You're both 100% correct. No argument there. My problem is choice. As a tall person, using the "only buy vehicles that fit tall people" mantra would limit me to maybe 4 vehicles - none of them what I want.

Look back at the pics in the first post. The back of the seat ends at my shoulder blades and the head restraint only comes half way up my head. This is typical for 95% of the vehicles out there. There simply isn't a 2010-2016 F-150 trim level that offers a seat that fits.

While I appreciate your observations as true and on point, there simply isn't a "tall person seat" option that I can order for vehicles.

 

A case of making a mod for comfort turning into unforeseen consequences in an accident. Great point raising awareness that some mods can be very dangerous.

 

I understand that turning them backwards can cause an injury in a rear end collision. I didn't like doing that on my 2013. Plus it looked goofy.


But.... driving around with my head tilted forward to avoid them caused an injury to my neck without there even being an accident. It does seem that about half the new vehicles have headrests ("head restraints") that touch the back of my head when I'm driving, which annoys the hell out of me. Kind of a pet peeve thing. So I feel for ya, OP.

 

Other than just to annoy us, anyone have a reason for this new design?

Like keeping your face closer to the metal flying out of the airbag! Or to keep you from driving with your baseball cap on backwards etc.

 

The decreased headroom is why I don't have a sunroof in my vehicles.

 

The headrests being closer to your head probably improves your safety in a crash.

But so would a five point harness, a roll bar, and a flame retardant suit lol.

I'd rather be comfortable. But I guess most don't find the newer more aggressive headrests (and they're obviously more aggressive than they were on vehicles 10 or so yrs ago ) a problem. But you guys are right, no more backwards ball caps lol.

 

But why start off with too far forward and then allow even more useless forward tilt.. Why not give us a choice on how hard we want to be smacked in the back of the head when driving by giving us a little more room.. Or is my head just to big to own a Ford?

I'll go on record right here,, sometimes the head banging is so bad my brain gets confused about what to do when driving.. So if my wife posts I got killed in a accident please guys forward this to the proper people..

 

This was my second reason for skipping the sunroof option. My melon was rubbing the roof at the ride height I set the seat. Didnt like it. That and seeing a recall for leaks kept me from getting the sunroof.

 

"Other than just to annoy us, anyone have a reason for this new design?"

Yes. It's called the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). You'll find similarly uncomfortable headrests across the industry - and eventually in all LD vehicles.

The "problem" is in their assessment of seat geometry (they basically want the rest against the back of one's head at seat angles of 25 degrees or less) under the new regs - 2.2 inches of backset and a min of 29.5 inches from seat cushion to bottom of headrest - which, BTW, is why good seat BOTTOM adjustment is becoming a thing of the past.

 

The head banging is supposed to keep you awake?