New figures from Thatcham, the UK Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, show popular 'City Cars' as the least effective in saving the occupant from debilitating whiplash injury in the event of low speed rear end collisions.

The latest vehicle head restraint ratings, released by the insurers' research centre recently, revealed that in an increasingly popular sector, consumers looking to reduce their environmental impact are being short changed when it comes to safety with no 'City Cars' achieving a 'good' rating.

As the UK authority on seat and head restraint safety, Thatcham's figures are sure to be a blow to motorists who in pursuit of economical, low emissions and easy to park vehicles are finding themselves more susceptible to sustaining whiplash.

With most rear end collisions occurring during low speed city driving and with smaller, lighter cars being intrinsically higher risk, Thatcham's figures are of even more concern.

Research Manager – Crash at Thatcham, Matthew Avery, who is responsible for the seat testing procedure and production of the ratings said, "Although across the board we are seeing improved seat designs with around 75% of all new seats tested now achieving a 'GOOD' or 'ACCEPTABLE' rating, more can certainly still be done. City cars are not equipped to protect their occupants' necks when they have to absorb the crash energy from larger, heavier vehicles which combined with poor seat design makes whiplash far more likely. Good seat design is not something that should be inherently linked to higher value cars and this latest set of results will hopefully act as a catalyst for vehicle manufacturers to look at improving seat and head restraints design within this important and growing sector."

On the plus side Thatcham has now given its seal of approval to three vehicle manufacturers - Audi, Volvo and SAAB - who are to be congratulated on each having achieved an 'ALL GOOD' rating, thereby demonstrating a commitment to safe seat design across their entire range.

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