Head Restraints

Head restraints get a ho-hum rating on a vehicle's sexy options scale, and most consumers never take the time to adjust them properly. But those little squares on the top of the front passenger seats are an important safety technology that can save passengers from whiplash injuries that leave one million Americans with chronic life-changing injuries every year.


The chances of sustaining a whiplash injury are three times greater than a fatality or an injury requiring extensive hospitalization, according to Department of Transportation statistics. And according to experts at the Spinal Injury Foundation, between 25 and 40 percent of whiplash victims will have chronic symptoms from damage to joints, discs, ligaments and nerves. In one recent study, one-third of patients, 17 years after their whiplash injury, were still disabled. There are 12 million whiplash injuries reported every year and more than $29 billion is spent on healthcare or litigation related to the injury.

Time to Adjust
It only takes a few minutes to position the new generation of adjustable head restraints so they can do their job. But most consumers don't know what the right adjustment is. A head restraint that is too low actually increases injury because the head pivots over the top in a rear-end crash. Adjusting the head restraint up or down until the center of the head restraint meets the center of the back of the head (about 3.5 inches from the crown of the head), will protect passengers in a rear end collision. It should be no farther than four fingers widths from the head while riding in the vehicle.


According to the Center for Research into Automotive Safety and Health, riding with the head an additional two inches beyond the optimum range magnifies the crash forces on the head by 300 percent. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recommends those who cannot ride with their head the optimum distance from the head restraint consider purchasing an aftermarket head restraint add-on which will bring the head closer to the restraint.


In four out of five passenger vehicles on today's market the head restraints must be manually adjusted. In a recent study, the IIHS found that 40 percent of the head restraints on the road are not properly adjusted. IIHS has been tracking the efficacy of head restraints since 1995 when only three percent of vehicles had head restraints deemed good by the Institute and 82 percent got a poor rating. In 2003 model-year vehicles, 45 percent of passenger-vehicle head restraints got a good rating and the poor rating plunged to 10 percent. (Comprehensive ratings are available on the IIHS web site: www.IIHS.org