Child seats, does the car headrest need to be removed for safety? The test

A new test shows that it is not always necessary to remove the rear head restraints before fitting a car seat

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Several tests have shown how essential it is to position and mount car seats correctly, as well as to always tie children in order to avoid unpleasant situations in the event of an accident. Now a new French test shows that, contrary to what the car manufacturers claim, the rear headrest it should not necessarily be disassembled before installing the seat.

Generally, car manufacturers recommend that those who have to install a car seat first remove the rear head restraints. The reason is that the headrest can interfere with the correct installation of the seat, preventing it from being pressed correctly against the backrest of the car and therefore potentially compromising both comfort and safety. 

However, a new test indicates that headrests could contribute to the safety of small passengers, at least in some cases.

The test was conducted in France by Que Choisir magazine and the results showed that the headrest can provide an advantage in the event of an accident due to a rear impact, in this case offering greater protection.

According to the magazine:

“Our measurements show that the head restraint reduces, depending on the type and brand of the child seat and the car, 57 to 74% of the tractive forces on the upper neck during a rear impact. And on the road, even in extreme cases (maneuvers to avoid obstacles, for example), we did not see any differences in terms of lateral support. Finally, the behavior during emergency braking remains unchanged, regardless of whether the head restraints are in place or removed. The only drawback, our test confirmed that the seating comfort decreases slightly, but not in all cases, if we leave the headrest in position, because the child may be sitting in a slightly more upright position, therefore less comfortable ".

The test therefore showed that the presence of the headrest is not necessarily harmful but sometimes mounting a seat leaving the rear headrest is impossible and incompatible with some types of seat or car models.

The French consumer magazine then suggests:

“If it is evident that the presence of the headrest could be harmful (the seat is too vertical or can be tilted laterally when cornering), we recommend rotating it 180 °, which is possible on many models. Out of 213 cars examined, we found that in only 5% of cases it was impossible to detach the headrest from the rear seat, either because it was integrated into the seat or because it could not be retracted ”.

The last piece of advice given by the magazine concerns the backrest of the vehicle which, if it is adjustable in inclination, should be adjusted so that "the inclination of the child's upper body is at least 30 ° with respect to the vertical".

In any case, concludes Que Choisir, when in doubt it is better to rely on the advice of the manufacturers of child seats, which are much more reliable and specific than those of the car manufacturers.

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