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City cars offer less whiplash protection

Tuesday, 29 Apr 2008 13:20
The Renault Clio received a good rating from Thatcham
New research conducted by Thatcham (aka the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre) has revealed popular 'city cars' as being ineffective at saving drivers from whiplash-related injuries.

The latest vehicle head restraint ratings, released by the insurers' research centre this week, reveal that, in an increasingly popular sector of the market, consumers looking to reduce their environmental impact are compromising their safety by doing so.

Thatcham's figures are a blow to motorists in pursuit of economical, low emissions and easy-to-park vehicles. With most rear end collisions occuring during low speed city driving and with smaller, lighter cars being intrinsically higher risk, the figures are even more of a concern.

Matthew Avery, research manager (crash) at Thatcham, said: "Although across the board we are seeing improved seat designs with around 75 per cent of all new seats tested now achieving a ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ rating, more can certainly still be done.

"City cars are not equipped to protect their occupants’ necks when they have to absorb the crash energy from larger, heavier vehicles which combined with poor seat design makes whiplash far more likely.

"Good seat design is not something that should be inherently linked to higher value cars and this latest set of results will hopefully act as a catalyst for vehicle manufacturers to look at improving seat and head restraints design within this important and growing sector."

Thatcham's research does give a seal of approval to three vehicle manufacturers - Audi, Volvo and Saab - who achieved 'all good' ratings in the safety categories, demonstrating a commitment to safe seat design across their entire range.

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