A post was made after Ricky's accident and he was treated and released. Turns out he damaged the artery that supplies blood to the brain. He went to a doc that knows racing injuries and he said it was likely caused by his hans. He will be out for 6 weeks minimum. The doc said he came very close to having a stroke. He was unconscious for several minutes. He lapsed back into unconsciousness as they were putting him in the ambulance. They wouldn't let me in the ambulance (his dad). So the ambulance came outside the track and parked until another ambulance came from the hospital. Took probably 15 min. When they transported him to the hospital, they didn't even turn the lights on and observed all traffic signals.

For a sense of how serious his accident was go here:

http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.co...20DEH.jpg/view

Hope all turns out good for your son.We had a young man injured in a 305 nonwing sat night and he is still in the med with some complications and complaining of headaches.I have been on my son about getting a hans device but i keep hearing good and bad about them.Did they say how the hans caused injury?It weighs on my heart and mind everytime i read of someone injured racing.May god be with yall.

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Keep us updated on how your son is doing.I dont know him but we still care about these young men that show up and give us a race to watch.

Could someone explain how the hans caused the injury and how it has caused some of the other injuruies it has.

Brad Wilson

Very sorry to hear this, we pray he recovers fast and fully.

I believe the hans can shift in a roll over or flip type accident and injure the sides of the neck. The device isn't really design for accidents of this type. I am in no way bashing hans. My son won't race without wearing one, mandated by the sanctioning body or not.

Thanks Mark. That would seem to make sense.

Mr. Ehrgotts, I wish Ricky a full and speedy recovery.


God Bless Your Family,

Patti

Hope things go well in your son's recovery. I have not heard much about HANS-related injuries and would like to know more if you find out something you can share with me. While there is a tiny risk involved with virtually any piece of safety equipment, we are still better off with it than without it.

Hope all goes well in recovery.

It seems they would devised something better for this type of racing. I supposed some of the seats made today try or do accomplish side to side with forces on the neck but I know of some incidents with head injuries from the head swapping back and forth against the side head containment bars. I supposed it is a compromise one way or another. Head or neck.

Maybe someone should devise something like the Hans and Leatt neck brace.

The Leatt does guard against the head going in all directions. Maybe not perfect but better than nothing. I had a Leatt on when I had my accident. I did land on my head after break 2 ankles and 5 ribs. So, who knows if it helped my neck or not. I couldn't remember much after the intial impact and flying through the air.

Maybe the 2 companies could do a collaboration project.

I'm still trying to get the point of your post?
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I am still not a huge fan of the HANS in open wheel racing. It is designed for front impact crashes, not flipping end over end & barrel rolls like most sprint car & midget crashes are. I've seen & heard of a lot of open wheel guys getting hurt & even worse, killed the last 3-4 years while 90% of them were wearing a HANS Device. Earlier this year my driver crashed in a midget, barrel rolled 4-5 times & broke a vertabrae in his neck while wearing his HANS. I think the biggest safety improvement has been the full containment seats. As for all of the head & neck restraint systems on the market today, none of them have really caught my eye as being a great thing for sprint car & midget drivers.