The results of the latest Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study on rear crash protection in SUVs, pickup trucks, & minivans has revealed that most of today’s vehicles have marginal or poor seat/head restraints.

According to the Institute’s study, while the designs of seats and head restraints in 21 current SUV, pickup, and minivan models are rated good in terms of protecting people in rear impacts, those in 54 other models however, received marginal or poor ratings in the tests. Another 12 were rated as acceptable.

Good seat/head restraint designs are important in keeping passengers safe as it offers support by keeping people's heads and torsos moving together. In the instance that a vehicle is struck in the rear and driven forward, a well-designed seat/head restrained vehicle’s seats will accelerate occupants' torsos forward, keeping the occupant's head from lagging behind this forward torso movement, and disallowing the differential motion to cause the neck to bend and stretch. The higher the torso acceleration, the more sudden the motion, the higher the forces on the neck, explains IIHS, the more likely a neck injury will occur.

Rear-end collisions are frequent, and neck injuries are the most common injuries reported in auto crashes. These injuries make up for 2 million insurance claims each year, costing at least $8.5 billion.

"In stop and go commuter traffic, you're more likely to get in a rear-end collision than any other crash type," David Zuby, senior vice president of the Institute's Vehicle Research Center said. "It's not a major feat of engineering to design seats and head restraints that afford good protection in these common crashes."

The IHHS’ test results showed good, acceptable, marginal, or poor ratings for 87 current models. Results were based on geometric measurements of head restraints and simulated crashes that when combined, determine how well people of different sizes would be protected in a typical rear crash.

Among the best performers are the seat/head restraint combinations in SUVs produced by Subaru and Volvo. New designs from Acura, Ford, Honda, and Hyundai likewise received high points for their vehicles.

Seat/head restraints in 3 minivan models from Hyundai and Ford earn good ratings as well.

Meanwhile, the redesigned Toyota Tundra is the only pickup model evaluated with seat/head restraints rated good for rear crash protection.

Although there hasn't been significant overall improvement among pickups and minivans since the last time IIHS conducted tests for protection in rear crashes, the performance of the seat/head restraints in SUVs is much better as compared to its rating in 2006 which was only 6 of 44 SUV models earning a good rating.

Particularly earning improved ratings in the latest tests was the Mitsubishi Outlander which improved to good from the previous design that was rated acceptable. Others that received good ratings included the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Acura MDX, and two vehicles from Honda (also maker of quality Honda Prelude parts) -- the Honda CR-V and the Honda Element – which all improved from their previous ratings of poor to good. Meanwhile, the Honda Pilot and Mercedes M class both improved from marginal to good. The seat/head restraints in the Toyota Tundra pickup likewise improved to good from acceptable.

In contrast some auto makers have introduced new models with subpar seat designs: the BMW X5, Dodge Nitro, and Suzuki XL7 all rated poor, while the new Mazda CX-7 and CX-9 are rated marginal. Among these lowest rated seats are those in the Cadillac SRX SUV, Nissan Quest minivan, and Ford Ranger pickup.

Ally Wahlberg is a Computer Information Systems specialist. Ally leads an active lifestyle and he is a fan of extreme sports. He is also a car enthusiast and writing about his interests is one of his passions.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Iihs Gives Marginal, Poor Ratings on Seat/head Restraints to Some of Today 's Vehicles