Seat Belt Safety and Seat Belt Recall

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts save 9,500 lives in the USA each year. Laboratory test procedure no. 209 from NHTSA includes the general requirements for the seat belts assemblies. This articles addresses seat belt safety requirements and discusses specific seat belt recalls due to a failure to comply with seat belt safety. Statistically, over 390 million cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles have been recalled since 1966 because of the identified safety issues either voluntarily by manufacturers or after lawsuits.

Seat Belt Safety and Seat Belts Recalls

Basic Facts on Seat Belts

By definition, a seat belt, also known as a safety belt, is a safety strap or harness, designed to hold a person in a car or aircraft seat securely and prevent his forward motion in case of collision. The first safety belts were introduced by Volvo in 1849. In the USA the first safety belt patent was granted to Edward J. Claghorn in February, 1885.2 However, seat belts in their modern look and design were invented by Nils Bohlin only in the middle of the 20th century, and such three-point seat belts were first introduced by Volvo in 1959.2

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts save 9,500 lives in the USA each year. Furthermore, it is believed that another 9,000 lives would be saved provided that all the drivers and passengers used seat belts all the time.3 The recent survey, conducted by NHTSA, shows that in year 2009 the use of seat belts in the USA reached 84% -  one percent above the level, recorded in the year 2008.

Seat Belts Safety and Recalls

According to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the NHTSA has the authority to issue vehicle safety standards, as well as to request car manufacturers to recall the vehicles with the identified safety-related issues for correction. Laboratory test procedure no. 209 from NHTSA includes the following general requirements for the seat belts assemblies:

• A seat belt assembly should be designed for use by only one person at one time;
• A seat belt assembly should ensure upper torso restrain without shifting the pelvic restrain into the abdomen;
• Vertical forces on the shoulders and spine should be minimized;
• Hardware parts should not contain burrs or sharp edges;
• Seat belts should be supplied with the buckle readily accessible to a person, ensuring quick and easy removal of the seat belt assembly;
• Buckle release mechanism should exclude the possibility of accidental release.

Statistically, over 390 million cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles have been recalled since 1966 because of the identified safety issues either voluntarily by manufacturers or after lawsuits. For example, in January 2009 Toyota announced about the recall of over 1.35 million cars globally to fix the problems with seat belts. The company mainly recalled Toyota Yaris vehicles for seat belts safety concerns.

Chrysler Gen 3 Seat Belt Buckles

However, some seat belts safety concerns still remain open. Thus, Chrysler Generation 3 (Gen 3) buckles, used on over 13 million vehicles, produced between 1993 and 2002, may be associated with significant risks, as many safety experts and lawyers believe. The point is that the release button in Gen 3 buckle is raised above the cover, which makes the accidental release possible.(8)

“Ball Test”

One of the simplest methods to test safety of a seat belt buckle or its potential for accidental release of the belt is the so called “ball test”. A small ball of 30-40 mm should be pressed against the buckle. The buckle is considered safe if it does not release the seat belt in response to the pressure created by the ball. If it does, the chances that the seat belt will be released during the collision are pretty high.

As the Center of Auto Safety reports, in year 1995 about 8.7 million cars were recalled because of seat belts safety concerns. Different models from 11 manufacturers, including Honda, Mitsubishi, Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Chrysler were affected by this recall. Unfortunately, after 1995 recall, the seat belts problem was solved only on a small portion of cars: during the first 18 months of the recall Honda fixed 29% of the cars, Chrysler – 24%, Ford, GM, Mazda – 25%, and Subaru – only 10%. Though some portion of those old cars is no longer in use, many of the cars with potentially dangerous seat belts are still on the U.S. roads.

1. Free online dictionary. Seat belt definition. Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/seat+belt Accessed on January 20, 2010.
2. About.com website. The history of seat belts. Available at: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_seat_belts.htm Accessed on January 20, 2010.
3. Boulder County Colorado website. Seat belts safety. Available at: http://www.bouldercounty.org/transportation/traffic_safety/seatbelt.htm Accessed on January 20, 2010.
4. NHTSA web site. Seatbelt and Child Seat Use – Overall results. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/Research/Human+Factors/Seatbelt+and+Child+Seat+Use
5. NHTSA web site. Motor vehicle safety defects and recalls campaigns. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.ee6733b87096a398d33a431046108a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_viewID=detail_view&itemID=fb6a9b612b6dff00VgnVCM1000002c567798RCRD&viewType=standard&detailViewURL=/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.ee6733b87096a398d33a431046108a0c/;jsessionid=JTpkLWnVG6TBJCpzY9971SFpGJNQRsvgfBwqpykfF5S1V5WNTKtH!-1647787330!1532944137?javax.portlet.tpst=4427b997caacf504a8bdba101891ef9a_ws_MX Accessed on January 20, 2010.
6. NHTSA web site. Laboratory Test Procedure No.209. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/Vehicle%20Safety/Test%20Procedures/Associated%20Files/TP-209-08.pdf Accessed on January 20, 2010.
7. MSNBS website. Toyota to recall over 1 million cars worldwide. Available at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28891251/ Accessed on January 20, 2010.
8. Seat Belts Defects web site. Chrysler Seat Belt Gen 3Buckle Failure. Available at: http://www.seatbeltdefects.com/gen3/index.html Accessed on January 20, 2010.
9. Seatbeltdefects.com web site. Available at: http://www.seatbeltdefects.com/gen3/index.html Accessed on January 20, 2010.
10. The Center for Auto Safety. Available at: http://www.autosafety.org/safety-group-sounds-seat-belt-alarm-millions-cars Accessed on January 20, 2010.
11. The Center for Auto Safety. Problem Seat Belts. Available at: http://www.autosafety.org/problem-seat-belt-chart Accessed on January 20, 2010.