What is your car’s most underappreciated safety feature? You might not think of it as a safety device. Yet it prevents serious injuries every day when an auto accident occurs in Roanoke or the New River Valley. This safety feature is the headrest attached to the seat in your vehicle.

A rear-end accident occurs every 17 seconds in the U.S. Effective, properly designed, and properly positioned headrests prevent or mitigate head, neck and shoulder injuries in many of those accidents.

Building a Better Headrest

Prior to 1960 cars were not equipped with headrests of any kind. The first headrests were produced by Saab and Volvo for luxury cars. In less than a decade, headrests became standard equipment in most autos. A transition also occurred when they became appreciated as a safety feature rather than a comfort accessory in luxury vehicles. [Read more…]