Search for safer seat

Many car seats don't adequately prevent whiplash injuries because of the way they are built, tests by America's insurance industry have found. General Motors cars in the United States were among the worst performers, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said. Sweden's Volvo and Saab cars were among the best.

The institute examined 97 seat and headrest combinations in 88 cars now on the market in the US. Some of those vehicles are available in New Zealand.

It tested 73 of the 97 seats in a 35km/h rear-impact crash to see how well they would protect an average-size male dummy. Eight earned the highest rating, including those in the Volvo S40, S60 and S80, the Saab 9-3, Volkswagen Beetle, and the Jaguar S-type. Sixteen seats, including those in the the Subaru Outback, achieved the second-highest rating of acceptable; 19 seats, including those in the Ford Focus and the Mini Cooper, earned the third-highest rating of marginal.

The other 30 received the institute's worst rating - poor - indicating the highest likelihood of neck injury in a rear-impact crash. Among those were the seats in the Audi A4 and S4, the BMW 3-Series, the Chrysler Neon and the Jaguar X-type.

The institute did not test 24 seats - among them those in the Cadillac Seville and VW Passat - because it determined the headrests were designed in a way that would not protect taller people. GM said it has followed the institute's guidelines for placement of headrests. The company also said it has led development of a headrest that moves according to the force of the crash.

The carmaker said because people of various sizes sat in various positions, there should be caution against making changes based on one test.

The institute has evaluated headrests for nearly a decade. Neck injuries sustained in a rear-end crash are rarely life-threatening, but they happen often and can be painful and expensive and account for about $10 billion in United States claims each year.

Whiplash happens when a vehicle is hit from behind and the seat is propelled forwards. If the headrest does not move with the seat, the person's neck will bend back and stretch. On the best-performing cars, the seat was sturdy but had enough cushion so the body could sink into it, keeping the head closer to the headrest. The headrests were positioned so they would be close to the back of the head and protect tall people.

Some vehicles received different ratings depending on which seats were installed. For example, Chrysler Sebring with power reclining seats had an acceptable rating, but the Sebring with manual reclining seats was not tested because the institute determined that its seats were inadequate. AP