Headrests - should they be removed ?

Captain Pings · 9th July 2006, 00:32

Since years I've observed many cars in and around Delhi with the headrests missing from the front seats.

My question - why ??

One answer given to me was that it obstructs the view (by a person who used the services of a driver ; and hence the driver was robbed of protection against whiplash injuries.)

This appears to be more common on the smaller hatchbacks.

Following is some information on correct positioning of Headrests and Whiplash injuries. I know it's not a very happening thread, but have felt extremely strongly on this widespread safety breach for a while.

Quote:

The main purpose of a headrest is to keep your head and neck from snapping backwards in a rear shunt, says Dr Kevin Tesh, senior ergonomist at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh.
It can also help you maintain decent posture behind the wheel.
Most people lean forward when they drive, which causes tension in the neck and shoulders.
A headrest can help keep your neck in a neutral position, which is much more comfortable.
"Make sure the top of the headrest is on the same level as your eyes," says Tesh.
"If it?s any lower, then your head could snap backwards over the top of the rest and cause injury."
Source - www.menshealth.co.uk

some more on http://www.1stclaims.co.uk/whiplash-claims.html

please do enlighten me if there is some aspect of removing headrests which comes into play in racing / rallying / motoring that can 'harm' the driver in any way by leaving it in place ?

Shan2nu · 9th July 2006, 02:51

Actually, people call it "head rest" bcoz they think they're supposed to use it as one (which actually doesn't work) so, they get them removed.

The right term for it would be "Head Restrain".

Shan2nu

condor · 9th July 2006, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

The right term for it would be "Head Restrain".

"Head Restraint"

The head restraint, or head rest for short, is very essential. My guess is that those who have the Head Restraint removed would also be people who rarely use seat-belts ..

Then again, I wonder if our car dealers and their sales-persons know that this is a restraint and not a rest. Sales-persons, because often people either ask sales-persons abt the features of the car, or other people who may not have the complete/correct info.

jkdas · 9th July 2006, 08:16

I did read abt a accident protection system that worked something liek this. In case of accident, teh head rest moves forward and hence decreasing teh distance between teh head and head rest and hence avoiding whiplash which otherwise would have caused do to difference is space between head-headrest

Shan2nu · 9th July 2006, 09:24

Quote:

"Head Restraint"

Oops, missed the "t". Must have been damn sleepy last night. LOL

Shan2nu

DCEite · 9th July 2006, 09:30

One of the main reasons ppl get head restraints removed is so that the rear passengers get uninterrupted air flow from the AC. I have seen head restraints removed in many cars where the front seat height is quite high vis-a-vis the position of AC vents (eg. tall boy cars wagonr, santro)

Its stupid to do so actually.

revharder · 9th July 2006, 09:50

they should not be removed, ok, everybody knows it here!
and for rear passengers, they do blocks the front view too!

so it is always better to get those head (rest) restraints replaced with good quality after market ones which have a see-thru panel in between them. this 'window' allows the rear passengers front view and also gives a feeling of 'open-ness' and also doesnot restricts driver's rear view while reversing.

one thing to lookout for before buying those after mkt fitments is that the window in them should be having a tightened "net" in the open area and just not the plain hollow area. this will serve almost as good as the company fitted head (rest) restraints.

well this is just my opinion and anybody having a better suggestion, please share it with us.

condor · 9th July 2006, 10:03

Revharder, the increase in visibility with the see-thru ones isnt really much. People who complain abt their view from the back seat being blocked are not really going to like even the see-through head restraints.

revharder · 9th July 2006, 10:21

condor, believe me, these works quite well!
i have seen people who're used to removing the head rests completely, but found the see-thru ones 'okay'.

these do works pretty good for such silly stubborns too!

iraghava · 9th July 2006, 12:45

And why oh why would the back seat passenger/driver want to see the road ahead and that also through the head rest only? If they wanna see all they have to do is bend a few degress sideways and have as much "openess" as they like through the seats.

I think these are all just stupid reasons by uninformed people. Head restraints main purpose is to prevent the front seat passenger/driver from getting a Neck Whiplash Injury. Which can happen if there is sudden accelaration/deaccelaration. For eg. if the car ahead of you suddenly slams on the brakes and you like a stupid **** are travelling 4 inches away from its bumper & have no reaction time, so you slam into it to stop very fast or somebody behind you slams into you because of it. That is where the resulting forces can give you whiplash in absence of the head restraint!!

And from what I have read Whiplash can seriously damage your neck/spinal cord. (I am not a doctor so the spinal cord part might have to be verified by one of the docs on the forum)

So guys keep your head rests on and always use protection

(Against whiplash that is!!)

stararmour · 9th July 2006, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava

And why oh why would the back seat passenger/driver want to see the road ahead and that also through the head rest only? If they wanna see all they have to do is bend a few degress sideways and have as much "openess" as they like through the seats.

I think these are all just stupid reasons by uninformed people.

absolutely !!! the apparently "see through" head rests are just for namesake , like a placebo ( a medicine that really doesnt cure anything but works wonders cos the people taking it think they are taking real medicine !)

besides if someone is going to use the excuse of visibilty to do away with something that has a specific reason and purpose in the car then it sounds to me like people who complain about helmets restricting their view ..........
............. in two words ....... ridiculously funny !

revharder · 10th July 2006, 09:00

iraghava and stararmour,
most of us here know the purpose of head rests quite well.
but then there are lot many less informed people out on road!

ask any of them who has removed those headrests!
answer will be most probably about the hindered view/AC-flow/openness,

and yes, he see-thru ones are a better option for such people who are hell-bent to get them removed!
atleast, here too, something is better than nothing!
and not like a useless medicine; consider it as a substitute medicine, which acts as good as the actual one, sometimes even better!!

so imho, knowing the pros and cons of headrests, instead of removing headrests completely, it is better to replace them with the see-thru ones!

some pics to understand see-through headrests in a better way:

CheeseGuy · 26th December 2006, 21:12

actually, the headrests in the topic name attracted me here;
I don't want to remove the headrest from my car as suggested(!!!) here;
I have a M800 and I want to replace my seat covers - I don't know how to remove those headrests to put on the new covers. I tried a bit of tugging and pulling and didn't find any online help to do it too.

Could anyone give me some tip that I'm obviously missing?
I usually find answers to my queries and learn lots from reading those posts of yours, but didn't find anything to answer this something trivial, sorry!!!

Enjoy,
CheeseGuy

kiranpashtakar · 27th December 2006, 12:35

Quote:

Could anyone give me some tip that I'm obviously missing?

There would be a button on the top portion of the seat where the head rest rods sink in, you need to depress this to release the head rest.

mail4ajo · 27th December 2006, 13:37

Is it possible to retrofit a proper headrest on the ALTO rear seats? I like the ones on the new WagonR and the Swift.

I rarely sit on the rear seats of my car. But recently, when I did, I felt the need for a rear headrest.

9th July 2006, 02:51	#2
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 127 Times View My Garage	Actually, people call it "head rest" bcoz they think they're supposed to use it as one (which actually doesn't work) so, they get them removed. The right term for it would be "Head Restrain". Shan2nu
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 08:16	#4
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,685 Thanked: 1,497 Times View My Garage	I did read abt a accident protection system that worked something liek this. In case of accident, teh head rest moves forward and hence decreasing teh distance between teh head and head rest and hence avoiding whiplash which otherwise would have caused do to difference is space between head-headrest
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 09:30	#6
DCEite Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR Posts: 3,591 Thanked: 3,499 Times	One of the main reasons ppl get head restraints removed is so that the rear passengers get uninterrupted air flow from the AC. I have seen head restraints removed in many cars where the front seat height is quite high vis-a-vis the position of AC vents (eg. tall boy cars wagonr, santro) Its stupid to do so actually.
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 09:50	#7
revharder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 460 Thanked: 57 Times	they should not be removed, ok, everybody knows it here! and for rear passengers, they do blocks the front view too! so it is always better to get those head (rest) restraints replaced with good quality after market ones which have a see-thru panel in between them. this 'window' allows the rear passengers front view and also gives a feeling of 'open-ness' and also doesnot restricts driver's rear view while reversing. one thing to lookout for before buying those after mkt fitments is that the window in them should be having a tightened "net" in the open area and just not the plain hollow area. this will serve almost as good as the company fitted head (rest) restraints. well this is just my opinion and anybody having a better suggestion, please share it with us.
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 10:03	#8
condor Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Speed-brkr City Posts: 16,242 Thanked: 16,902 Times View My Garage	Revharder, the increase in visibility with the see-thru ones isnt really much. People who complain abt their view from the back seat being blocked are not really going to like even the see-through head restraints.
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 10:21	#9
revharder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 460 Thanked: 57 Times	condor, believe me, these works quite well! i have seen people who're used to removing the head rests completely, but found the see-thru ones 'okay'. these do works pretty good for such silly stubborns too!
	() Thanks

9th July 2006, 12:45	#10
iraghava Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 7,993 Thanked: 281 Times View My Garage	And why oh why would the back seat passenger/driver want to see the road ahead and that also through the head rest only? If they wanna see all they have to do is bend a few degress sideways and have as much "openess" as they like through the seats. I think these are all just stupid reasons by uninformed people. Head restraints main purpose is to prevent the front seat passenger/driver from getting a Neck Whiplash Injury. Which can happen if there is sudden accelaration/deaccelaration. For eg. if the car ahead of you suddenly slams on the brakes and you like a stupid **** are travelling 4 inches away from its bumper & have no reaction time, so you slam into it to stop very fast or somebody behind you slams into you because of it. That is where the resulting forces can give you whiplash in absence of the head restraint!! And from what I have read Whiplash can seriously damage your neck/spinal cord. (I am not a doctor so the spinal cord part might have to be verified by one of the docs on the forum) So guys keep your head rests on and always use protection (Against whiplash that is!!) Last edited by iraghava : 9th July 2006 at 12:47.
	() Thanks

10th July 2006, 09:00	#12
revharder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 460 Thanked: 57 Times	iraghava and stararmour, most of us here know the purpose of head rests quite well. but then there are lot many less informed people out on road! ask any of them who has removed those headrests! answer will be most probably about the hindered view/AC-flow/openness, and yes, he see-thru ones are a better option for such people who are hell-bent to get them removed! atleast, here too, something is better than nothing! and not like a useless medicine; consider it as a substitute medicine, which acts as good as the actual one, sometimes even better!! so imho, knowing the pros and cons of headrests, instead of removing headrests completely, it is better to replace them with the see-thru ones! some pics to understand see-through headrests in a better way: Last edited by revharder : 10th July 2006 at 09:08.
	() Thanks

26th December 2006, 21:12	#13
CheeseGuy BHPian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 26 Thanked: Once	actually, the headrests in the topic name attracted me here; I don't want to remove the headrest from my car as suggested(!!!) here; I have a M800 and I want to replace my seat covers - I don't know how to remove those headrests to put on the new covers. I tried a bit of tugging and pulling and didn't find any online help to do it too. Could anyone give me some tip that I'm obviously missing? I usually find answers to my queries and learn lots from reading those posts of yours, but didn't find anything to answer this something trivial, sorry!!! Enjoy, CheeseGuy
	() Thanks

27th December 2006, 13:37	#15
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dallas, Texas Posts: 1,959 Thanked: 337 Times View My Garage	Is it possible to retrofit a proper headrest on the ALTO rear seats? I like the ones on the new WagonR and the Swift. I rarely sit on the rear seats of my car. But recently, when I did, I felt the need for a rear headrest.
	() Thanks