What part can head restraints play in preventing whiplash?

You wouldn't think of driving around without a seat belt for fear of suffering serious personal injuries in a car accident, but would you ensure that another piece of vital safety equipment is in place before taking to the roads?

The object in question is the head restraint, a very important but massively undervalued device that can help to prevent a whiplash injury in the event of a car crash.

New research undertaken by Thatcham's road accident experts has revealed that as many as two thirds of all drivers in the UK fail to adjust their head restraint properly, thus exposing themselves to the possibility of suffering whiplash.

It was also found that men are far more likely to overlook the importance of the issue, with just 25% of males ensuring that their head restraint is in the correct position compared to 43% of women.

This massive lack of awareness is one of the reasons why more than 250,000 people every year find themselves with whiplash, almost the entire amount of whom have received it because of a car accident. One tenth of these people also then go on to suffer permanent disability because of their whiplash injury.

A spokesperson from Thatcham revealed his astonishment at these worrying statistics and said, "The head restraint should be seen as every bit as important as the seat belt - yet people seem oblivious as to how to use it properly."

Ben Bloomfield from Car Accident Advice Line, the whiplash compensation claim experts, agreed with Thatcham's car crash specialist and commented, "A head restraint is a vitally important part of a car's protection system and should be used correctly at all times."

But what is the correct way to use your head restraint? This was a question we put to Car Accident Advice Line's spokesman and he replied by saying, "It's generally agreed that the best way to position your head restraint is to make sure it's level with, or above, the top of the head, whilst also as close to the back of the head as possible."

We can help you make a whiplash compensation claim
Even if you do position your head restraint correctly, a car accident can still result in whiplash. If that's happened to you and the crash was caused by someone else, you could be in a position to make a road accident claim for personal injury compensation with Car Accident Advice Line.

We've never charged any of our customers a single penny and we never will; we believe that access to compensation should be available to everyone and that's why our service is completely, totally and utterly free.

If you'd like to find out more about claiming damages following a non-fault whiplash injury, we're the people to turn to. You can get free legal advice from our friendly and experienced claims team any time of the day or night by requesting a call back or you can chat over the internet and clear up any questions you may have.

Alternatively, pick up the phone and call our 24-hour no win, no fee whiplash injury hotline on 0808 143 43 42 for more information or to begin your cost-free accident claim today.