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How to adjust your driver's seat like a pro

Everyone gets this wrong. Now you won't.

Brian Cooley Editor at Large
Brian Cooley is CNET's Editor at large and has been with the brand since 1995. He currently focuses on electrification of vehicles but also follows the big trends in smart home, digital healthcare, 5G, the future of food, and augmented & virtual realities. Cooley is a sought after presenter by brands and their agencies when they want to understand how consumers react to new technologies. He has been a regular featured speaker at CES, Cannes Lions, Advertising Week and The PHM HealthFront™. He was born and raised in Silicon Valley when Apple's campus was mostly apricots.
Expertise Automotive technology, smart home, digital health. Credentials
  • 5G Technician, ETA International
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Brian Cooley
Watch this: How to adjust your driver's seat

Most of us adjust our driver's seat the way most of us play craps: Just move everything around and see if it works out OK. There is a better way, documented by the driving ergonomics team at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England. I love three-step lists, unfortunately seats today are too complicated for that. Try seven.

7 tips for adjusting your seat

  • Raise your seat height so you can see clearly over the wheel, dash and hood.
  • Move the seat track until you have a comfortable bend at the knee.
  • Adjust the cushion tilt until you have even pressure from butt to hamstring.
  • Ditto for the seat back: Angle it for support from pelvis to shoulder blades. Tweak the lumber support to fill in gaps.
  • Adjust the top of the headrest so it's in line with the top of your ears.
  • Bring the lap belt low across your pelvis, the shoulder belt across the middle of your collar bone.
  • Adjust the side mirrors out so you just see the edge of the car's body, no more.

Getting your seat adjusted properly should finally put an end to those road trip cramps and, more importantly, give you the greatest amount of driver performance combined with the most benefit of things like seat belts, airbags and bolsters meant to keep you safe in a collision.