As someone already mentioned, safety regulations intended to minimize injuries (particularly to the cervical spine) are the culprit. While these cars are now safer, they are literally a pain in the neck for a lot of folks.
Very few car companies invested the money or time to completely re-engineer their seats to help integrate the safer headrests. They were added to existing seat designs and that is part of the problem.
I suffered a cervical spine injury in a severe side-impact crash back in 2002. The problem wasn’t discovered until I began losing feeling and, sometimes muscle control, in my right arm. In late 2005, one of the damaged discs in my c-spine ruptured and the disc above it was severely herniated and close to rupturing. I had surgery to remove the discs and they fused the three affected vertebrae together and put a titanium plate over it all with a dozen or so titanium screws. All better.
But in the last five or six years, the new ‘safer’ headrests have really caused me a lot of discomfort. I travel for my job and rental cars are a regular part of my life. I had conceded that the discomfort was the price I had to pay for safety. Then, about 18 months ago, I ended up renting a Volvo S60 instead of my usual Jeep Grand Cherokee or Chevy Tahoe (at 6’2" and 250#, I’m a big guy). But that Volvo had the most comfortable seats I had ever experienced, headrests and all!
For my 40th birthday back in February, I leased a new 2015 Volvo S60. I don’t know why other carmakers can’t figure out how to make seats even half as comfortable…
I have a 2015 Volvo S60 and rearward visibility isn’t as good as I think it should be for a relatively small car. But there are a few features that make it a non-issue- primarily the Blind Spot Information System and Rearview Camera. One of the most ingenious features, that I would never have thought of, is a button on the console to fold the rear headrests down when they’re not in use.
You questioned how much the driver’s headrest is going to protect you based on how you normally sit in the seat. In most moderate-to-severe impacts, it can make a big difference even if your head never touches the headrest in regular driving. Modern cars have seatbelt pretensioners, which are usually triggered by a small pyrotechnic charge, that tighten the belt to pull you firmly back into the seat prior to airbag deployment. The goal is to maximize distance from the steering wheel (and airbag) and to hold your body securely during the impact.
I have a 2013 Honda Accord, literally the most uncomfortable passenger head/neck breakers I’ve ever seen. We had to turn it backwards to be able to sit in it. Have you upgraded since then? Have you found ones that are better?
Thanks for posting this. We’re going to look at a Volvo to replace our aging Odyssey. If we get a 2015, it gets down to almost as affordable as a new Odyssey (read - not very)
I got used to them, but they are horrible at first. I was trying to figure out a way to put the headrests in backwards because they stuck forward so much.