WEBVTT - How Has the HANS Device Improved Car Racing?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum here. In the early days of car racing,

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<v Speaker 1>even a minor accident could be fatal. For example, Patrick

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<v Speaker 1>jack Mart was killed at mid Ohio in one after

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<v Speaker 1>a head on collision with a dirt bank. His car

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<v Speaker 1>was left relatively unscathed, but Jack Bart ended up with

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<v Speaker 1>a skull fracture that caused severe brain damage. A lucky

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<v Speaker 1>for other racers, two of jack Bart's friends stepped in

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<v Speaker 1>and created a safety device that has changed the sport

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<v Speaker 1>of car racing forever. Those friends were Jim Downing and

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<v Speaker 1>jack Mart's brother in law, Dr Bob Hubbard. The two

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<v Speaker 1>decided to combine Downing's knowledge of racing and Hubbard's expertise

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<v Speaker 1>in engineering and skull anatomy to develop new safety gear

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<v Speaker 1>to try to prevent deaths like jack Mart's from happening again.

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<v Speaker 1>The simple and effective invention they created became known as

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<v Speaker 1>the hands Device short forehead and neck support. The hands

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<v Speaker 1>device isn't like a car airbag, which inflates a cushion

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<v Speaker 1>to stop the driver in case of a collision. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>the hands device proactively uses a raised collar and two

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<v Speaker 1>tethers to secure the driver's head. In other words, it's

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<v Speaker 1>a shoulder collar that attaches to both the car seats

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<v Speaker 1>safety harness and the driver's helmet. In the event of

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<v Speaker 1>a crash, it keeps the racer's head and neck properly

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<v Speaker 1>aligned with the torso, preventing the type of excess force

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<v Speaker 1>that would otherwise result in serious or fatal neck and

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<v Speaker 1>head injuries. But it took years for the hands device

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<v Speaker 1>to become a financial success, and unfortunately, it took the

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<v Speaker 1>death of a high profile racer for NASCAR to take notice.

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<v Speaker 1>When Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Was killed in two thousand one

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<v Speaker 1>in a crash similar to Jack Marts at the Daytona

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<v Speaker 1>International Speedway, the racing community, including NASCAR, finally took the

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<v Speaker 1>hands device seriously. Now, most racing organizations require the use

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<v Speaker 1>of a hands device for all drivers. The hands device

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<v Speaker 1>is specifically designed to prevent vassal or skull fractures. Those

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<v Speaker 1>injuries are caused when a car suddenly dec cceleerates. In

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<v Speaker 1>Earnhardt's fatal crash at Daytona, for instance, NASCAR determined that

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<v Speaker 1>he hit the wall going a hundred and sixty miles

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<v Speaker 1>per hour. That's two hundred and fifty seven kilometers per

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<v Speaker 1>hour and slowed by somewhere between forty two to forty

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<v Speaker 1>four miles per hour about sixty seven to seventy kilos

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<v Speaker 1>per hour in just eighty milliseconds. This sudden deceleration is

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<v Speaker 1>known as the delta V, literally the change in velocity.

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<v Speaker 1>While it's difficult to provide exact statistics on how many

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<v Speaker 1>lives have been saved by the hands device, we do

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<v Speaker 1>know this NASCAR, where certified hands are mandatory, did not

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<v Speaker 1>have one single driver fatality in the decade after Earnhardt's death,

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<v Speaker 1>whereas there were a hundred and twenty six deaths from

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<v Speaker 1>crashes on drag strips and short tracks where hands devices

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<v Speaker 1>are not required, and Hands estimates that of those hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and six deaths as many, it's that's thirty four driver

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<v Speaker 1>deaths could have been prevented by using the device, and

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<v Speaker 1>no driver in an Indie car or an any of

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<v Speaker 1>NASCAR's major series has been killed by a bachelor's skull

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<v Speaker 1>fracture since it required the use of the device. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Trees three Witt and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang for iHeartMedia and How Stuff Works from around

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot com.