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Alphabet urges drivers to set their seat correctly
Date: 18 May 2016 | Author:
The UK's third largest leasing company, Alphabet, is urging company car users to bear in mind the health of their backs when driving on business, by ensuring that car seats are set comfortably - and has collated a guide informing motorists how to adjust their seat to ensure maximum comfort.
With back problems affecting four out of five adults, as many as 14 million UK drivers could be regularly suffering from repetitive driving injury (RDI), Alphabet states, due to poor posture. Such injuries have led to millions of working days being lost, with businesses losing more than £1 billion each year as a result.
Adam Lupton, HR director at Alphabet has put together five steps to promote comfortable driving positions:
1. Seat postion: The seat should be far enough forward with the driver's knee bent slightly when pressing the clutch or accelerator.
2. Seat back: The seat should be tilted back slightly to reduce lower back pressure, with lumbar support adjusted to support the spine.
3. Seat height: Drivers should adjust the seat so that they have a clear view of the road dashboard and mirrors.
4. Head rest: Staff should position the head rest so that it supports the back of the head and isn't too low or too high in the event of a collision.
5. Steering wheel: The wheel should be adjusted so that is down and towards the driver so that their arms are not outstretched, with staff holding the wheel around the 9 and 3 o'clock position to relax shoulder muscles.
Lupton comments: "Although these tips may seem simple and obvious to some, many of us spend more than an hour every day in our cars and often forget the long-term effect this can have on our back and neck. How to adjust the seating is detailed in a vehicle handbook, but many drivers might not actually know what a correct driving position should be to help them reduce repetitive driving injuries."
