Whiplash claim news
26/07/2007
US insurance industry uncover SUV safety stats
Whiplash claims most commonly result from road accidents as around 80% of those involved in road accidents sustain the painful neck injury and research carried out in the US has revealed one reason why whiplash claims are still rife worldwide.
Rear-end car crash simulations were conducted at 32 kilometres an hour, replicating the forces a stationery vehicle struck from behind would experience.
"In stop and go commuter traffic, you're more likely to get in a rear-end collision than any other crash type," says David Zuby, senior vice president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Vehicle Research Center. "It's not a major feat of engineering to design seats and head restraints that afford good protection in these common crashes."
Vehicles where the head restraint touched the dummy's head quickly and the forces on the dummy's neck and the acceleration of the torso were low received a higher rating in the tests.
Russ Radler also from the Institute said, "What we want to see happen is for your head and your body to move forward together when you're hit form behind. It's when your head lags behind when there isn't a good head restraint to catch your head, your neck has to do all the work and that's what leads to a neck injury."
After carrying out crash tests the US insurance industry discovered that almost two-thirds of head restraints in sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans provided poor or minimum protection against neck injuries such as whiplash.
A total of 87 different models' headrests were tested, 54 of which were rated "poor" or "marginal". Some of those that failed to perform well in the crash test included vehicles made by BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor CO. and Toyota Motor Corp. Among those with the worst rating were the BMW X3 and X5 and the Chrysler Pacifica.
On the other hand, 24% of the SUVs tested received the "good" rating; some of the best performers were the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Land Rover LR3.
The most significant finding was that the poorly-rated models failed to provide adequate protection against head and neck injuries. It is important that head restraints offer maximum support so that they absorb the impact of a car crash and reduce the chance of whiplash being sustained. Whiplash symptoms include neck and back pain, dizziness and headaches and can lead to sufferer's having to take time off work.
Approximately two million whiplash compensation claims are made each year which costs the US insurance industry at least $8.5 billion. Whiplash claims also cost the UK insurance industry a considerable amount.
Radler concluded, "People often think of their head restraint as head rests. They don't think of them as a safety device, but they are a very important safety device in your vehicle."
For the full results from the head-restraint tests visit www.iihs.org.
