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From past experience, crash accelerations in CART Champ Cars during 2000 and 2001 would have caused head injuries at a 15% occurrence rate and neck injuries at a 7.5% occurrence. In 28 incidents in 2000 and 2001 involving 33 drivers, there were no cervical fractures or dislocations, one significant, but minor head injury and 8 instances of minor neck complaint, all of which resolved spontaneously within three weeks. One driver lost racing time. This on-track experience supports the laboratory data previously published and demonstrates the efficacy of the HANS® * device in substantially reducing the risk of head and neck injury in motorsports. (*HANS® is a registered trademark and an acronym for Head and Neck Support.)

Crash test dummies serve as human surrogates in automotive crash simulations, and accelerations monitored in the heads of these dummies are used for assessment of human head injury hazard. For these acceleration measurements to be meaningful indicators of head injury, the impact response of the human head must be a part of dummy head design. This paper describes the conception, design, and development of a crash test dummy head. Geometric, inertial, and performance requirements based on biomechanical information are presented and discussed. The head design concept is compatible with current head injury assessment procedures, and the configuration is based on the GM Research skull and head geometry models. The manufacture and development are described, and the test procedures and results are presented and discussed with reference to the biomechanical and functional requirements. The resulting dummy head is shown to comply with these requirements.

Two Highway Safety Research Institute (HSRI) dummies were tested and evaluated. Based on the analysis given, the HSI dummy should not be used for vehicle qualification testing. However, many of its components offer viable alternatives for future dummy development. The dummy was found to have inadequate biomechanical fidelity in the head, neck, and chest, although its characteristics were very promising and, as a whole, biomechanically superior to the Hybrid II. Its repeatability and reproducibility in dynamic component tests were better than the Hybrid II dummy. In particular, the HSRI friction joints were outstanding in repeatability and had a significant advantage in usability in that they do not require resetting between tests. In three-point harness and ACRS systems tests, the values of injury criteria produced by the HSRI dummy were generally lower than those obtained with the Hybrid II, especially the femur loads in the ACRS tests.

Auto and boat racers suffer fatigue and injury from loading of their necks. While racing, a driver's neck often becomes fatigued because it must support the weight of the head and helmet. In crashes, extreme motions of a driver's unrestrained head relative to the restrained torso cause excessive loads in the driver's neck. These neck loads between the head and torso can cause severe or fatal injuries such as spinal dislocations and basilar skull fractures. A new type of head and neck support has been developed that restrains the driver's head relative to their torso to reduce undesirable head motions and neck loads that cause fatigue and injury. This paper describes recent work, using computer crash simulations, crash dummy tests, and driver experiences, to better understand head and neck injury in racing and to evaluate the performance of a new head and neck support.