No HANS for Burton: Jeff Burton is wearing the Hutcherson Device (note: thought it was the Hutchens device), an alternative to the HANS (head and neck safety) Device that is supposed to prevent the neck-whipping action that may have caused Dale Earnhardt’s death. “The reason I like it is because in a rearward impact, there is absolutely zero problem with the device causing some sort of issue that we don’t know about,” Burton said. “When I look at the HANS Device, with the parameters that we have to work in, the HANS is crammed into the car, crammed up against the driver’s head and crammed against the seat.” The HANS Device was designed for open-wheel racing and has been adapted for stock cars, although not to a universally acceptable degree. Some drivers, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., are not wearing any head-and-neck restraint system. Burton concedes that the Hutcherson Device is not as effective in a head-on impact as the HANS, but he says that at a 30-degree impact, it works just as well.(Dallas Morning News)(4-5-2001)
