Citation

Farmer CM, Wells JK, Lund AK. Traffic Injury Prev. 2003; 4(2): 83-90.

Affiliation

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA. research@iihs.org

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15389580309867

PMID

16210192

Abstract

Automobile insurance claims were examined to determine the rates of neck injuries in rear-end crashes for vehicles with and without redesigned head restraints, redesigned seats, or both. Results indicate that the improved geometric fit of head restraints observed in many newer vehicle models are reducing the risk of whiplash injury substantially among female drivers (about 37% in the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable), but have very little effect among male drivers. New seat designs, such as active head restraints that move upward and closer to drivers' heads during a rear impact, give added benefit, producing about a 43% reduction in whiplash injury claims (55% reduction among female drivers). Estimated effects of Volvo's Whiplash Injury Prevention System and Toyota's Whiplash Injury Lessening design were based on smaller samples and were not statistically significant.

Language: en