Car seats having multiple adjustment controls might promise luxury-car comfort, but they can be counter-productive if not adjusted properly. Maintaining correct posture is paramount to avoiding back pain, which reportedly plagues 60 to 80 percent of us all at some point in our lives.
“Correct seat adjustment and seating position of the driver and passenger is important in order to prevent or reduce back pain,” says Eric Mitchell, executive vice president for automotive seat supplier Johnson Controls. “In addition, with the right seating position, the risk of injury in a crash decreases, since the range of the airbags is optimized precisely to this position.”
Mitchell suggests a motorist’s legs should be slightly bent when his or her feet reach the pedals, and the bottom seat cushion should support a driver’s legs to the back of the knees. What’s more, the headrest should be adjusted so that it’s level with the top of the head for the sake of comfort and maximum protection against whiplash in rear-end collisions.
— Jim Gorzelany
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