The cars with the best whiplash injury protection or those which were given the highest anti-whiplash scores are as follows:
- Opel-Vauxhall Astra
- Ford C-MAX
- Ford Grand C-MAX
- Geely Emgrand EC7
- Skoda Yeti
- Mazda CX-5
- Volvo V60
- Seat Alhambra
- VW Sharan
- VW Golf Cabriolet
These cars were given by Euro NCAP who started rating whiplash protection of cars through rear impact tests since 2008. A good car seat with a properly positioned head support can provide the best protection against whiplash injuries.
All those cars mentioned above had a score of more than 3.1 and possess the best seats for reducing the risk of whiplash injuries. However, these scores are exclusively for assessing the performance of the front seats during a rear crash and not the performance of the vehicle as a whole.
Geely Emgrand, a relatively unknown car scored high against whiplash injuries but has poor pedestrian protection score and was rated only four stars overall. The other 9 cars in the list of cars with the best whiplash injury protection had a five star rating when introduced. Geely Emgrand is a Chinese made sedan which is not high on consumer shopping list. This just proves that a good whiplash protection measure for a vehicle is not hard to achieve.
Whiplash neck injuries are hard to treat and may lead to lifetime discomfort or disability that is why a specific protection against these injuries have been introduced in many vehicles to reduce whiplash neck injuries during rear end crashes.
Euro NCAP has tested about 185 seats. A constant reminder to all car buyers is for them to check safety ratings for whiplash injury protection. The test involves a simulated rear impact crash and uses a dummy with a neck to which multiple sensors are attached.
Ratings provided by Euro NCAP are also color coded: cars given a green rating are good, yellow ratings are considered acceptable, an orange rating is marginal while a red whiplash injury protection rating is considered poor.