This question depends on preferred seating positions. I sit very upright, so during long stop lights or when driving long distances on the highway I rest my head on headrest.

Use of the headrest is supposed to help prevent whiplash when being hit from behind, so I would caution against removing it or flipping backwards.

I sit upright also. I have no idea how people drive with their seat reclined at ~70 degrees

being a tall person myself i understand driving with the seat reclined because with the seat in a relatively straight up and down position my head is in the ceiling, however these people that have this "gangster lean" and dont sit all the way back in the seat look dumb af imo. always good for a laugh, and usually the type of person who wants to try to race you in a "modded" civic or some other common car with low hp and an automatic trans

Having been hit from behind in my BRZ, I can say from experience that the headrest does a great job preventing whiplash. I was stopped and hit by a BMW X5 traveling at moderate speed. My head hit the headrest, but I didn't hurt anywhere afterward, even the neck. I'm leaving it right where it is - it did its job.

yes and no. for myself yeah but when travelling with junior in the back, i remove the passenger headrest for my & his visibility b/c the seat is pushed up all the way front. he cant quite sit in the front yet legally.

I was taught (by my parents and in driver's ed way back in high school) never to use the headrest while the car is moving because of the danger of getting too relaxed and falling asleep.

This is the first car where the headrest tilts forward enough that I can use it. My natural position when driving is closer to that position.

lol

The best way to protect oneself from whiplash is to lay against the headrest. In the event of a rear end collision, head and body accelerate in unison.

I've developed the habit of laying my head against the headrest whenever I approach an intersection or if there's a sudden interruption in the flow of traffic.

I like my seat leaning more reclined, which makes the headrest feel awkward like I'm laying back.

This is awesome that so many people responded. I was curious about the percentage.

Only if I'm being super lazy
When my hair is up my pony tail gets in the way anyway lol

My head touches the headrest, but if I relax enough to lean into it, my neck is uncomfortable, and I'm definitely not in a position to react effectively should anything happen. Long road trips, I'll do this to release a little here and there, but as someone else noted - if I stay that way, I'm also more likely to start to drift off...

Around here, you've gotta stay on your toes. I've seen cops forget there are stop signs, people driving down the middle of the road (it gets VERY tight with two cars passing and parked cars both sides.) So it's an important piece of safety equipment (I've had whiplash, and while I really hope I'm never followed by someone not paying attention... )

C

I generally don't use the headrest either, it feels awkward to lean back that far when driving. However I haven't tracked it yet, so wearing a helmet might switch things up a bit.