stevehayes01
03-14-2005, 12:14 PM
Interesting short article on Car Seats and the safety they provide to the drivers.
Some Car Seats Do Poor Job Of Preventing Whiplash
http://media.graytvinc.com/images/Crash+Test+Dummy.jpg
After testing dozens of seats to see how well they protected an average-size male dummy, the Institute for Highway Safety concluded that more than half of the seats did a poor job of preventing whiplash.
Eight seats got the highest rating, including those in the Volvo
S-40, S-60 and S-80, the Saab 9-2-X and 9-3, and the Jaguar S-type.
Sixteen, including those in the Chevrolet Malibu and the Subaru
Outback, got the second-highest rating of acceptable.
document.write('');And 19 seats, including those in the Ford Focus and the Mini
Cooper, earned the third-highest rating of marginal.
Thirty others received a poor rating including seats in the Audi
A-4 and S-4, the B-M-W 3 Series, the Dodge Neon and the Jaguar
X-type.
And 24 seats weren't tested at all because it found the
headrests were designed in a way that would not protect taller
people.
"It's obvious that some automakers are doing a better job than others of designing seats and head restraints to protect their customers' necks in rear crashes," said Adrian Lund, the Institute's chief operating officer.
"Especially disappointing is that so many car models still have head restraints with poor or marginal geometry. Good geometry is a simple and necessary first step toward adequate protection, and seats with bad geometry cannot begin to protect many taller occupants."
Some Car Seats Do Poor Job Of Preventing Whiplash
http://media.graytvinc.com/images/Crash+Test+Dummy.jpg
After testing dozens of seats to see how well they protected an average-size male dummy, the Institute for Highway Safety concluded that more than half of the seats did a poor job of preventing whiplash.
Eight seats got the highest rating, including those in the Volvo
S-40, S-60 and S-80, the Saab 9-2-X and 9-3, and the Jaguar S-type.
Sixteen, including those in the Chevrolet Malibu and the Subaru
Outback, got the second-highest rating of acceptable.
document.write('');And 19 seats, including those in the Ford Focus and the Mini
Cooper, earned the third-highest rating of marginal.
Thirty others received a poor rating including seats in the Audi
A-4 and S-4, the B-M-W 3 Series, the Dodge Neon and the Jaguar
X-type.
And 24 seats weren't tested at all because it found the
headrests were designed in a way that would not protect taller
people.
"It's obvious that some automakers are doing a better job than others of designing seats and head restraints to protect their customers' necks in rear crashes," said Adrian Lund, the Institute's chief operating officer.
"Especially disappointing is that so many car models still have head restraints with poor or marginal geometry. Good geometry is a simple and necessary first step toward adequate protection, and seats with bad geometry cannot begin to protect many taller occupants."