HANS is a Head and Neck support device that every driver needs to wear since 2003 to protect their head and neck during a crash. This device is supported at the back of a driver’s helmet and prevents excessive movement during a collision.
It was invented in the mid-1980s by Dr. Bob Hubbard, a biomechanical engineering professor at Michigan State University in the USA. The device works by controlling the movement of the driver’s head during an impact, using straps that attach to the helmet.
The collar of the device absorbs and redistributes the forces generated by the head’s pendulum momentum. The HANS device also transfers the helmet loading from the base of the skull to the forehead, which is better equipped to handle the force.