Examining How Racing Drivers Prevent Whiplash Injury

If you're unfortunate enough to be one of theThe 27-year-old described the car accident, saying, "I
200,000 Britons who suffer a whiplash injury everythink I went upside down about four times. It all
year, you'll know how painful and distressing it can be.went really quick and before I knew it I was in the
Even a bump in the car at speeds as slow as 5mphgravel.
can result in whiplash, often leading to visits to theAfter I walked away from the crash I saw my car
doctor, time off work and pains in the neck, backlooked completely destroyed, but I haven't even got
and head. And all that from the tiniest of collisions -a bruise on my body. That's how safe Formula One is
collisions often so minor that the car won't evennowadays."
have lost a bumper or a number plate.Albers' lack of personal injuries is indeed testament to
So if us normal folk are getting hurt in road accidentsthe unbelievable protection that modern racing cars
at crawling speed, how on earth do motor racingoffer. Formula One drivers sit in a carbon fibre
drivers manage to walk away from terrifying lookingcocoon-like structure that forms the basis of the car,
smashes that occur at immense speeds? Obviouslywhich, constructed from hundreds of separate
there are some tragic exceptions, but the majoritycomponents, is designed to protect the driver in
of racing drivers involved in high-speed accidentseven the most furious of impacts. Ensuring that the
climb out of their wrecked cars, dust themselves offdriver's head is protected is a rigid hoop protruding
and trudge back to the pits with not a whiplash injuryseveral inches above his head, intended to hit the
in sight.ground first if the car should roll over.
If you or I had just hit a wall of tyres or bouncedAll the safety devices in the world are no good if the
off another car at over 100mph, it's fair to say thatdriver is still going to be thrown around so violently in
whiplash would probably be the last thing on ouran accident that a whiplash injury is almost a
minds. But today's top-of-the-range racing cars giveguarantee. To protect drivers from getting whiplash,
the driver enormous protection, usually enabling himFormula One cars are now fitted with a specialist
to survive uninjured inside what has, in all essence,preventative system as standard.
become a giant lump of expensive scrap metal.Designed in the United States, the Head And Neck
Just to demonstrate the point, it's worth casting theSupport (HANS) system features a carbon fibre collar
mind back several weeks to the Formula One Sanwhich is connected securely to the upper body, with
Marino Grand Prix at the infamous Imola circuit. This isstraps attaching it to the helmet. It is intended to
the track that took the life of Roland Ratzenbergerprevent the head from being thrown forward in an
and the legendary Ayrton Senna more than a decadeaccident and, much to the delight of the drivers, has
ago, and although the circuit has been made distinctlyproved to be a resounding success in the past few
less dangerous since that fateful May afternoon, ityears. Whiplash injuries used to be an all too common
still has some wicked bends and testing turns.sight in motor racing, but thanks to HANS, they are
Anyway, April 23rd 2006 witnessed a car crashslowly but surely becoming a thing of the past.
involving Christijan Albers that saw his MF1-ToyotaWith modern technological developments advancing
spinning through the air before crashing to the groundat an astounding rate, it might not be long before a
and coming to rest face-down in the gravel. TheHANS-type system is seen in all regular cars, cutting
Dutchman's car had been clipped at the rear by andown the hundreds of thousands of whiplash injuries
overeager Japanese driver, and such a devastatingsuffered on our roads every year, and saving a lot
accident would surely have killed someone in a regularof people a massive pain in the, erm, neck.
road car.