Misconceptions: A False Confidence?

From unfair accusations all the way to unrealistic expectations, there are misconceptions about neck protection across the board. Under the latter category, the number-one misconception seems to be: If I wear a neck brace, I won’t get paralyzed.

As we’ve already seen from our earlier discussion, that is certainly not true. So where does this common misinterpretation come from? Is this false assumption what is prompting us to rush out buy neck protection at such an alarming rate? At the end of the day, are we shielding ourselves from catastrophic injury, or just the fear of it?

Rewinding all the way to the beginning, or at least to the person who convinced us to embrace the idea, let’s take a look at what first commanded our attention. David Bailey’s video on VitalMX.com, in which the paraplegic motocross legend held up the Leatt Brace and fervently endorsed it, left us wide-eyed and sweating bullets about our current standards of protection. It was a compelling speech that effectively turned the entire motocross industry on its ear. Bailey wasn’t trying to sell anything – in fact, he had no reported affiliation to Leatt whatsoever at the time. But the fact that drove it all home is the conclusion we all likely drew from his emotional plea: That had he been wearing one in 1987, perhaps he wouldn’t be in a wheelchair today.

In the video, Bailey repeatedly says, “I would wear this,” and talked about telling his kids to “wear this brace so I don’t have to worry.” He even referred to it as a “bullet-proof vest” and a “life vest” more than once. As revered as Bailey is, and as well-intended as his speech may have been, those are clearly some potentially misleading statements.

References to the Leatt Brace as a “bullet-proof vest” can be misleading to Joe Public who believes that this high-dollar protective wear is like a suit of invincibility, and now he can finally pin it across the desert, or hit that big triple.

Another incident came in February of ’07 that got the Leatt ball rolling, and that was when Kevin Windham showed up at the San Diego Supercross wearing a neck brace. “K-Dub” had been struggling in the Supercross season up to that point, and admitted that it was a confidence problem – a mental block that he was struggling to overcome.

Photo right: Kevin Windham showed up at the San Diego Supercross in '07 wearing a Leatt Brace and credited his podium finish to the added level of confidence he gained from it.

“We’ve just had such a huge amount of neck injuries here as of late,” Windham said prior to the race. “Any precaution I can take [I will]. The Leatt Brace feels good to me. It kinda gives you an added level of confidence; I’m enjoying it.”

That night, Windham seemed to get his groove back, and for the first time that season, he got on the podium. He credited his newfound confidence to the Leatt Brace, saying, “It was a huge mental thing for me; I had some blocks. I was just so mentally prepared tonight and luckily for me, I was on the podium.”

Neck braces began flying off the shelves at an exponential rate, and the testimonials came pouring in. Time after time, someone walked away from a scary crash wanting to thank the neck brace – swearing it saved their life. Endorsements from doctors also began to appear, offering up professional opinions that “this person would not have survived had it not been for this brace...”

Certainly no one can call these opinions false, but we can call them just that – opinions. The truth is there’s no definite way to know what would or would not have happened in each specific crash. That’s not to say you can’t take stock in these opinions – whether it’s from a doctor, a pro racer, a biomechanical engineer or your next door neighbor – just take them with a grain of salt because it’s not science. It’s speculation.

In Windham’s case, it just so happened that the confidence he gained by putting on the brace was exactly what he needed. We all know that so much of riding and racing is mental. In that sense, confidence itself can be a useful piece of protective wear. But the other side of the coin points to a significant danger that can come with a false sense of security. All too quickly, overconfidence leads to stupidity.

Dumbo’s Magic Feather

In the animated Disney tale, the baby elephant with overgrown ears doesn’t realize that he is capable of flying. But a group of crows give him an ordinary feather, telling him that it’s magical and will enable him to fly. Sure enough, Dumbo grasps the “magic feather,” spreads his ears and takes flight. Of course, it’s the mere confidence that allowed him to fly and the feather was bogus. Still, as long as he had it, Dumbo was fearless and could perform amazing aerial stunts.

There could be a similar phenomenon happening with neck protection. If having one on effectively eliminates the fear of falling perilously to the ground, are we attempting bigger, bolder and more dangerous stunts? Are false assumptions about neck protection leading some to believe that spinal cord injury is no longer a threat?

Nearly every company involved in this feature agreed they’ve seen some form of the “Magic Feather” phenomenon. In fact, they each jumped at the opportunity to address this mistaken belief, and with it, the value of educating ourselves on what neck protection systems can and cannot protect us from.

“I think the problem with all protective gear is it gives a sense of invincibility to the user,” Rietdyk said. “[People think] ‘I have a neck brace; now I can never get hurt.’ Well that’s not really true. If a guy falls out of the sky from 100 feet, there’s almost nothing we can build that can save him.”

Image right: An excerpt from Alpinestars' Safety Critical Information packet which comes with every BNS.

“It’s not a superman cape,” Collins said. “I think a big misconception is that if you put it on then you’re fully protected. Then maybe you increase the risk you’re going to take. That false sense of security when you put this around your neck could be cause for potential issues.

“To just give somebody something without there being a full understanding – people are going to think they’re superman and they might lawn dart into a landing ramp and become paralyzed and think, ‘What the hell happened?’

“It’s definitely an amazing piece of equipment that’s designed to really do its job in those sorts of impact, but you never know what’s going to happen,” Collins concluded. “There’s just so much more to it.”

Alpinestars makes the effort to address this misconception right off the bat in its Safety Critical Information packet that comes with the Bionic Neck Support. The first page reads, “...the risk of a neck fracture will ALWAYS remain – even WITH the Bionic Neck Support.” Under the section entitled “What you really should know about Neck Injury mechanisms” they address another misconception, pointing out that “...the BNS is designed for the neck, not the back.”

Many of these misconceptions stem from our habit of extrapolating information too far and reaching untrue conclusions – for instance that neck braces can guard against all spinal-cord injuries. Geoff Patterson commented on the general willingness of people to jump in line with an assumption, especially one that would be so nice if it were true.

“I think it’s just human beings,” Patterson said. “People go in the direction they’re pointed in. You look at this economy. They said to refinance the house and everyone said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to refinance our houses!’ Logic just starts going out the window. But the reality of riding a motorcycle, think about how dangerous it is. I understand the inherent risks of getting on a motorcycle. So therefore, I don’t push the outer envelope.

“It’s unfortunate that we don’t use enough common sense to make sure that we protect ourselves at a level that’s consistent,” Patterson continued. “Nothing is guaranteed. Airbags are the best thing to happen on this planet as it relates to car safety. People die in cars all the time.”