The goal of this study was to examine whether the vestibulocollic (VCR) and cervicocollic (CCR) reflexes play a primary or secondary role in the activation of neck muscles to transient perturbations simulating a rear-end collision. To achieve this goal, we exposed subjects to transient surge perturbations and compared the onset and amplitude of their neck muscle responses to the onset and amplitude of their torso and head accelerations. We hypothesized that neck muscle activation times and response amplitudes would correlate to the onset and amplitude of either i) torso acceleration, if the CCR was a primary mediator of the neck muscle response, or ii) head acceleration, if the VCR was a primary mediator of the neck muscle response. Thirty subjects (15F, 15M) underwent 36 consecutive forward horizontal perturbations consisting of three different peak accelerations (7.8, 14.7, and 21.7 m/s²) and three different final velocities (0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 m/s). Onset and amplitude of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and cervical paraspinal (PARA) muscle responses were measured using surface electromyography. Onset and amplitude of the torso and head acceleration were measured using accelerometers on the torso (manubrium) and head. Weak correlations between the onset of muscle activation and the onset of both torso and head accelerations suggested that neither the cervicocollic nor vestibulocollic pathways were primarily responsible for activation of the neck muscles.