Nascar isn't known for any emphasis on safety, IMHO. (I'm not a Nascar fan, in case you couldn't tell. <g>) Other race series are much better about mandating safety regulations (ALMS in particular). The HANS device should be required for *any* race car driver.
Has anyone seen the Joey Hand crash? He says that it's the second time that the HANS device has saved his neck (pun intended <g>). Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxnzhtjfm50&search=joey%20hand%20crashHe walked away from this spectacular crash with nothing more than bumps and bruises. And amazingly was racing again just a couple of weeks later.
Here's something interesting too, crash test dummies with and without a HANS device:
http://www.stand21.fr/hans/compar.swfGary's taken up race car driving in the last year or two. I feel much better knowing that the HANS device he finally ordered will be arriving any day now. <s>
~~Bonnie
>>>How was Earnhardt's death a fluke? It was unfortunate, certainly, especially since NASCAR officials had their heads so far up their tailpipes about requiring safer helmets, but when guys are going 200 mph a few inches apart it's surprising there aren't more fatalities.
>>
>>I saw the crash (not live), and it didn't look nearly as bad as
the Geoffrey Bodine crash (which I did see live). Nobody I was watching the race with expected Earnhardt to die from it, so yeah, I'd call it a fluke. He hit the wall at just the right speed and just the right angle.
>
>At least seven stock car drivers, including Earnhardt, died of the same type of injury in the year or two before NASCAR finally mandated better neck restraints. In all seven fatal crashes the impact caused the driver's head to snap forward violently, breaking the spinal cord. Since the new helmet/neck restraint equipment was mandated -- which NASCAR did only with great reluctance -- I do not believe there has been a fatal crash in a NASCAR race.
