Whiplash claims report faults city cars
City cars are the least effective in preventing whiplash injuries and the consequent
whiplash claims in low-speed rear-end shunts. Thatcham, the insurance industry’s research centre brought this warning as it published its new head restraint ratings.
It says drivers are being short-changed on safety, with the front seats of 11 small cars failing miserably to impress testers. Not one was rated as Good, which is described as ‘offering good protection for most sizes of occupant’. And only two were Acceptable, while the vast majority were Marginal. The Fiat Panda and Ford Ka were graded as Poor, which means they ‘offer little protection from whiplash’.
Thatcham’s crash research manager, Matthew Avery, said: “City cars are not equipped to protect their occupants’ necks when they have to absorb the crash energy from larger, heavier vehicles. Combined with poor seat design, this makes whiplash far more likely.”
Updated on 17/05/2008