Danger in headrests

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33091, 5 December 1972, Page 2

Danger in headrests

GV.Z. Press Attociailon) WELLINGTON, December 4. Badly-adjusted motorvehicle headrests could be as dangerous during a whip-lash in an accident as no head restraint at all, said the Society of Physiotherapists to-| day. The society favours head restraints in motor vehicles, provided they are designed to support the whole neck! and head. Last week, the Automobile Association (Auckland) decided to ask the New Zealand Automobile Association

to press the new Government to make head restraints compulsory equipment in ■ new cars as soon as possible. In many cars, drivers* I headrests covered little more , than the neck. The driver ’ | was still likely to suffer ‘ from a whip-lash injury, but J of a peculiar type, with the • injury occurring at the top .of the spine, said the society. In an accident, a person’s I' head, which weighs about 1 101 b, can travel at 20 to 30 ■ i times the force of gravity, ' giving it an effective weight of 2001 b at 20 g. > Earlier this year, the chair- '. man of the council of the . Medical Association of New i Zealand (Dr R. A. Elliott) said

he had tested a number of headrests at this force. They could not stand the strain. A Wellington physiotherapist said that to be completely satisfactory a headrest should support the whole of the head and neck, and be of a shape to fit the individual driver. In effect, this means headrests ideidly should be tailor-made for each driver. “Unless head restraints are perfectly designed, they are virtually useless," he said. Present headrests were designed to move only up and down. They should also be adjustable backwards and forwards, said the physiotherapist.