Question of the Day: What About Smaller Drivers?

For driver's under 5 feet, there are legitimate concerns about airbag safety. If they deploy during an accident, the airbags can occasionally cause severe damage to drivers positioned too closely to the steering wheel. There are several different ways to address this, and Ask.cars.com lays out the choices — from adjusting the seat correctly to getting permission to deactivate the airbag.

What options are there for smaller drivers concerned about airbag safety? (Ask.cars.com)

Comments

[ann on a mouse]

Another frustration as a shorter driver -

After driving an older car for 21 years, I'm car shopping, but have found that in new cars, even small cars, the seatbacks have gotten taller, and the head rests/restraints, which add to that height even more, have also gotten taller - creating a problem with visibility when I turn my head to see while backing up.

So, a couple of questions - suppose the seat back itself is tall enough to reach the ear level of one's head, is it possible to remove a head rest altogether, even if it has the new electronic active control?

Also, is there any problem with "legality" of driving that way, or being covered by one's "insurance" if you remove the head rest?

I WISH car manufacturers would make head rests that both rise for the tall and retract (into the seat back) for the short.

I saw in a preview photo that the rear 2009 Honda Fit headrests will do that (so it will fold flat for cargo). What will it take to get them to make the front seat head rests do that too?

[Rob]

As a taller driver, I also feel at risk. Due to the contour of the seat, my head is over a foot away from the headrest, which only adjusts vertically, while my wife's head is just a few inches from the headrest. For all the gains in safety equipment, there must be a way to allow a car to adjust for both safety and comfort for drivers 5' to 6'. Maybe if the gov't tests rated safety for each of a variety of crash-test dummy heights, we would see some progress.