Seat Designers Can Help Protect Against Whiplash

The car industry is under pressure to make and sell quality products amidst the economic slowdown of the global credit crunch and the increasing awareness of green issues. One important factor in achieving this is to manufacture cars with high safety ratings that will protect both the passengers and the driver in the event of a crash.

Often this means strengthening the side walls, and crumple zone, as well as fitting good quality air bags and ABS braking systems. However improving seat design can also have a big effect on the safety of the vehicle. Whiplash is a very common injury sustained in car accidents and can have long lasting negative health effects. Cars that help to reduce whiplash injuries will be providing their users with a very valuable attribute.

Car manufactures are aware of the importance of seat design and are asking their suppliers to provide them with more comfortable, safer and long lasting designs which will help boost the cars appeal. On top of this customers are making more demands such as, in-seat heating and cooling systems as well as an appealing look. This adds up to quite a long list of requirements, especially when you add on factors that ergonomics professionals deem to be important for supporting drivers and passengers whilst they are in their vehicles. Over the last ten years car seat designers have spent a lot of time trying to perfect the car seat but have been forced to take into account a number of external factors such as raw material and fuel prices and the impact of world market globalisation. In the present day keeping the car as light as possible has a large benefit for fuel economy, which means that the seat design also has to factor this in.

However one of the most important factors of all is how well the seats respond under stress. There is no point in designing lightweight, good looking, economically, finically designed seats if they fail to offer any protection in the event of an accident. One quarter of all personal injuries sustained in a car crash are caused by people driving into the back of one another. All though rear ending accidents do not often result in death they can result in other serious injuries. Of these serious injuries, research shows that whiplash is reported in 30-40 percent of car accident claims. One of the biggest ways to reduce this figure is to design seats that have adequate head rest facilities. In America a new mandate has recently been introduced with the aim of improving head restraint design, and reducing the effects of whiplash injuries in low speed accidents.  This will add another thing onto the list that designers need to consider, but if it helps protect those who use cars against the potentially devastatingeffects of a whiplash accident it will be very beneficial.  Overall the aim of the industry is to make safer cars as they will appeal more to those purchasing them and ultimately make the roads a safer place to be.