IIHS: Headrests Not Providing Adequate Protection

Craig Cherry

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Crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show headrests in many vehicles on the road today are not providing adequate protection to drivers and passengers. Out of seventy-five (75) seat head-restraint designs that were tested by the IIHS, only twenty-two (22) rated as good.

The remaining fifty-three (53) designs rated marginal or poor. According to the results of the study:

The latest evaluations also show the seat head restraints in more than 60-percent of car models fall short of current state-of-the-art protection from neck injury or whiplash.

Currently, the IIHS estimates that rear-end collisions account for two million insurance claims each year, costing at least $8.5 billion. The IIHS has also concluded that it is not difficult or expensive to design better seat/head restraints.