People often refer to the head restraint in vehicles as a “head rest.” This is inaccurate. The head restraint is not meant to be used as a pillow to rest your head on when you are tired. Its purpose is to prevent excessive extension of your neck if you are involved in a collision (especially a rear-end collision). All cars/trucks/SUVs are now required by law to have head restraints. And like everything, the quality, or in this case the effectiveness of the restraints varies widely by make and model of vehicle. To research what vehicles have the best head restraint ratings go to:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx#rearratings
This website provides excellent insight to the safest vehicles. Please note that the number one thing you can do to prevent “whiplash” is to properly adjust your head restraint. If you have questions about how to do this, feel free to call us at 503-235-7130 and we will be sure to help!