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Agree.
Also people seem to think the head rests are there for you to constantly be resting your head on but they are head restraints.. They’re there so you don’t break your neck if you get in an accident - not to be comfy on a long drive.
This is the correct answer. It’s a safety device, not for resting your head. When the foam is not compressed it is not good neck alignment, but in an accident, your head slams into the foam and crushes it, that’s when your neck is in good alignment, preventing damage.
I agree that the main reason for them is to prevent breaking your neck in an accident. But I have to ask… Why not make something that allows for both? Surely we can make something that helps ease our neck and shoulder muscles for long drives and prevent us from snapping our necks in a car accident from in front or back of us. No?
Those exist in fancier cars. Recently rented a jaguar f-type for a weekend getaway road trip and we noticed after an hour or 2 that the headrests actually were functional and comfy. Why the hell that shape isnt used in a normal seat i have no idea.
You answered it yourself. It’s to sell more high dollar cars.
But there are brands of car that dont even make that expensive vehicles at all, and they still have shitty headrests.
I bought little neck cushions for my Passat. I like sitting back and being comfy. I don’t understand how people can lean forward for long trips and some have their head to the steering wheel.
Idk I think because of how much force needs to be contained by the restraint it is rigid for a reason. My guess is there is an engineering reason based on physics.
Also you don’t want people to be falling asleep while driving (anymore than already happens) so maybe that’s a factor too? Like it’s not meant to be a pillow lol
You shouldn’t be pushing against it, but you shouldn’t be that far away from it either to prevent whip lash.
Any normal headrest can be angled almost vertically so it’s not like OPs picture. I wonder if op just doesn’t realize you can tilt them further forward and reset them.
OP is making a joke, I’m sure they’re aware headrests move and none actually look like the post lol.
They are not joking, and some cars cannot adjust the angle or lateral position of the headrest without replacement. There are cars (like 2009 Lincoln MKZs, cough) that have headrests and seats that look and feel exactly like the image.
I owned one for about 3 years, and I still blame it for starting my weird neck/shoulder problems years later.
True some can’t adjust the angle, but obviously none of them protrude the ridiculous amount shown in the post.
I’m not sure how this isn’t a joke, clearly it’s a riff on how headrests can be weirdly uncomfortable at times. Anyways, if you’re chilling with your head against that the whole time you’re driving you’re not doing it right.
The image exists for illustration and emphasis. It’s an exaggeration, it doesn’t make the issue not real. Perhaps your particular morphology (occipital prominence) shields you from the discomfort some of us experience, but I can assure you it is a problem, to the extent that I sometimes remove the headrest entirely because it is so absurdly tilted (in some cars).
then why do some of them go so far forward? I’d love to rest my upper back against the seat every now and then, but that requires me to move my head forward like in the OP.
Just because big automobile is out to get you.
I knew it! They want me to have neck pain so I can’t walk, so I’ll drive more.
Never knew this before. Thank you!
It’s there for me to use. How I use it is up to me.
Ackshually…it’s there for complying with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations and protecting auto manufacturers from legal liability. If you use the safety device incorrectly and suffer injury as a result, that’s entirely on you. Everyone is free win their Darwin award!
He said he is free to use it how he wants and you said he’s free to use it how he wants. Weird disparity in votes for that one.
Completely true. It’s also true your choice can be wrong.
That’s to correct your posture, soon you’ll have a mighty hump!
Car driver problems lmao. Just ride a dragon to work instead.
No way, I’m still picking scales out of my crack from the last time I gave that a shot
Every is talking about how the headrest it’s made this way for crash safety when it’s blatantly untrue.
The headrest is designed to protect the heads and neck of the average man, not woman. Decades of crash test dummies have all been modeled on the average height and weight of the male body. This is why women are 47% likelier to sustain a serious injury in a crash.
Think of the where the headrest is in the optimal position to protect the driver, and then move that a few inches lower. Adjustable headrest often doesn’t even go low enough to accommodate for many women. There is an actual cutoff height where you are just screwed and expected to die more. Not to mention the user error of forgetting to adjust the headrest from the factory setting of accommodating to the average male height.
This is why so many people are curled up like a shrimp. They are either: short, a woman, or the statistically deadliest of all, both.
You’re talking about the height of the headrest, not how far forward they go for some reason
Also they contradict themselves
The thesis is that it’s not for safety reasons then their proof is that safety tests are flawed
This works against the thesis as the conclusion is that it is still done for safety but may not be safe
Oh it’s ‘blatantly’ true that the headrest are for safety. The problem is engineers can’t design a perfect one size fits all. So things are designed around averages. It’s the best they can do.
If you fall outside of those averages at either end well, there is going to be more risk. As a male who is above average height, automotive headrests add more risk for me just as they do for a smaller woman.
But they can make a headrests that do that. My car’s headrests can tilt forward or back depending on your preference. And it was made in the 2010’s, so it’s not like this is a super old, or new, development.
Making them adjustable makes the most sense as it allows people to adjust it to what they need, rather than just designing for the average person. The seats themselves are adjustable; you can slide them forward and back, up and down, some even tilt them forward or back. The headrests should be no different.Made in the 2010s*
Then design one that passes all the required testing and market it. Just because it seems easy doesn’t mean that it IS easy. And your old car was quite possibly built under different guidelines. Meaning that they no longer meet safety standards.
tilting doesn’t make them safer
A head rest is designed to stop you getting whiplash. How does someone being shorter, make it more dangerous?
Well there is that while I have also never seen a headrest that goes high enough for me.
While I definitely think there’s truth in what you say, I don’t think it’s the real reason. The posture car seats try to put you in is just not good sometimes. If the seat itself lets you sit up straight, the headrest juts out, or the headrest is okay but the seat is curved into a bowl. It’s comfy for lazy sitting, which is what most people will want to settle into, but if you try to be mindful of your posture, you’re doing it without real support from your seat.
They really aren’t primarily head rests, so comfort isn’t the priority and my car’s manual doesnt call them that.They’re first and foremost head support for accidents.
I am very short, and sit up rather straight. My head hits what should be the most comfortable parts of every kind of seating in the most uncomfortable way. This is an accurate representation of the sensation, when curved neck portion ends up at top of your skull, and doubly so, if it’s a bucket seat. Special cushions help, in certain vehicles, which can also alleviate the seatbelt going practically across your throat. Our old Outback is tolerable, which is lovely.
We have a couple IKEA Poang chairs at home, and I need to make pillow booster-seats for the damned things, or it’s just this image, lol
I just bought a 2024 Prius and as a short person I can attest that it’s the best short-people car I’ve ever had. While it does suffer from most of the issues you would assume from not testing with shorter dummies, those issues don’t really get in the way like they do in other cars. The seat and headrest feel great, the seatbelt is adjustable on the side so it won’t cut into your neck, and it’s very easy to get in and out of. 10/10 car for us short people.
I’m tall and long in the torso. The last serious car accident I was in my head bashed against the ceiling in a frightening way. Or, it would have been frightening if I had any memory of it. I had a brush burn on my forehead which could only have happened if my head was pushed way back from hitting the ceiling. Before you ask, I always wear a seatbelt.
Anyway, that’s not why I’m replying. I’m generally ok with car headrests, although I usually have to lean the seat back pretty far to just fit in.
I bought a new office chair. I specifically chose one without a headrest, but it showed up with one anyway. At it’s highest adjustment it sits right between my shoulders.
The world seems designed to fit such a narrow range of people.
Fact is, if you aren’t in the central bell curve, then you aren’t a profitable sector. Everything is tailored to the average these days in order to have the largest potential pool of customers from which to extract profit. If only one out of every ten people is tall enough to have problems with “regular sized” objects then that means only one out of every ten people are potential customers for your Big&Tall products. 99% of companies will elect to target the other 9/10 instead, even in a saturated market.
Yes those Poang chairs hurt my neck so bad, we had to get rid of it as it caused headaches whenever I sat in it. What about Airplane seats they also seem to push your neck forward in an in unergonomic way.
We have the Poangs as well, and I can’t recline in them. The only comfortable position is to rip the cushion out and put it on the floor, and sit on the floor. >.<
I have the seatbelt cutting my neck problem too - and I’m not exactly short. :/
Because head rests are not meant to be pillows. They’re meant to cushion your head in a wreck and prevent injury from whiplash. I don’t know the specifics but that’s the gist. They’re for safety, not comfort.
Though the one in the image looks particularly wrong lol.
It’s not meant to be a pillow but it also shouldn’t force your head forward at an unnatural angle just because you have decent posture. Car headrests are designed for hunchbacks.
Many people dont realize you can pull them forward and they then pop back. Yours may have been pulled partially forward.
My car is great, modern, amazing battery life, affordable… It has a headrest like in the OP she it is fixed. Like fused with the seat.
The best bet is I’m quite tall, so it pokes me in the shoulder blades.
It sucks but, other that that, it was an amazing deal when I bought it.
I’m sure you’re aware, but that’s pretty dangerous. You will most likely have pretty bad a neck injury if you get into a wreck. It might be worth upgrading the seat to one that fits you better.
He’ll likely have a pretty bad neck injury without the accident. Keeping your body in an unnatural alignment like that for long periods of time is just begging for spinal injury.
Procrustes nodding
I don’t understand buying a car that’s physically uncomfortable to sit in.
It’s one thing if the seat is uncomfortable after a long drive; you’ll never get that from a test drive. But this would be bugging me from the minute I sat down, and I’d never buy a car with that issue - no matter how cheap it is, I have enough neck problems without them being exacerbated by my car.
Rule of thumb: if it sits between you and the ground for an extended period, don’t cheap out on it or settle if you have the choice.
Shoes, desk chair, mattress, pillow, car seat.
Life is too short to be uncomfortable.
Crash test ratings probably.
So your neck doesn’t whip back and keeps your spine in line.
Life Pro Tip:
Take them off and turn them around, so they point backwards.
Thats what i‘ve done.
Just take them off at that point, if your neck is gunna break anyway might as well go for the gold.
I feel like that’s probably not safe?
It isn’t safe, but its better than taking it off entirely.
Anyone who’s above average height or buys one of the mega cursed headrests that sticks out 4" is not keeping that thing in its factory state. If nothing else you’ll injure your neck from the constant contortion.
safety second, comfort first
I hate this so much
I hate those long distance busses. If you sit up straight, the headrest is in your back. If you slouch down to get your head at the headrest so you can get some rest, the question becomes where to put your legs without pain and discomfort.
Its even worse when you’re taller than the designer expected and sitting up straight leaning back just means tilting my head backwards over the headrest.
I don’t think my head ever touches my headrest when I’m driving. Rarely, I’ll lean back while sitting still, but that’s the only time I’m ever even aware of it.
This is correct. The headrest is meant for you to bang your head on in frustration while stuck in traffic
And doing so releases calming spores that manipulate your brain into thinking that driving is a good idea and that public transport is treason.
My wife’s RAV4 is like this. Long drives are torture after a few hours. My neck, shoulders, and back end up in knots.
I took my head rest out on my rav.
I might have died when my head snapped off, but at least my back and neck stopped killing me for the five years I drove it.
Same I have been removing the headrest in my wife’s car whenever I’m the one driving. It’s the whole posture, but the ponytail makes it worse. If I really -honestly- try and fit into the seat shape, my head is tilted so low I’m looking down at my feet. It’s ridiculous
Often my hair is in a ponytail and it does make it impossible to drive comfortably. Like I have to leave my hair down and windows up to drive comfortably.
Changing hair styles specifically for the car reminds me of some emergency responders who were talking about the horrific crash scenes where people wearing plastic hair claw clips that broke apart and become shrapnel or the clip simply lodging in the skull through blunt force contact (usually) with the headrest.
Hmm… Maybe we need a split headrest. Kids having something fun to pull on is another consideration.
You could try wearing it low/loose at the base of your neck if your hair is long enough. That might help some.
Does anyone else have the opposite problem? I feel like head rests are always too far back. If I place my head flat against them then more often than not I’m in an uncomfortable driving position because my neck is tilted back and up. I have to lean forward to drive most cars and it really annoys me.
Edit: I’m starting to think that a lot of you drive with the seat in an upright position. I sit at a slight recline because it’s easier on my back. Maybe that’s the problem. Try reclining more.
No. That’s crazy talk.
Yes you need to tilt your seat up. I’m a fatass and do it. So can you.
But sitting up straight is bad for posture. It compresses your back, which makes the pain worse.
What kind of crack is that? Nobody has ever been told to lean back in a chair. I have however been told to sit up straight.
We all have by our parents, and they were wrong. A 45° angle is ideal because your spine isn’t being compressesed by gravity as much. Just think about it. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out simple physics.
FWIW, I did have a source, but unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment.
I had a driving safety instructor tell me that’s on purpose, and they are not comfort, but safety devices, and you should not drive while leaning against it.
The seat should support your full back, but the headrest should be a few centimetres behind your head so you can still look around, but it can lessen the effects of whiplash.
Older cars were like that, but more recently usually have headsets that can adjust forward and back
Define “older”. I’ve never owned a car newer than 10 years old, and plenty of 10-15 year old cars have this problem.
My old car (2007) had adjustable head rests, my current car (2019) does not. Fortunately its not too bad but I would height adjust it an inch or two higher if I could (just like when I get on an airplane). Weirdly, I was battling a really sore neck for a few months and a couple of road trips (1500 miles each way), actually was pretty comfortable. I didn’t have to lay down for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.
That still might fit, or maybe the feature is not as common as I thought. Certainly it varies by manufacturer , with some being more laggard than others.
My last car I remember not being adjustable was a 1996 Pontiac. It did adjust up-down and was high enough to improve safety rather than risk, but it was too far back and did not adjust front-back so my head would rattle around a lot if there were an accident. I’m pretty sure the Honda, Toyota, and Subaru I had since then all had adjustable headrests. Admittedly I do remember being bothered by something so close until I got used to it, but I knew it was a safety improvement and the front-back adjustment generally allowed me to get it out of the way while minimizing head travel if an accident
As a taller guy, this is something I especially notice: most of my driving life a headrest would simply break my neck if there were an accident. Having it be high enough to act as a safety feature rather than increase risk, was a huge advance, and the more recent adjustment front-back works much better
Yet somehow my Tesla fits best of all despite not adjusting at all: neither up-down nor front-back.
Perhaps you live in a place with different vehicle safety requirements. In the US, uncomfortable forward-tilted headrests are mandated by the federal government.
I’m in the US.
