Originally posted by gsbaker:
If it comes to that, Wayne, we will pay for your HANS device and provide a sticker that reads, “This thing sucks.”
So your contention is that the HANS device is a dangerous rip-off sold by greedy scumbags? Might want to change the FAQ on hour website then...
While I have some very strong opinons about harnessbelts versus the ones I sell I would NEVER put anything like that in writing unless I was sure I could prove my contention in court.
I can certainly understand your frustration with SCCA's rule-making processes, but I would hardly characterize making a presentation (biased or otherwise) as some sort of underhanded business practice. It's like a local store owner screaming that Wal-Mart is evil just becuase they have a larger advertising budget.
For what it's worth, I think the restraint rule is very goofy as written. The basic idea is a good one (making sure the drivers can be extricated quickly), but the rule needs to be written more intelligibly and it doesn't seem like re-writing the restraint system rules is a good way to go in any case.
Realistically, ANYTHING can end up snagging when you try to get out of a car (I almost got whiplash from a drink bottle tube getting caught during a driver change). I even pay attention to how my shoes are laced now because I've had them catch on things in the cockpit while getting out.
If we tried to write specific rules govering every possible situation we'd end up with a hundred pages on cockpit configuration. Honestly, the egress rule was the most sensible rule Pro ever came up with and adopting something similar in club racing would be easy to implement and wouldn't add that much time to an annual tech.
"Strap in, put your helmet & neck restarint on. Now the window net. You've got 10 seconds. Go!"
Device or no device, if you can't get out of a race car that fast you probably don't belong in one.