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I always lower the back of the seat as much as possible and raise the front as much as possible so I’m planted in the seat. I can pick up both get without sliding out of the seat. Then I recline a little bit so I can rest my head comfortably. I have seen those more modern headrests that seem to stick way out from the seat. Not sure who those are for.
They shouldn’t be uncomfortable. Make sure you’ve set them correctly.
Life Pro Tip:
Take them off and turn them around, so they point backwards.
Thats what i‘ve done.
I feel like that’s probably not safe?
safety second, comfort first
It isn’t safe, but its better than taking it off entirely.
Anyone who’s above average height or buys one of the mega cursed headrests that sticks out 4" is not keeping that thing in its factory state. If nothing else you’ll injure your neck from the constant contortion.
Just take them off at that point, if your neck is gunna break anyway might as well go for the gold.
Same thing on planes.
“They need something to rest their head on!” --> adds something that nobody asked for and nobody needs --> "I’m helping you :) "
Exactly! They are the absolute worst on long flights. I can manage the limited leg room. But why the fuck does my head need to be pushed 2 inches ahead of my back and shoulders? And why can’t those flaps on the side of the head rest be more substantial so you can rest your head to either side at least? My strategy has been to lift the headrest as high as it will go, and usually I am short enough for it to clear my head so I can have some semblance of comfort.
holy shit you can lift them
I used to think my entire body should contour along the seat, and I sat too upright, so this was a problem for me as well. Then I realized you’re not actually supposed to rest your head all the time and you can recline the seat to the point where the headrest doesn’t angle forward too much. Just scoot forward a bit if you can’t reach the wheel. Now I drive more relaxed. Also, some cars’ headrests can actually be adjusted forward and back.
If I reclined the seat I wouldn’t be able to see out! I add a 2 inch cushion just to prevent the seatbelt from sliding up and crushing my windpipe. And I have to drive with my fingertips and toes to prevent the airbag from killing me.
Why is everything designed for a 6 foot man when more than half of drivers who spend a lot of time on the road are women? Why has there not even been a proper female crash dummy? I drive a minivan because it’s adapted to my husband’s wheelchair. But even regular cars have similar misfits.
Often my hair is in a ponytail and it does make it impossible to drive comfortably. Like I have to leave my hair down and windows up to drive comfortably.
You could try wearing it low at the base of your neck if your hair is long enough. That might help some.
Changing hair styles specifically for the car reminds me of some emergency responders who were talking about the horrific crash scenes where people wearing plastic hair claw clips that broke apart and become shrapnel or the clip simply lodging in the skull through blunt force contact (usually) with the headrest.
Hmm… Maybe we need a split headrest. Kids having something fun to pull on is another consideration.
Because you haven’t adjusted it right?
I can move my headrest up and down, that’s it.
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Lucky you.
To be fair, that is not an exhaustive list of cars on the road today. My husbands passenger seat of his 2023 car is the bane of my existence. No way to adjust the headrest aside from up and down and unless I tilt the seat way back, it feels like OP’s drawing.
This bothers me so much. I know the idea is that if I get rear-ended it would help prevent whiplash. But it feels so uncomfortable that I tilt the seat back. This defeats the point of the headrest and I am sure other saftey features. But if I didn’t I would be constantly annoyed and distracted. That would increase my odds of getting into a forward facing accident.
My wife’s RAV4 is like this. Long drives are torture after a few hours. My neck, shoulders, and back end up in knots.
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Same I have been removing the headrest in my wife’s car whenever I’m the one driving. It’s the whole posture, but the ponytail makes it worse. If I really -honestly- try and fit into the seat shape, my head is tilted so low I’m looking down at my feet. It’s ridiculous
Ask Will Toledo.
That’s to correct your posture, soon you’ll have a mighty hump!
I hate those long distance busses. If you sit up straight, the headrest is in your back. If you slouch down to get your head at the headrest so you can get some rest, the question becomes where to put your legs without pain and discomfort.
Its even worse when you’re taller than the designer expected and sitting up straight leaning back just means tilting my head backwards over the headrest.
Does anyone else have the opposite problem? I feel like head rests are always too far back. If I place my head flat against them then more often than not I’m in an uncomfortable driving position because my neck is tilted back and up. I have to lean forward to drive most cars and it really annoys me.
Edit: I’m starting to think that a lot of you drive with the seat in an upright position. I sit at a slight recline because it’s easier on my back. Maybe that’s the problem. Try reclining more.
Older cars were like that, but more recently usually have headsets that can adjust forward and back
Define “older”. I’ve never owned a car newer than 10 years old, and plenty of 10-15 year old cars have this problem.
That still might fit, or maybe the feature is not as common as I thought. Certainly it varies by manufacturer , with some being more laggard than others.
My last car I remember not being adjustable was a 1996 Pontiac. It did adjust up-down and was high enough to improve safety rather than risk, but it was too far back and did not adjust front-back so my head would rattle around a lot if there were an accident. I’m pretty sure the Honda, Toyota, and Subaru I had since then all had adjustable headrests. Admittedly I do remember being bothered by something so close until I got used to it, but I knew it was a safety improvement and the front-back adjustment generally allowed me to get it out of the way while minimizing head travel if an accident
As a taller guy, this is something I especially notice: most of my driving life a headrest would simply break my neck if there were an accident. Having it be high enough to act as a safety feature rather than increase risk, was a huge advance, and the more recent adjustment front-back works much better
Yet somehow my Tesla fits best of all despite not adjusting at all: neither up-down nor front-back.
My old car (2007) had adjustable head rests, my current car (2019) does not. Fortunately its not too bad but I would height adjust it an inch or two higher if I could (just like when I get on an airplane). Weirdly, I was battling a really sore neck for a few months and a couple of road trips (1500 miles each way), actually was pretty comfortable. I didn’t have to lay down for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.
Yes you need to tilt your seat up. I’m a fatass and do it. So can you.
But sitting up straight is bad for posture. It compresses your back, which makes the pain worse.
What kind of crack is that? Nobody has ever been told to lean back in a chair. I have however been told to sit up straight.
We all have by our parents, and they were wrong. A 45° angle is ideal because your spine isn’t being compressesed by gravity as much. Just think about it. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out simple physics.
FWIW, I did have a source, but unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment.
I had a driving safety instructor tell me that’s on purpose, and they are not comfort, but safety devices, and you should not drive while leaning against it.
The seat should support your full back, but the headrest should be a few centimetres behind your head so you can still look around, but it can lessen the effects of whiplash.
Perhaps you live in a place with different vehicle safety requirements. In the US, uncomfortable forward-tilted headrests are mandated by the federal government.
I’m in the US.
No. That’s crazy talk.
Agree.
Also people seem to think the head rests are there for you to constantly be resting your head on but they are head restraints.. They’re there so you don’t break your neck if you get in an accident - not to be comfy on a long drive.
I agree that the main reason for them is to prevent breaking your neck in an accident. But I have to ask… Why not make something that allows for both? Surely we can make something that helps ease our neck and shoulder muscles for long drives and prevent us from snapping our necks in a car accident from in front or back of us. No?
Those exist in fancier cars. Recently rented a jaguar f-type for a weekend getaway road trip and we noticed after an hour or 2 that the headrests actually were functional and comfy. Why the hell that shape isnt used in a normal seat i have no idea.
I bought little neck cushions for my Passat. I like sitting back and being comfy. I don’t understand how people can lean forward for long trips and some have their head to the steering wheel.
You answered it yourself. It’s to sell more high dollar cars.
But there are brands of car that dont even make that expensive vehicles at all, and they still have shitty headrests.
Idk I think because of how much force needs to be contained by the restraint it is rigid for a reason. My guess is there is an engineering reason based on physics.
Also you don’t want people to be falling asleep while driving (anymore than already happens) so maybe that’s a factor too? Like it’s not meant to be a pillow lol
It’s there for me to use. How I use it is up to me.
Completely true. It’s also true your choice can be wrong.
Ackshually…it’s there for complying with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulations and protecting auto manufacturers from legal liability. If you use the safety device incorrectly and suffer injury as a result, that’s entirely on you. Everyone is free win their Darwin award!
He said he is free to use it how he wants and you said he’s free to use it how he wants. Weird disparity in votes for that one.
This is the correct answer. It’s a safety device, not for resting your head. When the foam is not compressed it is not good neck alignment, but in an accident, your head slams into the foam and crushes it, that’s when your neck is in good alignment, preventing damage.
Never knew this before. Thank you!
You shouldn’t be pushing against it, but you shouldn’t be that far away from it either to prevent whip lash.
Any normal headrest can be angled almost vertically so it’s not like OPs picture. I wonder if op just doesn’t realize you can tilt them further forward and reset them.
OP is making a joke, I’m sure they’re aware headrests move and none actually look like the post lol.
They are not joking, and some cars cannot adjust the angle or lateral position of the headrest without replacement. There are cars (like 2009 Lincoln MKZs, cough) that have headrests and seats that look and feel exactly like the image.
I owned one for about 3 years, and I still blame it for starting my weird neck/shoulder problems years later.
True some can’t adjust the angle, but obviously none of them protrude the ridiculous amount shown in the post.
I’m not sure how this isn’t a joke, clearly it’s a riff on how headrests can be weirdly uncomfortable at times. Anyways, if you’re chilling with your head against that the whole time you’re driving you’re not doing it right.
The image exists for illustration and emphasis. It’s an exaggeration, it doesn’t make the issue not real. Perhaps your particular morphology (occipital prominence) shields you from the discomfort some of us experience, but I can assure you it is a problem, to the extent that I sometimes remove the headrest entirely because it is so absurdly tilted (in some cars).
then why do some of them go so far forward? I’d love to rest my upper back against the seat every now and then, but that requires me to move my head forward like in the OP.
Just because big automobile is out to get you.
I knew it! They want me to have neck pain so I can’t walk, so I’ll drive more.
Take them all the way out, and flirt it around.
Or see if it moves
Okay so I think some people might need a course on why headrests are designed this ungodly way…
during a rear-end collision or sudden braking as the vehicle makes a sharp forward-backward movement. Without the angled headrests, passengers may suffer spine misalignment of spine-related injuries due to sudden movements. The headrests also keep the spine in position with its “forward-looking” design. This stops the pain and other symptoms associated with a misaligned spine.
How does that help when the top of the headrest jabs into your neck? Doesn’t that just make a nice fulcrum to snap your neck on?
Your headrest is probably to low… If you lean back into it your chin should go down towards your chest… This is what protects your neck along with the support from the headrest…
These new head rests are not adjustable. That’s the whole point of the post.
They have to be height adjustable based on who is sitting in the seat or they do more harm then good
Sure would be nice!
So…I should turn my headrest back around, huh?
Yeah bruh
