Am I being too paranoid?

[Red Sox 4Life]

My wife and 2 year old daughter were rear ended by an idiot. I wasn't even there and I've been paranoid since. That was almost 30 years ago. My wife who once loved driving has never really recovered. A long route to say; no you're not paranoid. Recaro and some others make seat adaptors that fit just about anything.

I feel your pain on that one! Several years ago, my wife and I were our way to a winery in Temecula CA, when we were crunched from behind by an idiot on her cell phone, who was then hit from behind herself by an inexperienced teenager, which propelled the idiot into us a second time. My wife saw it coming at the last second and tensed up and I had no idea what happened for a split second. Her back has never been the same. We were in our Lexus IS250, but she never rode or even could ride on the Harley again.

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[lapazleo]

Two steel posts snapped cleanly in half. It looks like the break was pretty far down the post, implying that the headrest was fully extended and the leverage exerted on the headrest by your recoiling noggin created sufficent force to break the two metal posts. Not sure what kind of metal thos posts are made of but obviously not as strong as you'd think they'd be. You may want to pull the headrests out of your Bronco seats and take them to a custom upholstery shop or a fabricator and inquire about having the posts replaced with two identical dimension posts constructed out of Carbon steel, Amazon offers these;
https://www.amazon.com/Carbon-Unpol...5bb-9095-41ce9c6c3625&pd_rd_i=B000H9JW5I&th=1

This is why I keep trying to explain to people these are not head rests they are head restraints. As far as that size of steel snapping like a twig people don't don't realize the amount of force involved in a collision. Had the post not snapped the op's neck would have.

 

[Frankie]

Lol seems like there’s a bit of confusion as to the extent of my injuries. I broke 5 vertebrae and my C4 was literally shattered. The post snapping caused my neck to be broken by the top of the seat back.

 

[DBX2]

Truly do not believe that you are paranoid… it is a concern and a valid one considering what you went through. Still, I wish you well and hope you get to enjoy driving your Bronco.

Agreed, you’re not paranoid, just realistic of what’s happening out there and what vehicles don’t offer.
Side note- “head rests” are just that. Rests for the head; really don’t support or protect our head/neck from injury. As per my wife, physical therapist for > 40 years, get a soft collar or support that’s comfortable but supportive. She’s betting you have some degenerative arthritis being so tall and most likely have had to look down most of your life! We are our own best advocates and have to protect ourselves.

 

[DBX2]

Agreed, you’re not paranoid, just realistic of what’s happening out there and what vehicles don’t offer.
Side note- “head rests” are just that. Rests for the head; really don’t support or protect our head/neck from injury. As per my wife, physical therapist for > 40 years, get a soft collar or support that’s comfortable but supportive. She’s betting you have some degenerative arthritis being so tall and most likely have had to look down most of your life! We are our own best advocates and have to protect ourselves.

Holy moly didn’t read about your injuries until just now. Consult a physiatrist - specialist in physical medicine and rehab.

Agreed, you’re not paranoid, just realistic of what’s happening out there and what vehicles don’t offer.
Side note- “head rests” are just that. Rests for the head; really don’t support or protect our head/neck from injury. As per my wife, physical therapist for > 40 years, get a soft collar or support that’s comfortable but supportive. She’s betting you have some degenerative arthritis being so tall and most likely have had to look down most of your life! We are our own best advocates and have to protect ourselves.

holy moly, just read about your injuries. Consult with a physiatrist- specialist in physical medicine and rehab.

 

[Bruno]

Maybe it was designed to break like that?

 

[Gypsy]

I was rear ended and severely/permanently injured in my F-150, which was totaled and which I eventually replaced with my Bronco, and I just started sort of thinking "what if this happens again" and went out and looked at the headrest posts on my Bronco and they're awfully similar to the ones that snapped in half in my F-150. To be fair I am 6'5" and probably would be accurately described as having a big head.

Chances are obviously small that something similar would ever happen again so am I just being paranoid? Kind of just wanted to see what other people's take on this was. Like maybe I should try and find a vehicle (or replacement seats?) that are sort of "one piece" so that there's no headrest posts to snap off? Does anyone know how those type of seats are generally constructed? I actually know that Tesla model 3s have seats like that but they still have headrest posts, they're just internal to the seat and aren't adjustable, so not sure if that would actually be any better. Are there aftermarket seats that might be better that would just "bolt in"?

Thanks for any input.

Bronco:

F-150:

No you are not paranoid. I am so sorry that you went through such an ordeal. I hope you have a speedy recovery.

I was rear ended in 1975 by a work truck while in 73' Mustang, I was stopped at a red light to make a left hand turn. My 4 year old sleeping in the back seat. Cars in front of me and in the lanes next to me, oncoming traffic on the left. I looked at my rear view mirror and saw him coming I knew there was no way he was going to stop and there was no where for me to go. My eyes were glued to the rear view mirror looking at my daughter and praying when he hit me. My car didn't buckle, my daughter was fine, in fact the whole front end of his truck was destroyed. No one was hurt that day, I thank God every day. But ever since that day, after all these years I still watch through that rear view mirror.

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