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Old 09-18-2012
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Re: An Open Letter to Skip Barber Regarding HANS devices - Please Vote & Give Feedbac

This thread was started by Sy back in 2004.

It's the oldest thread that still gets fresh visits from newbies and others who vote on the pole and/or leave comments on occasion. One of the early posters was BMW's Martin Birkman who was also a Skippy racer at the time. His clever idea was to have the company purchase enough HANS to have one for each car actually on track at any given moment. Since that number was usually less than 20 it limited the cost for the company but made them available for anyone who wanted one.

Dale Earnhardt died in 2001 and the merits of the HANS device were still being argued in '04 but the evidence of effectiveness and almost complete adoptions of the device was quickly building. Back then the cost was higher, there were two sizes and several different angles for different cars types so you might have to buy a different angle HANS if you moved to different car class. Now there's a less expensive adjustable model suitable for all car types with sliding tether, quick release, and a much more belt friendly guide and guide surface. (None of which existed in 2004) Most helmet manufacturers now pre-drill the holes for a HANS device since most of their auto racing customers use them

8 years later no one seriously argues against the merits of a HANS device, yet they've never been required by SBRS. My personal opinion is that because it's a safety item, like seat belts, if the company provided them and a HANS tether timed out and failed the liability for the company would be enormous so they avoid that liability by not providing them.

You could then argue why not simply make it a requirement of each driver to provide their own and again, in my opinion, it's because requiring them would drive away those bucket listers who know they aren't going to race much and are willing to risk the odds of not investing in a HANS.

Ultimately common sense prevails. For those experiencing a couple of race weekends as a bucket list item the odds are pretty good they'll survive without a HANS. For the vast majority (probably 100%) of those running in the full race series a HANS device isn't even brought up for discussion, it's simply part of the start up cost. There is no good argument against it and I can speak from personal experience that it has unequivocally saved my neck more than once. I've never considered driving a race car without one.

Here's what Martin posted back on 8/17/04.

"I have some thoughts on how to smoothly and cost efficiently integrate HANS as a requirement without requiring racers to shell out another $1,200 for equipment.

At any given SBRS weekend there are 50 to 90 drivers at a track but never more than 16 on it in a car at the same time.
What I am saying is what about equipping all "cars" with HANS. What if SB ordered 20 devices (5Large 15 regular) and made it mandatory for drivers to wear them.
It will cost SB 20G, which means that they would have to raise prices byabout 25$ for a race or school etc. in order to break even.

The drivers would be responsible to have their helmets fitted. Individual helmets could be fitted by the mechanics for the nominal $75 fee that HANS is charging. This is also a welcome contribution to the mechanics fund. SBRS helmets would be fitted by HANS - the preparation of helmets is included in the purchase of the device...."
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