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GOLFEN: New Headrests Real Pain In The Neck
Written by: Bob Golfen   
06/30/2009
Phoenix, AZ
 
“Dude, the new headrests suck.”

So says a blogger on a website dedicated to Volkswagen cars, but he may as well have been writing about most 2009-2010 cars and light trucks being sold in the United States.

The offending headrests push the driver's and front-passenger's heads into an uncomfortable position. (Photo: Ford) ยป More Photos
Oh yeah, those new headrests certainly do suck. Nasty, uncomfortable things, they’re the result of bureaucratic safety regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the automakers’ faulty attempts to comply.

The new headrests – or head restraints, as they’re now called, as if we wouldn’t know the difference – are designed to prevent whiplash, a common-enough car-crash injury. Studies done during the early part of this decade determined that most head restraints were not doing enough to prevent the painful aftermath of a rear-ender.

“More than 270,000 whiplash injuries occur annually in motor vehicle crashes,” NHTSA said when the new head-restraint rules were adopted in December 2004. “When all vehicles meet the new requirement (starting in the 2009 model year), the upgraded head-restraint standard is expected to reduce that number by nearly 17,000 annually.”

All well and good, I suppose, especially for those people who won’t have to walk around wearing neck braces. But how about us poor souls who have to endure the truly uncomfortable head position caused by the new restraints?

I’ll let our VW blogger explain.

“My main complaint: It's impossible to relax your upper back. Specifically, if you want to have your upper back and shoulders touching the seat, the headrest forces your head to point downwards - can't see the road that way.”

I concur. These crummy “forward-attitude” head restraints push my head forward into a weirdly unnatural position. I just can’t get comfortable. Apparently, the taller you are, the worse the effect.

And guess what? The angle is
not adjustable, so you’re stuck with it.

The idea is to get the restraint closer to the head and in a higher position to prevent excess head bobbling in a rear-end crash. Sure, but why do they have to go the extra distance in pushing against your head all the time?

I first noticed these evil things while road-testing a Honda Accord last year, possibly my first road test of a 2009 model. In my review, I complained bitterly about the lousy headrests, thinking it was a Honda design flaw. Not so. It’s actually a NHTSA regulation flaw.

It’s not just about little cars, either, but big pickups and SUVs. For instance, in the otherwise excellent 2009 Ford F-150, I was surprised to find how uncomfortable the seats were, all because of those ill-conceived headrests. Usually, I feel great driving a big Ford truck.

This blog entry comes from a website dedicated to F-150 pickups:

“The headrest design on my new ’09 F-150 lacks any common sense,” the blogger said. “They are a pain in the neck. Does anyone know of an aftermarket headrest company?”

Another blogger talked about turning the headrests around altogether, which adds comfort but defeats their purpose of saving your neck. Another driver said he was going to put the steel headrest supports in his vise and bend them back.

And this from loyal F-150 fans.

On the recent press introduction of the 2010 Ford Taurus, the subject of headrests kept coming up, with many of the automotive journalists complaining about those on the vehicles they test from a variety of manufacturers. One young writer was trying to foment revolution.

The Taurus folk noted that while the new sedan has the same objectionable design, it’s mitigated somewhat by extra padding that allows your head to sink in and not get pushed forward so much. But there has to be a better way.

Oh wait. There is.

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