Low mileage car insurance holders with safe seat positioning

All drivers, including low mileage car insurance holders who might not drive too often or too far, should not only make the usual safety checks before starting the car but also be sure that their car seat is adjusted correctly.

The usual checks involve moving the mirrors so that you have a good view of the road, checking that the car is in neutral and that the hand-brake is on before starting the engine, and fastening your seat-belt.

Yet another check some motorists might forget about, and that is especially important if you share your car with a sibling or another family member, is the position of the seat.

Forgetting to readjust your headrest, and check the height and distance of the seat from the pedals and steering wheel, might make driving more difficult and could put you at risk of whiplash, torso or head injury, should your vehicle be involved in an accident.

For example, even if you are a low mileage driver, not having good control of the foot pedals may mean that you don't manage to press the brake effectively enough to come to a quick standstill in an emergency.

Accidents and emergencies on the road can happen at any time, so failure to readjust the seat for your height, because you are only driving a short distance down the road, is inexcusable and dangerous.

Before adjusting the seat, or in fact the mirrors, you should be sitting upright with the seatbelt fastened.

The headrest should be raised or lowered so that the top half is level with your eyes. Your arms should be slightly bent with your torso at a comfortable distance from the steering wheel to enable you to steer without difficulty, and you should be able to press the foot pedals down comfortably.

A good indication that you have correctly adjusted the height and distance of the seat from the pedals and steering wheel is that you feel comfortable. However, should you realise during driving that you are uncomfortable with the way something has been adjusted, you should pull over to the side of the road when and where it is safe to do so, and try again.

The driving seat might seem like a relatively unimportant part of vehicle safety, but, if poorly adjusted, it could fail to stop severe neck injuries or be instrumental in causing internal organ damage in a crash.

Moreover, driving in an uncomfortable position can be distracting and might even lead to dangerous scenarios. For example, if a motorist gets leg cramp or pins-and-needles because they are not at the correct distance from the pedals for their leg length, they might not press, or even be able to feel, pedals efficiently.

Low mileage car insurance
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