I decided to ring Leatt in South Africa and ask them about their new brace. After a short while I managed to get through to a very helpful chap in their testing labs. The first thing he said was that the new brace will not be suitable for karting. It requires the body to be strapped into the seat. We then went on to talk about testing by a standard body, foam neck braces, the testing they do, the dangers of the head rotating and putting an extending motion on the spine etc. I have to say that I finished the call with the view that they are serious about making the safest brace they can and that they have done a lot of testing, not only of their own brace but also others. He came across as someone technical and genuine. He said they would like to see the brace tested independently and they have been in conversations with both the FIA and CIK but that currently they do not have plans for karting neck brace tests. My conclusions from my call with the MSA and Leatt are :- 1. The MSA takes the lead from the FIA and CIK and it seems neither org has plans to test neck braces....although I do intend to speak to both of them to confirm. 2. Given there are no standard tests available, Leatt at the very least seem to be pursuing as safe a neck brace as possible (why wouldnt they be ?).
Based on this I have gone with a Leatt. I recognise that I am not a professional when it comes to medical stuff and actually would welcome someone who is (iTPro?) picking up the phone and having a more in depth conversation with their lab people.
|
|