Head Restraints - Don't Be A Bobble Head

In the last few years, particularly after the death of Dale Earnhardt on live TV at Daytona, it has become common knowledge that the forced movement of a driver's head and the extension of his neck in an impact can cause serious injuries or worse. This movement happens even when the driver's body is restrained by belts, leaving the head to depend upon the neck for location. Anatomically speaking, a person's neck is designed to locate his head under the stresses of chasing a potential meal through the forest. The forces involved in racing impacts can very well exceed these design limits.

Most of us are aware of crash situations seen on television at superspeedways. With cars reaching 200 mph, one would expect impact situations to far exceed those found on our little dirt bullrings. Well, they do but sometimes not by much. Concrete walls are poured, reinforced in place in the ground, and seldom move except in earthquakes. When a race car approaches a wall at even bullring speeds, the stop can be absolute and instantaneous. Low-speed impacts and the resulting loads they produce can be as severe as high-speed impacts and their forces, depending on the angle of impact with the wall.

This impact angle determines the severity of a crash. The speed of the car and the speed of the impact are seldom the same. As you can see in my illustration, a low-speed impact can be as dangerous as a higher-speed one, depending on the impact angle. That's why head-and-neck restraints should be in your arsenal of safety protection gear, even if you only race on dirt or pavement bullrings. [Editor's Note: I spoke once with Tom Gideon, GM's NASCAR Safety point person, about whether amateur short-track racers need to use a head-and-neck restraint considering they don't go very fast. To paraphrase his response: If you reach speeds of 50 mph and above on your local track, wear a restraint. That means all of us should use one.]

Let's face facts. Drivers often have macho images of themselves. It is easy to think, A severe crash won't happen to me anytime soon, and I'll get one of those devices before long. The other influence-something thought but seldom said-is that one can be considered a sissy for wearing too much safety equipment. "Don't you look silly in that thing!" is something no driver wants to hear. Go back a number of years, and the same was heard when a driver used a rollcage. Being the first to wear a new protective device at your track is only a sign of being a little smarter.

Safety gets a lot of attention, because what we do on a racetrack is dangerous and can kill you. But most of us wouldn't have it any other way; we like the perception of danger. The fans come out to see the crashes and the perceived danger. That is really as far as it goes-perception. Nobody wants to sacrifice him or herself to the race car gods. I have often thought driver safety equipment should be marketed to the wives, friends, and families of the drivers. They are the ones most concerned about the well being of the drivers.

The head-and-neck restraint systems now on the market can go a long way toward improving your survivability in a crash. Furthermore, they may prevent some injury and discomfort in crashes that the driver would have survived without the systems. This could be beneficial in that you could go to work Monday morning, getting a full week's paycheck.

Nobody gives away head-and-neck restraints, seatbelts, helmets, or carburetors. However, you can protect your neck for less than the price of a good racing carburetor. Check the value. If the devices seem too simple for the price, you are paying for the development and testing as well as the product liability insurance.

The units described here have been sled-tested at impacts greater than previously thought survivable. Although the designers have not told me, I feel certain their first designs had to be improved and retested. This is expensive given the amount of liability each party has. Prices for these devices range from $350-$450-not a high price to keep you alive or prevent "sheet time."

There are several head-and-neck restraint devices offered to racers. I would be hesitant to purchase or use any device that has not been impact-tested in a laboratory by using a moving sled under controlled conditions. The results of such tests should reflect reduced neck strain to acceptable levels.

There are some devices on the market that, to my knowledge, have not been tested this way. These devices can actually cause injury upon impact. For this reason, it is unwise to play around with homemade solutions. Ask the device's manufacturer what test procedures were used to quantify its capability.