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The longitudinal motion of the head, thorax and lumbar spine of two test subjects was measured in low-speed rear-end collisions in order to understand the effect of the head-to-head restraint distance (backset) on the occupant kinematics. The two test subjects were exposed to three rear-end impacts at two crash severities, nominal changes in velocity (ΔV) of 1.11 (low ΔV) and 2.22 m/s (high ΔV). The backset was hypothesized to be an independent variable that would affect the head and neck motion and was set at 0, 5 or 10 cm. The x and z-axis accelerations of the impacted vehicle and the anatomical x and z-axis accelerations of each test subjects’ upper thorax and L5-S1 region were measured and then transformed to an earth-based coordinate system. Head accelerations were measured at the mouth and these accelerations were transformed to an earth-based coordinate system at the head center of gravity (CG).