RE: headrest replacement options?

[Charudatt <charu@iced.com>]

	>> If they were truly just "head-restraints" as opposed to head
	>> rests then they would still function more effectively if they
were
	>> closer to the back the head so that if the car was rear ended
and the
	>> head snapped backward, a shorter travel would mean a lower
velocity
	>> before the head restraint stopped the head-neck movement-
translating to
	>> lower impact and better protection.
	>
	>I think it's relative movement between body and head that they
	>are designed to stop.  You wouldn't want to stop your head
while
	>your body is still sinking into the seat... put a crink in your
	>neck the other way if you did.  I'm sure they calculated the
	>max backward position of the head restraint very carefully...
	>for a standard German person of course.
	>
	>Orin.

	The flaw I see in this argument is that as your body sinks into
the
	seat it has a much lower acceleration compressing the seat,
compared
	to your head flying through the air before it hits the headrest.

	Padded foam would equalize the acceleration of your body and
head.

	I'm convinced that the headrest design is an oversight/mistake.
	It may make visual sense: stylistically distinctive and minimum
	rear vision obstruction from the rear seat headrests, but in
terms
	of functionality they're useless.

	-Charu