Devoted to the Insurance industry and all thing related

A large chunk of car manufacturers need to improve upon their seat/head restraint engineering according to a recent crash test by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).  They conducted crash tests on 75 different vehicles and only 22 vehicles achieved the highest mark.  

Some of the cars that passed with flying colors include “all Volvos; Audi A4, S4 and A6; Ford Five Hundred/ Mercury Montego; Nissan Sentra and Versa; Saab 9-3; and Subaru Impreza and Legacy/Outback.”  Great, none of those cars happen to be the car I drive, but oh well.

According to the IIHS news release “Rear-end collisions are frequent, and neck injuries are the most common injuries reported in automobile crashes.  They account for 2 million insurance claims each year, costing at least $8.5 billion.”  I was having a hard time understanding how a head restraint can help in a rear-end collision but luckily the news release cleared that up for me.

“When a vehicle is struck in the rear and driven forward, the vehicle seats accelerate occupants' torsos forward. Unsupported, an occupant's head will lag behind the forward movement of the torso. This differential motion causes the neck to bend and stretch. The higher the torso acceleration, the more sudden the motion, the higher the forces on the neck, and the more likely a neck injury is to occur.”

Makes sense to me.