You are about to be hit from the rear and the road ahead is clear. Along with pressing the accelerator and bracing between the seat and steering wheel, what does the manual say to do with your head?
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A.
Press the back of your head against the head rest. Correct
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B.
Tuck your chin tightly to your chest.
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C.
Turn your head to see the approaching vehicle.
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D.
Lean forward over the steering wheel.
The answer is "Press the back of your head against the head rest."
If no vehicles sit in front of you and a rear impact is coming, the manual's bracing step for the head is pressing the back of your head firmly against the head rest. Keeping the head against the restraint helps limit how far it snaps backward and reduces whiplash injury risk. Option B is the trap: the chin-tuck is the head-on brace drilled into pilots and passengers, and a driver reaching for any brace position will reach for that one, but a rear impact throws the head backward, not forward.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Tuck your chin tightly to your chest.
A rear impact snaps the head backward, not forward, so a chin-tuck leaves the neck unsupported against the whiplash motion the head rest is there to catch. Carries the forward brace position from head-on crash drills and aviation safety cards into a rear-impact scenario where the head moves backward instead.
C. Turn your head to see the approaching vehicle.
Turning to look behind you takes your head out of the recommended bracing position. Keep the back of your head firmly against the head rest as the manual directs. Trades the manual's bracing step for the instinct to watch the hit coming, the same instinct that makes drivers turn to look over a shoulder before a lane change.
D. Lean forward over the steering wheel.
Leaning forward puts the head farther from the head rest at the moment of impact, the exact position the manual's advice is meant to prevent. Treats the dashboard or steering wheel as the brace point drivers picture for a head-on crash, not the head rest behind them in a rear impact.
This question tests your knowledge of Crash Procedures in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4 - Your Driving, Crashes," p.77..
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