Ran my first SBRS event at LRP this past weekend (8/13-14/04) and would not have been able put a foot into the car and look my wife and daughter or myself in the eye if my first purchases had not been a properly fitted helmet, and a HANS device. All you have to do is look at the in-car footage of a Skip Barber Reynard going off the LRP downhill into the tire wall from Chris Szwedo's "LRP The Secret Valley of Racing" film and the case for a HANS device is easily made. It's an impressive hit.
In my perfect world :-) All would experience an SB HANS safety discussion in which you'd first see Dale Earnhardt's final crash at Daytona while explaining it was the equivilent of a 43 mph head on impact, and then view the Szwedo LRP clip while pointing out how remarkably far the head of the dazed, concussed and lucky driver's head snaps forward after impact. It should be stressed that crippling or fatal basal neck injuries are thankfully few and far between, but when the speed and impact angle tumblers have your number on them, you don't want your last conscious thought on the planet to be, "Gee, I should have bought that HANS device."
We tend to live in pleasant denial of the dangers of racing because it is natural to focus on success, assume the many advances in safety design and equipment have things covered, and finally, because we think it will never happen to us.
The racing community only recently (after Earnhardt's death) embraced the device and it is still simply too easy to ignore because of the cost.
Check out this link to the HANS web site for more info
http://www.hansdevice.com/history.html
Beyond the cost, asking SB to provide HANS devices for each car and/or having mechanics attach helmet hardware may be a tricky liability issue but I'm not a lawyer.
An alternate business solution might be to approach HANS about making SB a bona fide distributor of the devices and then stocking them at all SB racing school and weekend events. (I have no doubt they would sell a bunch) at the same time they could make a limited number available for rental (perhaps $100 or $150 per event rental) to create a viable alternative cost point to those who are concerned or cautious about racing school, or want to sample a race series event but are not likely to invest $1,200 on something they may seldom or never use again. I'd also make it SB policy that no one in the race series would rent an in-car camera before they were wearing or renting a HANS device for their in-car sessions. (Make it mandatory to spend the dough on personal safety before the luxury of a video)
Considering the volume of SB racing students and racers around the country, it's hard to know why there isn't more sales distribution and discount linkage between safety equipment manufacturers and SB. It would seem to be a no brainer, but second guessing is always easy.
There just aren't any good reasons for not wearing a HANS device.