Whiplash is the most common type of injury in motor vehicle accidents and properly adjusted head restraint can have a big effect on reducing or even eliminating many whiplash injuries. As a result, pressing car makers and governments for improved head restraint design
Whiplash is the most common type of injury in motor vehicle accidents and properly adjusted head restraint can have a big effect on reducing or even eliminating many whiplash injuries. As a result, pressing car makers and governments for improved head restraint design has been high on the agenda for many years. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 202 required that all passenger cars manufactured for sale in the US after December 31, 1968 includ head restraints in the front outboard seating positions. The installation of head restraints in the front seats of Australian vehicles has also been compulsory since 1972 under Australian Design Rule (ADR) 22. The early research recommended that making head restraints compulsory in rear seats was not justified because of the small number of neck injuries that occurred in rear seated occupants (Maher, 2000)
This section focuses primarily on the US, Canada, and Europe standards, and describes how the standards from different countries were harmonized to develop a global technical regulation on head restraints. A summary of the various vehicle rating systems for head restraints is also provided.
Standards and Regulations
Vehicle manufacturers have been required to equip vehicles with head restraints since 1969 in the US, and since 1978 in Canada and in Europe. The European regulations include a minimum height of 750 mm (29.5 in) and restraints must be adjustable to 800 mm (31.5 in) above the seating reference point.
The US Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 202, in effect from 1969 to September 2009, required that head restraints be adjustable to a height of 700 mm (27.6 in) above the position of the center of rotation of the hip joint when a person is se