(91 quotes found)
“If a seat is too stiff, without enough 'give' to it so a person sinks into it during a crash, then the head restraint can move back and away from the head. This can lead to higher forces on the neck, and whiplash injury is more likely.”
Adrian Lund
“We think that the rear crash protection could be a little better, and there, we're looking at the risk of neck injury when you're hit in the rear, (say, if) you're stopped innocently at a traffic light and somebody bangs into you from behind.”
“The key to reducing neck injury risk is to keep the head and torso moving together. To ensure this happens, a seat and head restraint have to work in concert to support the head, accelerating it with the torso as the vehicle is driven forward in a rear impact. This means the geometry of a head restraint has to be adequate, and so do the stiffness characteristics of the vehicle seat and head restraint.”
“But good head restraint geometry by itself isn't sufficient. A seat has to be designed so it doesn't move backward and away from the head during a rear impact. A seat also needs to 'give' so an occupant will sink into it, moving the head closer to the restraint.”
“Automakers are improving the geometry of their head restraints, compared with the last time we evaluated them. Still, in this group of minivans the Fords are the only models with good dynamic performance for all of their seat designs. Many of the seat/head restraints we evaluated didn't even get to the testing stage because of marginal or poor geometry. These cannot begin to protect most people in rear-end crashes.”
“The sled test simulates the kind of crash that frequently occurs when one vehicle rear ends another in commuter traffic. People think of head restraints as head rests, but they're not. They're important safety devices. You're more likely to need the protection of a good head restraint in a collision than you are to need other safety devices because rear-end crashes are so common.”
“Drivers of minivans spend a lot of time on urban and suburban roads where rear-end collisions are common in stop-and-go traffic.”
“It?s disappointing that so many minivan seats are rated poor for rear impact protection. Drivers of minivans spend a lot of time on urban and suburban roads where rear-end collisions are common in stop-and-go traffic.”
“Many of the seat/head restraints we evaluated didn't even get to the testing stage ... These cannot begin to protect most people in rear-end crashes.”
“The result is disappointing for two reasons. One is that the Focus is a brand-new design, so Ford had every opportunity to design the bumpers to do a better job of reducing damage. The other reason is that the predecessor model, the Escort, had an illustrious early history of bumper performance.”
