Using head restraints

Your car will have head restraints in it, but do you take the time to adjust these before using the vehicle and ensuring they are set at the correct level for you? Head restraints in vehicles are an important safety feature, but unlike the seat belt which people will tend to adjust to be the correct fit for them, many people do not ever think about the head restraints.

Yet head restraints are a very important feature, and can help to reduce how severe an injury is in the event of a crash, but they do need to be adjusted correctly because otherwise they can actually be something that causes more harm than good.

The handbook that comes with the car will tell you how to set and adjust the height of the head restraints, and because of what is explained above you should always ensure the head restraint is set at the correct level for you before any journey.

As a general rule of thumb, the upper edge of the head restraint should be around your eye level.

Related Articles...

driving theory test
Some common engine faults
It is beyond the scope of the articles here to go into detail about how the engine works and what the various parts of it are. For the theory test you won't need to know a great detail about the...

Driving Test and Independent Driving
Independent driving - where the candidate is not following the directions given at each stage by the instructor but rather following a route, e.g. following road signs to Town X until the instructor...

Reversing Exercises in the driving test
There are three reversing exercises that you could be tested on in the driving practical test. You will be asked to perform two out of these three so that the person undertaking your test (the...

Vehicle Test Certificate Explained
The MOT test is no doubt something you have heard of before, but you don't pay that much interest to what it actually is before you are a car driver and faced with the prospect of requiring such a...

What signs with a percentage mean
When you are driving in some places, the roads will be up and down in terms of gradient, which refers to how the height of the road changes as you move along it, just like on a hill. When you...

Driving Theory
Practice makes perfect. It is a known fact that if you practice a particular skill, you get better at it. This is true of mental skills such as performing mental arithmetic: the more you try to do...

Why is there a Hazard Perception Test
The statistics have long shown that the newer the driver, the more likely they are to be involved in accidents on the roads. This is probably because they are inexperienced as drivers, although...

Types of brakes and braking system
The brakes on your car are one of the most important elements of the car, and when you learn the ABC of accelerator, brake and clutch you realise if you hadn't already how to standardly operate the...

Vehicles that cannot be used for a practical test
The vast majority of drivers will of course use the vehicle of their instructor or driving school when they take their practical test and so will not need to worry about the vehicle. However...

Your driving licence: getting it back
As the New Drivers Act article outlines, if you get six penalty points or more in the first two years of having a licence, then it is revoked and you have to retake both tests: the theory and the...


Back to home page of driving theory test questions