Front Seat Head Restraint problems of the 2008 Honda Accord

The contact owns a 2008 Honda Accord. The contact stated that the driver side head rest was not angled correctly. When she would sit in the seat, the head rest would push her head forward. She stated this would cause her to feel fatigued and cause a sore neck, affecting her ability to operate the vehicle. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 9,700.

When I test drove the vehicle, it seemed comfortable enough. It wasn't until a 3 hour road trip a few months later that I realized how uncomfortable the front seats are. With the non-adjustable forward angle of the head restraints, nothing from the middle of my back to the top of my head touched the seat. Over time, this resulted in chronic neck and upper back pain that I attempted to relieve with chiropractor and massage therapy, but the relief was always temporary. After owning the vehicle about 2 years, I got so frustrated that I pulled the headrests out, wrapped them in a blanket, and ran them over with my vehicle until the rods were flattened. Now the head restraints are vertical, a much more comfortable angle for my body. I no longer experience discomfort and chronic pain from driving my vehicle. The active restraint system still works perfectly. As I understand the new regulations regarding head restraints, a manufacturer must either use a fixed angle head restraint or an active system that moves the head restraing forward in a rear collision. I am not sure why Honda did both things. When I look at other new vehicles, the extreme forward angled head restraints are in every car I've seen and I will not purchase another vehicle with them. It should be possible to have both safety and comfort. I suggest revising the regulation to only active restraint systems or having fully adjustable head restraints and including information on proper adjustment. I believe there is no net benefit of these forward sloping head restraints. Any reduction in whiplash claims will probably be offset by a larger increase in therapy services and attempts to alter the head restraints. On several forums, people have indicated they turned the headrests backwards. In my car, that would have caused a dangerous backward angle offering no support to the head in the event of an accident. The active head restraint systems, on the other hand, are a good non-intrusive way to increase safety.

Faulty headrest design. Pushes the head of many drivers radically forward, making it painful and dangerous to operate the vehicle. Prolonged driving causes neck and head pain lasting for days, from less than an hour of driving.

2008 Honda Accord with defective front seat headrests. Consumer states that the headrests are angled to far forward causing them to have to hold their heads forward and bent to sit in the seat.