Study Shows Most Seat/Head Restraints Inadequate

Claims News Service, Sept. 22, 10:47 a.m. EDT – A recent study from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety shows that seat/head restraint combinations in the Ford Freestar and its twin Mercury Monterey earn good overall ratings. Those in some Dodge Grand Caravan/Chrysler Town & Country models are rated acceptable. However, the seat/head restraints in most current minivan models are marginal or poor, indicating they wouldn’t provide adequate protection from whiplash injuries for many people in rear-end collisions.

Neck injuries are the most common kind reported in automobile crashes and are most likely to occur in rear impacts. Whiplash is the most serious injury reported in about 2 million insurance claims each year, which cost at least $8.5 billion. Such injuries aren’t life-threatening, but they can be painful and debilitating.