Inside Motorsports Vol. 1 2018/Q1 - Part I | Page 22

Head and neck saf et y
device (al ias HANS device)
Al t hough t he devel opment of HANS
st ar t ed back i n t he ear l y year s of
1980's by Dr . Rober t Hubbar d, t he f i r st
usage of i t i n F1 was i n 2005 onl y. HANS
i s a devi ce t hat f i xes t he dr i ver s' head
and neck so i t 's not gonna move
vi ol ent l y on t he i mpact of a cr ash, what
coul d cause basi l ar skul l f r act ur e.
Whi l e i t 's soundi ng danger ous, i t 's
r eal l y ef f ect i ve: U shaped devi ce wi t h
t et her s, an anchor poi nt and shoul der
suppor t . Si nce i t 's debut i n 2005, HANS
pr oved t o be usef ul i n many cr ashes and
i t 's used i n many maj or r aci ng
champi onshi ps: F1, I ndycar , Wor l d
Endur ance Champi onshi p et c. Fun f act :
t he f i r st HANS pr ot ot ype was r eady by
1985, i t was cr ash t est ed i n 1989, but
unt i l t hat weekend i n 1994, i t was
r ej ect ed by t he maj or r aci ng saf et y
compani es. Af t er Rol and Rat zenber ger 's
and Ayr t on Senna's deat h, t he need f or
HANS got hi gh...