On 11 Sep 2005 18:51:26 +1000, "Kwyjibo."
The best driving position is to be seated such that your spine is verticle, your thighs are near horizontal, your knees at near 90 degrees. your elbows near 90 degrees, your upper arms near 45 degrees from the body, head immediately above the spine with no bending and eys looking straight ahead - when turning to look left or right the head should rotate with out any up or downward tilt of the neck to keep the eyes level. Once seated like this you should be able to place your hand on the top of your head and not have it touching the interior of the roof.
I am 1.75 m tall and was shopping for a new car in Aug-Sep 2003 - every bloody sedan I sat in I ended up with my head jammed against the roof and my knees were over a hand width above my hips. Some of the sales people said that i was sitting wrong and that to drive a modern car you laid the seat back in a position, much like a pool side recliner, with arms fully extended and straight and legs similar. Trouble with that position is that you have little control of the car in a corner or tight manouvering situation and if you hit the breaks very hard you could actual slide out from under the seat belt, or end up with it across your throat. Also if hit from behind the impact is taken straight into the spine and not across the whole of the back and absorbed by the muscles.
I found that the only vehciles I could sit upright in were either light commercials (delivery vans, 1 tinne flat beds), people movers (mini bus style vehicle like the Tarago), and 4WDs - the cheapest option that had resonable levels of comfort etc were the smaller the case of an accident I know that the majority of the impact will be absorbed by the seat belt in the correct areas on the body and I will probably end up with a lot of bruises instead of a broken spine.
Another problem with the sedans was that they sat too low to the ground, when getting out you turn on the seat and place your feet on the ground and have your knees about a hand width above the hips, thus putting a lot of strain on the back to get in and out of the vehicle. Most of the 4WDs, people movers and light commercials had the thighs horizontal once the feet were on the ground, and some were such that you slid off the seat to the ground - both of which provide no or little strain on the back to get in or out.
Nearly all the sednas today are designed to look good for the market that wants to do street racing or at least look as if they are, and have very little concern for true driver comfort and safety.
Deadly Ernest (typographical errors deliberately included to test the reader's skills - anyway - that's my excuse.)
