It does not specifically explain why the results won't be available for another four months. Dr. Robert Hubbard, who invented the HANS device, said Monday that he had not been contacted. The release stated that such time-consuming testing would delay results until the summer. First, a facility has to be contracted. Tom Gideon, manager of safety for General Motors, said it was unlikely GM would do such testing because it is busy crash-testing its production cars.
Instruments have to be set up throughout the vehicle in a crash test and then studied afterwards.
If the results are different than expected, more crash-testing is needed and the process begins again. FAA investigations are detailed and take months to complete. Our estimation now is that they're not more severe than an Indy car. A crash box used by CART recorded an impact of 150 G-forces in 1997. Melvin said most side impacts are 120-130 Gs.