Most car headrests fail crash safety test

The Jeep Grand Cherokee performed well in the test

Poorly designed car headrests mean drivers risk having their necks smashed with the force of a head-high tackle from a burly prop, new research shows.

A study by vehicle insurance company State has found that most head restraints fail to provide enough protection for people in rear-end crashes.

The worst offenders were four-wheel-drive vehicles with eight out of 10 rating as "marginal" or "poor".

Standout performers included Volvos and Saabs, and two small cars - the Hyundai Getz and the new Mercedes A-Class.

But overall, only one in six vehicles tested received the top rating of "good".

Shaun Hickey, spokesman for State, said drivers in a poorly rated car would "feel a force on their neck equivalent to a head-high tackle by a front row forward".

"It's alarming that almost 60 per cent of cars received a marginal to poor rating."

About 140 vehicles available in New Zealand were rated, as part of a global survey.

State, New Zealand's largest motor vehicle insurer with nearly half the market, joined similar organisations from the United States, Britain, Australia and Germany to test the effectiveness of head restraints.

Vehicles were rated "poor", "marginal", "acceptable" or "good" according to their performance in two tests.

One, a geometric test, assessed the shape and position of the head restraint in relation to the driver's head. A dynamic test involved a sled device with a crash-test dummy that simulated a rear-end collision of about 30km/h.

Mr Hickey said head rests were designed to "catch and hold" the head.

"They are supposed to be a safety feature, but many are poorly designed and people do not adjust them to be safe," he said.

Head rests needed to be adjusted along with seat, mirrors and seatbelt when a driver or passenger got into a car.

The State study follows an earlier set of tests by the company which found blind spots in the reversing visibility of all but one of 204 vehicles. Again four-wheel-drive vehicles performed poorly - the Land Rover Discovery had a blind zone of 27sq m. This year at least six children are thought to have died after being hit by vehicles reversing in driveways.


Headrest safety

Best:
* Hyundai Getz; all Volvos; all Saabs; Jeep Grand Cherokee; Nissan Primera.
Worst:
* Land Rover Defender TD5; Honda Accord; Mercedes C-Class; BMW X3; Suzuki Grand Vitara.