formula One mandated HANS devices in 2003 after extensive testing by Mercedes from 1996 to 1998, sharing the results with other
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...
(FIA) affiliates. Using that information, CART made the device compulsory for oval tracks in 2001, and subsequently requiring the HANS devices for all circuits the following season. Starting in October 2001, NASCAR mandated the use of either the HANS or Hutchens device, changing to the HANS device exclusively starting in 2005. ARCA also followed suit in the wake of Alexander's death. The
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
and Australian V8 Supercar Series made the device compulsory for drivers in the 2005 season. Acceptance by drivers was helped by the addition of quick-release shackles developed and implemented by Ashley Tilling. They were sourced from the marine industry, being used on racing sailboat rigging. The shackles allowed the drivers a simple and quick pull to release the HANS device and exit their vehicle. The first driver to utilize them was NASCAR driver
Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...
of PPI Motorsports. Such shackles were also used on the Hutchens device and others. Beginning in July 2007, many sanctioning bodies have approved any head-and-neck restraint that passes the SFI Foundation Specification 38.1 standard. These include the HANS device, the Moto-R Sport, the R3, the Hutch-II, the Hutchens Hybrid, or the Hybrid X. Today, most major auto racing sanctioning bodies mandate the use of head and neck restraints; the FIA has made HANS devices use compulsory for all International-level events from the beginning of 2009. Even monster truck drivers use the HANS device in many events. '' Grassroots Motorsports'' awarded the HANS device the Editors' Choice award in 2002. Autosport magazine also awarded HANS their pioneering and innovation award in 2007. In 2016, Hubbard and Downing, along with FIA's Hubert Gramling, were awarded the initial "SAE International Award for Motorsport Safety Honoring John Melvin" for their lifesaving work on the HANS Device.


References

*Schilke, Nancy (2001)
"The HANS Device – a head and neck support system"
referenced January 23, 2005. *Stonefeld, Ross (2001)


External links


HANS from f1.com
at Atlas F1
"Notes: Wallace easing into new HANS device"
at NASCAR.com
Head and neck restraint at Trackpedia

HANS in F1Nick Heidfeld's HANS device and helmetInterview with Dr. Bob Hubbard
*Motorized version of HANS at Sparkfu
"Mechanek, interview with Mark Gallagher"
(September 8, 2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hans Device Auto racing equipment Vehicle safety technologies Safety in auto racing