Driver neck support and head restraint

For use in a high performance racing vehicle or the like in which the torso of a driver is restrained in a seat by a harness that includes shoulder straps extending over the driver's shoulder, and a helmet is worn by the driver, a neck support and head restraint device comprising:

• an inflatable collar configured and dimensioned when in a pliable collapsed state to loosely surround the driver's neck at a location between said helmet and the driver's shoulders,
• means for anchoring said collar to the shoulder straps of said harness,
• a pair of tethers at least partially wrapped around said collar, said tethers having first ends connected to said collar and having second ends connected to the rear of said helmet on opposite sides thereof;
• and
• means for inflating said collar from said pliable collapsed state to a relatively stiff expanded state, the relative dimensions and arrangements of said tethers and said collar being such that when said collar is in said collapsed state, said tethers extend loosely between said collar and said helmet, and when said collar is in said expanded state, said tethers are tensioned, resulting in the rear of said helmet being urged against said collar.