Whiplash is the most common injury in a car crash and the least dramatic. Nobody is killed by it. Hundreds of thousands of people a year are hurt by it, and for decades the fix was a piece of foam that existed mainly to satisfy a regulation.
IIHS began rating head restraints on geometry and dynamic performance — where the restraint sits relative to the head, and what it does in a simulated rear impact. Tracking the results by era produces the cleanest improvement curve in vehicle safety.
| Model years | Rated | Poor or Marginal | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–2004 | 251 | 222 | 88% |
| 2005–2009 | 989 | 575 | 58% |
| 2010–2014 | 1,003 | 107 | 11% |
| 2015–2019 | 1,000 | 6 | 0.6% |
| 2020 onward | 805 | 0 | 0% |
Eight hundred and five consecutive vehicles from 2020 onward, and not one Poor or Marginal rating among them.
Why this one got solved and others did not
The fix was cheap and it was geometric. A head restraint works if it is tall enough to sit behind the head rather than the neck, and close enough that the head does not travel far before meeting it.
That is all. No sensors, no software, no structural redesign. Once the rating made the geometry public, meeting it cost a manufacturer almost nothing, and failing it cost them a line in a safety report.
Compare that with automatic braking, where a poor rating needs new sensors and new software to fix, and where progress runs at a few percentage points a year rather than collapsing to zero.
The brands that were slowest
Because the failures are concentrated in old model years, this table is a historical record rather than a statement about cars sold today.
| Brand | Rated | Poor or Marginal |
|---|---|---|
| Cadillac | 65 | 28 |
| GMC | 119 | 50 |
| Buick | 92 | 37 |
| Chevrolet | 258 | 90 |
| Lexus | 132 | 46 |
| Volvo | 145 | 0 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 85 | 3 |
| Subaru | 149 | 4 |
Volvo has no failures across 145 rated vehicles spanning the whole period, including the years when most of the industry was failing. Their active head restraint design predates the rating.
What it means if you drive something older
If your car is from before 2010, the odds it has a Poor or Marginal head restraint are meaningful — better than one in two for the 2005 to 2009 era.
It is also the one safety deficiency on this list you can partly address yourself, because most of it is adjustment rather than hardware. The top of the restraint should be level with the top of your head, not your neck, and the gap behind your head should be small. A great many head restraints are simply left in their lowest position for years.
Everything else in the safety record needs a VIN check and a manufacturer. This one needs thirty seconds and no money.
Frequently asked questions
Are head restraints still a safety problem?
Not on new cars. Across 805 rated vehicles from 2020 onward, none scored Poor or Marginal. In the 2000 to 2004 era, 88% did. It is the clearest example of a safety rating eliminating the problem it measured.
Why did this improve so much faster than other safety measures?
Because the fix was geometric and cheap. A head restraint works if it is tall enough to sit behind the head rather than the neck and close enough that the head does not travel far. No sensors or software were needed, so meeting the rating cost manufacturers very little.
Can I improve the head restraint in an older car?
Partly, and for free. Much of the real-world failure is adjustment rather than hardware: the top of the restraint should be level with the top of your head rather than your neck, with a small gap behind. Many are left in the lowest position permanently.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
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