Driving comfort is one of the key elements to road safety.  That’s why Arval provides some recommendations to enhance it.  These tips will show you how to properly adjust your car seat to optimise your driving comfort.

In a first step, to correctly adjust the settings, you sit down, fasten your seatbelt and adjust your seat in a driving position that suits you. Then, perform the following adjustments:

1.  Seat distance
-  Put your hands on the steering wheel. They should neither be stretched nor form an angle of 90°. When placing your fists in the middle of the steering wheel, your elbows should be slightly flexed.
-  Make sure you can push down the brake pedal completely without having to slide forward in your seat.
-  Make sure your knees don’t touch the dashboard. 
- You should be able to move your hands around the steering wheel without your elbows touching your thighs.

2.  Seat height 
-  Check that you can see the road up to the vehicle in front of you.
-  Check if the distance of a tight fist separates your head from the ceiling of your vehicle.

3.  Seat angle
- Check that the angle between your thigh and your body is larger than a straight angle.
-  When simulating the driving movements, you should not slide in your seat. Your lower back should make contact with the seat.  Should you slide, reduce the angle of your seat.

4. Backrest width 
- Make sure your back rests on the entire seat and is fully supported.
- Your back should not be squeezed between the side impact bars. This may be the case with certain "sport" edition seats.

5. Backrest height
-  For optimal support, the top of your backrest should reach just above your shoulders or higher.

6. Lumbar Support
- Check that the lumbar support matches the size of your back.

7.  Seat design
- Check that all parts of the seat offer sufficient support.
- Make sure you are properly seated in front of your steering wheel. Take a test: put your hands in the air and let them fall back on the steering wheel. If they are positioned in the middle of the steering wheel, you will have access to all major control functions.
- Likewise, extend your right leg toward the accelerator pedal. Your leg should not be inclined to tilt to the left or to the right.

8. Access to steering wheel controls
- Check that all steering wheel controls are easily accessible. Perform this operation with the door closed.

9.  Adjusting the headrest
- To prevent a whiplash injury in case of an accident, the headrest should be at a maximum distance of 7 cm from your head and should not be lower than 6 cm from the top of your head.