As the 2011 Speedweeks approach the unavoidable, sad, milestone of tenth anniversary the death of Dale Earnhardt follows in its’ tire tracks.
It was on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 Earnhardt’s car swerved to the right, into the outside wall, taking the life of seven-time NASCAR Cup Champion.
Prior to the race numerous drivers, officials, journalists and others were talking safety but Earnhardt chose not to use the HANS (head and neck support) which may have contributed to his fatal injuries.
The device was originally co-developed by sports car racer and Jim Downing and Dr. Robert Hubbard, a professor of engineering at Michigan State University, in the 1980s.
The now defunct CART Series (which was merged into IndyCar) made the HANS device mandatory prior to 2001. Over in Europe Mercedes-Benz cooperated with Downing in developing (and reducing the size of the HANS) so it would fit in Formula One cockpits.
Ford Motor Company conducted a seminar for the media prior to the 2001 Daytona 500 with Dr. Hubbard and engineer, John Melvin, a leading expert on automobile safety. The advice was that, among other things, NASCAR needed require the use of the HANS device and a seat belt with five mounting points instead of four points.
It was also well known that the late Earnhardt liked his seatbelts “loose” to enable him to rake his body backward at a larger angle than then upright NASCAR seats permitted to allow him to “feel the air” of the draft at Daytona.
Inevitably it begs the question would a HANS device have saved Earnhardt’s life?
Downing said numbers of experts (including those medically trained ones) had different opinions on the cause of death "with that in mind, I believe that when Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s car hit the wall and the belts from his safety harness were loaded by the impact that a HANS Device would have kept his head back. That likely would have produced a better outcome under the different scenarios that have been proposed by experts.
"This is what it seems like to me, but we don't really know for sure."
Since there was no telemetry in the car it’s a matter of opinion to assign what went wrong safety-wise. Fortunately, in the last ten years there have been numbers of safety developments which have led to less serious driver’s injuries.
Downing continued, "the HANS Device would have been recognized as a safety breakthrough without the catalyst of the unfortunate crashes of (Ayrton) Senna and Earnhardt Sr. It just would have taken longer. In America, the legacy of Earnhardt Sr. includes not only the HANS Device, but soft walls, better seats and cockpit safety and the Car of Tomorrow. Even now when I think of Dale Earnhardt Sr. I think of safety instead of the macho driving style he was known for."
It was on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 Earnhardt’s car swerved to the right, into the outside wall, taking the life of seven-time NASCAR Cup Champion.
Prior to the race numerous drivers, officials, journalists and others were talking safety but Earnhardt chose not to use the HANS (head and neck support) which may have contributed to his fatal injuries.
The device was originally co-developed by sports car racer and Jim Downing and Dr. Robert Hubbard, a professor of engineering at Michigan State University, in the 1980s.
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| Photo: HANS |
The now defunct CART Series (which was merged into IndyCar) made the HANS device mandatory prior to 2001. Over in Europe Mercedes-Benz cooperated with Downing in developing (and reducing the size of the HANS) so it would fit in Formula One cockpits.
Ford Motor Company conducted a seminar for the media prior to the 2001 Daytona 500 with Dr. Hubbard and engineer, John Melvin, a leading expert on automobile safety. The advice was that, among other things, NASCAR needed require the use of the HANS device and a seat belt with five mounting points instead of four points.
It was also well known that the late Earnhardt liked his seatbelts “loose” to enable him to rake his body backward at a larger angle than then upright NASCAR seats permitted to allow him to “feel the air” of the draft at Daytona.
Inevitably it begs the question would a HANS device have saved Earnhardt’s life?
Downing said numbers of experts (including those medically trained ones) had different opinions on the cause of death "with that in mind, I believe that when Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s car hit the wall and the belts from his safety harness were loaded by the impact that a HANS Device would have kept his head back. That likely would have produced a better outcome under the different scenarios that have been proposed by experts.
"This is what it seems like to me, but we don't really know for sure."
Since there was no telemetry in the car it’s a matter of opinion to assign what went wrong safety-wise. Fortunately, in the last ten years there have been numbers of safety developments which have led to less serious driver’s injuries.
Downing continued, "the HANS Device would have been recognized as a safety breakthrough without the catalyst of the unfortunate crashes of (Ayrton) Senna and Earnhardt Sr. It just would have taken longer. In America, the legacy of Earnhardt Sr. includes not only the HANS Device, but soft walls, better seats and cockpit safety and the Car of Tomorrow. Even now when I think of Dale Earnhardt Sr. I think of safety instead of the macho driving style he was known for."