adult seating

[Unregistered]

I know if there is no headrest available, children should be in a high back booster or car seat. What options exist for adults when there is no headrest available?

The reason I ask is a am traveling with friends. A group of girlfriends and I are renting a 15 passenger van to go to New York for the wekend to shop and see shows etc... The back seats do not have headrests. I think most of the seating positions have lap/shoulder belts. How do we prevent injury if involved in an accident? Shold I lock my shoulder belt as I would on my kids boosters? Are there any safe seating options for adults? I am 5'2" 115lbs. There will be eight of us in the van.

Any advice is great. Thanks.

[Jeanum]

Lack of adequately tall vehicle seatbacks or vehicle headrests runs the risk of whiplash or worse in a crash situation and you're right to be concerned. :o If there are 8 of you, I would recommend a different vehicle for your group to be honest, or possibly taking two cars with 4 passengers per car in order to make it feasible for all travelers to have lap-shoulder belts and vehicle seats with headrests. You could look into renting an 8-passenger Sienna minivan which has lap-shoulder belts and headrests in all seating positions, or perhaps a Dodge Sprinter van which seats 10 or 12, IIRC, because the Sprinter also has lap-shoulder belts and headrests in all positions. :twocents:

[vonfirmath]

An 8-passenger car would also be easier to drive.

There's been articles lately about the rollover possibility in those 15-passenger beasties.

[TechnoGranola]

I agree with Jeanum. A few years ago we got rear ended hard while stopped at a red light (over $15,000 to fix our vehicle). I ended up with whiplash and had physio/massage for months to get myself back into order. I didn't even realize that my head hit the headrest in the accident, but my headache afterwards made me aware that it happened (I had a ponytail in and my head was so sore right around where the ponytail was!). I can only imagine how much worse my injury would have been if there was no headrest and my head had been allowed to fly much further back and snap to return......OUCH!!!

And I'd like to tell you to not worry about for just one trip, but I can't. Rear ending is pretty darn common. We've been rear-ended 4 or 5 times in 7 years (although none as bad as the last one).

[christineka]

My neighbor drives a big ride share van. One week she has the 8 seater with 8 captain's chairs. The other week she has the benches.

I parked next to a big van the other day. I think it was a GMC. It had benches with two headrests per bench.

[Unregistered]

Hum... I was hoping that there may be some other options as the deposit has already been put down on the van. You would think that they would be installing headrests in these by now. Only a few of us were concerned about this, and ofcourse our friend who rented it was not one of us.

I didn't know if there were any products out there that could be used to better protect the neck and head. Obviously a seat belt alone is not enough protection. Hopefully we will come up with some other means of transportation.

With whatever transportation we arrange, should I be lock the rear shoulder harness on myself like I do with my kids?

[Gypsy]

You are petite enough that you would fit in a Britax Fronter - it has 24" belt guides and fits many small adults. However, I don't know how you would feel about buying an expensive booster and using it on a long trip.

I personally, probably wouldn't, but I thought you should be aware that there is a potential option for you if you desire it.

[sunnymw]

I was going to say, do you have a really tall HBB you can borrow for a trip? :o

[rochelle]

I am 5'3" and my neck hurts on a 5hr roundtrip in a 15 passenger van for a local tour. it was bench seats with no headrest.

I found the 8 seater Sienna that we rented for a 12 day road trip so much better and my hubby had to "sudden brake" a few times due to people jaywalking.

is it possible to change your booking for the van? we did that a few times with Alamo, Avis and Hertz.

[sparkyd]

With whatever transportation we arrange, should I be lock the rear shoulder harness on myself like I do with my kids?

No. Seatbelts with switchable retractors aren't meant to be locked on passengers. That goes for kids in boosters too, although this seems to be a point of debate. Some vehicle manuals expressly forbid locking the seatbelt with a booster.

[ketchupqueen]

I lock my own seatbelt, to get it to fit right. There's no danger to doing so, and as long as it's not forbidden by the manual I have no problem with it. But it won't help any with the head protection issue.

[DahliaRW]

I'd see if you can switch what vehicle you are renting with the rental agency and not lose your deposit. An SUV with a third row might be a feasible option as well.