New Jersey Mandating Head & Neck Restraints
New Jersey will mandate head and neck restraints for drivers at ovals beginning January 1, 2015. Any vehicle in subchapter four of the regulations is subject to the new rule. All race cars except Quarter Midgets are covered, including cars intended for adults. Specific divisions are not provided to prevent loopholes.
Detective M. Kowalski of the New Jersey State Police wrote the tech bulletin that will be sent to track operators by the superintendent. According to the tech bulletin, “All drivers participating in asphalt or dirt oval racing subject to NJSA 62-4, will be required to wear a head and neck restraint system meeting SFI specification 38.1.” The equipment “must have an SFI tag,” according to Kowalski. He expects to meet with track operators within the next month and a half to review this.
Kowalski, who joined the unit six years ago, said the cost has come down and more information is available about the reliability.
“With all the data that’s out there from HANS and all the other companies that have done the crash testing, they’re pretty much a proven device at this point,” Kowalski said. “It’s just like a seat belt. We know they work. We know they save lives.”
A HANS Device or equivalent cost was at least $1,000 six years ago. The product is available for $400-500 now. Kowalski said that the product having “a lower cost alternative” was important in make the new rule.
“I’ve seen several crashes where we believe that a head and neck restraint like that would have saved a life. … We’ve been waiting to make it a standard in New Jersey for the last couple of years.”
Kowalski said the changes are the indirect result of Amanda Gambacorto’s fatal crash at Wall (NJ) Stadium Speedway. The Stony Brook (NY) University student crashed a Three Quarter Midget during the Green Flag Driving Experience on August 16.
“This is the most recent crash that we’ve had where a head and neck restraint may have played a role in a different outcome in a crash,” Kowalski said. “…We believe it would have reduced the probability of this type of injury.”
Gambacorto died of a basilar skull fracture, the same injury that killed Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Jr. and Dale Earnhardt in a 10 month span from May 2000 and February 2001. One of the most common injuries, the Motorsport Memorial site listed at least 11 examples on their database. Gambacorto’s head hit the steering wheel, bent the steering column forward, and broke her neck.
“There’s two reasons why that happened. One her head moved forward with her body because the seat belts were loose because of the cushioning and two she didn’t have a lot of room between her head and that steering wheel because she was spaced so far in the seat. So when her neck did stretch, which all necks stretch in a frontal impact like that, she hit the steering wheel and then the steering wheel forced her head back while her body was still moving forward. Had her head moved more with her body and had not stretched as much, we may have reduced the amount of impact or injury that she sustained from hitting that steering wheel.”
The lessons learned from Gambacorto’s crash have been implemented with changes for 2015.
The driving school used four to five inches of one inch thick seat cushions to move Gambacorto closer to the pedals. This placed the driver beyond the lateral support that the containment seat provided. Kowalski estimated that the usual distance between the chin of the driver’s helmet and the steering wheel was reduced from 15 to seven or eight inches. The seatbelts are also loosened as the driver is moved forward.
“Without a HANS Device, your neck can stretch in excess of 11 inches on an impact like that. … All these things played a role, but if she would have had a head and neck restraint, I believe she probably wouldn’t have broken her neck the way she did and if she was properly seated in that vehicle, I don’t believe she would even have an injury.”
The state police modeled another rule after NASCAR. “A maximum of three-quarters inch thick SFI 45.2 permanently affixed energy impact sheet foam will be allowed for use within the seating system to provide impact protection.” This seat foam does not compress. The new rule bans foam padding to change a driver’s seating position. In case a driver cannot reach the steering wheel or pedals, “the fixed seating position must be altered by permanently moving the seating system in order to accommodate the driver’s size.”
“That crash was very educational for us because there was no rule regarding spacing a driver forward in the seat, using any type of foam or cushion and those two things the head and neck restraint and that seat cushioning were the most significant factors that played a role in that crash and it was my understanding that many people swap cars and from time to time they do use padding here and there. But if you saw the pictures of this vehicle when we got there, the amount of padding when you look at it and you go that’s not right. You just don’t know why. When we stuck another driver in there and figured out what the situation that created, we realized how bad that scenario was.”
Track operators must apply for a racing license from the state. Compliance with Chapter 62 is necessary to be granted the license. Kowalski’s team enforces this through “safety audits or compliance checks.” This includes a weekly presence at the track from inspecting a race car, observing on track action, safety equipment like ambulances and fire extinguishers.
“It is the tracks’ responsibility to enforce the rule. It is our responsibility to make sure the tracks are enforcing the rule. …Ultimately that responsibility does fall on the track to enforce it and we’re there on a weekly basis stopping in to make sure that they’re following the rules.”
There is no grace period for the rule. He provided an example of the new rule next season. If seven drivers do not have HANS or equivalent devices at Wall Stadium, they would be told to leave and not return until they obtain a HANS Device.
“You can’t race today. They’ll either get it or they won’t and then that’s really a short transition period without a whole lot of ways.”
He does not foresee a large problem with compliance as championship contenders would not want to miss a week of racing. The teams impacted by this would be smaller teams or support classes like Street Stocks and Enduros. One example Kowalski provided as the four cylinder cars at Wall. Some people already use “excellent setups” with HANS or equivalent devices, while others use 30 year old seats.
Kowalski estimates that HANS or equivalent devices are already in use at New Egypt Speedway by at least 50 percent of drivers and could be 80 to 90 percent in some divisions like the Modifieds.
Kowalski observed that most Sprint Car drivers are already using this safety equipment. He cited younger drivers in father and son teams. “They pretty much have every safety device afforded to them ’cause their parents want them to be safe to begin with.”
“I don’t know how big the effect’s going to be on the racing environment in New Jersey, but at this point, with those lower cost alternatives, I have a feeling that there’ll be a little bit of opposition in the beginning, but it won’t be that difficult to get everybody compliant.”
Kowalski has learned during his time with the unit that you cannot make an “educated decision” in the first three years. After working with drivers and promoters, he was able to see what rules needed to be enforced and what made a difference.
“Some of the other things that we’ve done, I don’t believe that they have as significant an impact on safety as something like making a head and neck restraint mandatory. This is something I back 100 percent.”
Although he supports the adoption of head and neck restraints, Kowalski cannot definitively say that the device would have saved a life. “It’s impossible to actually say that. We have no proof. There’s no way to prove it, but we can basically determine that not having the HANS Device would be a contributory factor as to why the type of injury occurred.”
“We know the safety device exists and we know that there’s cheaper alternatives out there now. Now’s the time to make this mandatory.”
Kowalski estimated that 50 percent of racers use a head and neck restraint. With the data that has been collected over the past decade, the product has proven to be a lifesaver. “We’re just going to kick everybody else in high gear and get the stragglers to follow suit by making it mandatory.”
Kowalski also investigated Jason Leffler’s crash at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, NJ on June 12, 2013. Leffler’s Sprint Car crashed in a qualifying heat after a part broke on the car. While Leffler was using a Simpson Hybrid head and neck restraint, the seat was not a full containment seat. The Butler seat had lateral support “tabs.”
“Something now I wholeheartedly believe that if Jason Leffler … had a full head surround on both sides. The only reason that he had the injuries that he had is that he hit that wall basically perpendicular. He did a 180 and hit as he was parallel to the wall and his body and his head moved straight towards that wall and his head hit the wall. If he had that full containment seat, his head and neck never would have stretched in that direction. He would have been down in that seat and it would have prevented that type of movement altogether.”
“I’m not going to make a containment seat mandatory, but a head and neck restraint I definitely believe plays a role.”
Kowalski also said a new product in development will increase driver safety, HANS and equivalents that provide both lateral and “frontal impact protection. So I think you’re going to see another move forward in safety devices, where not only do they protect against that 30 degree left or right radius from a frontal impact, but you’re also going to see these newer devices protecting against side impacts as well, and neck injuries.”
For more information, visit http://www.njsp.org/divorg/operations/mv-racetrack-info.html.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com