Head Restraints - Don't Be A Bobble Head

The well tested and documented HANS device is out of the price range for most Saturday night racers. It is relatively expensive and must be custom-fitted for each application. Also, for the short-track racer who gets in and out of his car several times a night, the HANS may not be practical.

Safety Solutions has developed two different devices, both of which are practical for short-track racing. The Hutchens device, a belt system attached to a helmet, was developed by Trevor Ashline of Safety Solutions. Trevor's resume includes a stint at Autoliv, a major European manufacturer producing safety belts and gear. His Hutchens device, which has been thoroughly tested, has a series of belts that cocoon a driver. Several Winston Cup drivers wear the Hutchens device.

More recently, Ashline developed the D-cel device. This is also a belt device, but it secures around the driver differently, using the pelvis area as its anchor. This style may be more comfortable to some drivers. It does not depend on the seatbelts to locate the restraint, yet it works like the Hutchens to restrain the head without putting a load on the neck.

The differences in the Hutchens and the D-cel are in the attachment points. The Hutchens has a strap going down the back and around to the lap belt buckle. The belts of the D-cel use the driver's pelvis as an anchoring point. This requires no hookup inside the car other than attaching the belts to the helmet.

Team Simpson Racing Inc. (Simpson) markets the Head-and-Neck Restraint System. This device is quite similar to the D-cel. It too is fully sled-tested. Simpson makes (or will soon make) its device with polyester webbing. This webbing has less stretch than the nylon currently used. Polyester has different stretch characteristics; it absorbs more load before it begins to stretch, whereas nylon begins to stretch sooner, then tightens up.

All of the above devices require your helmet to be drilled for the device attachment points. See the accompanying sidebar. Follow the restraint manufacturers' instructions carefully and to the letter.

Another type of head-and-neck restraint is made by G-Force. This unit uses a rod held in place by the shoulder belts and a strap attached to the helmet. Sled-testing of the G-Force system has revealed that it keeps the loads on the head and neck to an acceptable level.

The G-Force system requires a cable be bolted to the helmet. G-Force helmets are equipped with mounting points for the cable and require no drilling. With the cable in place, the correct length of the strap must be determined. Once the correct length strap is attached to the cable, the other end of the strap loops around a crossbar. This crossbar is held in place by the shoulder belts. When the belts are tightened, the driver's head can move side to side but is restrained in forward impacts. The helmet is included in the price of the G-Force restraint mechanism.

Use a head-and-neck restraint system even on short-tracks. Select one that has been fully sled-tested by the manufacturer, and ask for data to quantify the restraint mechanism's capability. Buy one and use it-no excuses.

To use a Hutchens or HANS device, you must attach D-rings to your helmet. Some of you might be a little worried about drilling a hole in the outer shell of the safety device that keeps your noggin from serious harm. Does it present a danger or void the Snell certification or the manufacturers' warranty? We went to the Snell Memorial Foundation for the answers to these questions. Snell is one of the leading world authorities on helmet certification and standards.

According to Gib Brown, lab manager at Snell, drilling a hole in your helmet for the purpose of attaching the D-rings is fine, as long as you stay below the test line of the particular helmet you use. "The test lines vary from head form to head form, helmet to helmet, size to size," Brown noted. The specific information for test lines for helmets can be obtained at Snell's Web site (www.smf.org). "In general, any mounting low and to the back is fine and will not void the Snell certification," said Brown, "but any hole that impinges on the test line will."

Because manufacturer warranties vary, we strongly recommend you contact your helmet manufacturer to make sure the helmet's warranty is not voided by installing the D-rings.

With each Hutchens Device, Ashline provides detailed instructions on mounting the D-rings, along with the proper screws.