You love to drive, your car is everything to you, if it were by you you'll spend the entire day driving. But, did you know that you need a corect position, that almost half of drivers are suffering from a painful new medical condition experts are calling Repetitive Driving Injury (RDI).

Caused by poor driving posture, experts warn that many drivers are risking serious long term muscle, joint and even spinal injuries if they continue to drive without adjusting their seats correctly.

Most common driving positions

The rollercoaster

How to spot: Driver is leaned forward and sat upright, seat forward, bent legs, bent arms.
Symptoms: Shoulder pain, neck strain, leg cramp and side ache.
Solutions: Relax! Tense, nervous drivers are more likely to adopt this position. When buying a car, go for one with fully adjustable seats. Ensure the height of the backrest reaches the shoulders and try to sit back into the seat more to get better back support. Take regular breaks where you can get out of the car to stretch your legs

The multi-tasker

How to spot: Driver has straight back, arms bent, one hand on gear stick. 45% of mobile office workers are Multi-Taskers.
Symptoms: Headaches and eyestrain, feet cramp, pain in coccyxSolutions: 45% of Multi-Taskers drive for work but they should try not to use the car as an office - twisting to access paperwork and the laptop can be more damaging to your back and neck than driving. Regularly adjust your seat on long journeys to help your coccyx. Consider changing to an automatic car to avoid constant gear changes and keep two hands on the wheel.

The racer

How to spot: Straight arms, seat reclined, straight legs, low driving position.Most common symptoms: Side aches and lumbar pain.Solution: Be aware low seat positions (and bucket seats) provide limited support for the lower back and sides. To counteract assume an upright position. Knees should not be higher than your hips - it reminds you to sit up!

The pimp

How to spot: Seat inclined, arm on window ledge/outside window, one hand on wheel. Drivers aged 25-35-year-old men are most likely to be 'Pimps' behind the wheel.Symptoms: Arm and shoulder ache.Solution: Sit in an upright position, with knees lower than hips. You should be able to reach the accelerator and brake without stretching your legs. Roll up the window and keep both arms on the steering wheel.