ALL Volvo car head restraints have been placed in the highest category in the New Car Whiplash Rating, published by Thatcham Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre.

Static tests were carried out to measure the design and position of head restraints in 500 car models.

Lotta Jakobsson, Volvo Car Corporation’s safety engineer and whiplash specialist, said: “We are very proud of coming out so well. Volvo has long understood how important head restraints are, and led the industry in introducing them.

“However, static evaluations of head restraints only show a part of what happens in real life accidents. That is why Volvo has invested over a decade’s research into crash testing and analysis of real accidents, and in 1998, introduced its Whiplash Protection System - WHIPS”.

The Volvo WHIPS system is designed to help protect the occupant’s neck in a rear impact. The entire front seat and head restraint gently move backwards to cushion the movement of the head and upper body, and this also reduces the forward rebound which occurs during a collision.

“After having the WHIPS system in our cars in real life traffic for four years, the feedback from our accident research team shows very promising results,” she said.