Medicine & Science
HANS: Fact & Fiction
MYTH: The HANS device restricts a driver's neck motion making it difficult to look down or to turn the head.
FACT: This is simply not true. If the tether length is properly adjusted it will permit a normal range of physiologic neck motion. In layman's term that means if you can normally move your head and neck into a certain position then it is ok and the HANS tethers can be lengthen to allow that much motion, but no more. Less tether length is better but not essential to the functioning of the HANS device.
MYTH: The HANS device impedes the driver's ability to get out of the car.
FACT: Again a misunderstanding. The earlier versions of the HANS were more bulky than the current version and may have been more cumbersome than the current version. This might have caused the drivers of sedan type cars concern that they would be trapped in the car, unable to exit through the window. With the current slimmed down version of the HANS this is simply not the case. If you can get out of your car with your helmet on you can get out of the car with the HANS device on. It might take some drivers a little practice to become familiar with how to do this quickly, but this is not usually so with the slimmer, more coordinated types. As one well known driver has stated, "It is far easier to get out of the car with the HANS on than it is with a broken neck!"
MYTH: The HANS device is really uncomfortable and distracting.
FACT: The HANS device just needs to be fitted and then properly adjusted. One size does not fit all, but of the HANS devices readily available they will fit most. When fitting a HANS device one needs to take into account the drivers body habitus (how thick and long the neck is; how sloped the shoulders are) and the sitting position while driving (how reclined and how far back in the tub the driver is).
Pictured below are several angled shots of how the HANS device looks after being correctly fitted.
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So the HANS Device Isn't Cumbersome & Confining to Wear?
The HANS device isn't cumbersome or confining to wear when it has been properly fitted and adjusted. First of all, driver acceptance is relative to need and desire. Many drivers have been permitted to return to racing on the condition that they are required to wear the HANS device as a medical precaution. These drivers have NEVER returned the HANS device on account that it was too cumbersome or impaired their driving performance.