While seat belts are designed to save lives, defective belts can lead to severe harm, even death. While seat belts are designed and marketed as a necessary line of defense for vehicle passengers, defective seat belts can make serious car accidents even worse, leading to severe injuries, pain and suffering. Seat Belt Risks & Car Crash InjuriesSeat belt manufacturers and auto companies have a legal duty to design and manufacture seat belts that operate correctly in the event of a crash. Seat belts, in short, should be “crash worthy,” able to survive the significant rigors of an accident while fulfilling their intended purpose. Unfortunately, manufacturers do not always recall defective seat belts when they should. Some defective seat belts remain on the market for years, even though their manufacturers understand their risks, putting drivers and passengers at risk. Generally, seat belts have two functions. Seat belts prevent passengers from being ejected from the automobile during the accident. At the same time, seat belts reduce the risk that a passenger or driver will collide with objects inside the car, which can cause injuries secondary to the primary impact of the accident. Types of Seat Belt FailureWhile seat belt manufacturers have converged on a standard design for their products, there are still a myriad of designs out there, some of which work better than others. Accident experts have identified a wide range of potential seat belt failure mechanisms: • Inertial Unlatching: In simple terms, inertial unlatching occurs when the seat belt mechanism releases during an accident. The latch plate, which fits into the buckle, detaches, disconnecting the belt and leaving a passenger or driver unprotected. Seat belts without a locking latch plate are more prone to this form of failure than newer designs. Accident engineers, theorize that inertial unlatching occurs when the forces created by an accident resonate inside the buckle’s spring mechanism, thus unlatching the seat belt. • False Latching: This occurs when the latch appears to be buckled, but is not. This can occur due to user error, or due to internal friction inside the locking mechanism itself. False latching can also happen when there is an additional slot for the latch to enter, adjacent to the actual locking mechanism. When a passenger is falsely latched, rather than properly latched, they are at risk of being ejected from the vehicle in the event of a crash. • Accidental Release: Some seat belt mechanisms are easier to unlatch than others. In the event of a crash, seat belts can come unlatched when jostled by the passenger’s elbow or hip. Accidental release can be a sign of poor seat belt design. • Webbing Failure: The seat belts webbing, the strap that extends from the shoulder to the hip or across the lap, must be strong and free of defects to work properly. Manufacturing defects can leave seat belt webbing vulnerable to tears or breaks, which can become fatal in the event of an accident. Dynamic forces can make the problem worse. If the seat belt has not retracted correctly, and slack remains in the line, the force of an occupant moving forward can snap the belt’s webbing, leading to a seat belt failure. • Retractor Failure: For seat belts to work as intended, the webbing strap must pull taut against an occupant’s body during a crash. Most cars now feature an automatic retractor, which pulls the seat belt taut against the body when an impact occurs. As we’ve seen, slack in the seat belt can lead to a webbing failure, which occurs when the seat belts webbing snaps under the force of a moving body. It can also leave the driver or passenger vulnerable to secondary impact injuries, as the body is thrown against features inside the car’s interior. How to Detect Seat Belt FailureDetecting seat belt failure isn’t always a straightforward matter. The effectiveness of your vehicle’s seat belts should be evaluated based on the facts of your particular accident and injuries. Based on past cases and experience, here are just a few signs that may indicate a seat belt problem: Who is Responsible for Seat Belt Failure?If you’re injured because of seat belt failure in a vehicle, both the manufacturer of the product and the vehicle could be at fault. Designers of seat belts work to create a system that will protect vehicle occupants in some of the most extreme conditions, but they don’t always work as planned. Seat belts are tested by both the product creator and the vehicle manufacturer, to make sure that they adhere to certain safety standards. Even if the tests are passed, standards can change, or defects in manufacturing can arise that make the products less effective. Automakers may also be slow to adopt new seat belt technology in the vehicles, which could lead to modern cars having antiquated systems. Seat Belt Injuries and Potential DamagesSeat belt failure may be difficult to detect, but the related injuries are often quite serious. If you’re involved in an accident with a seat belt failure, the proper investigation may be able to identify the design or manufacturing defect that was the likely cause of your injuries. Victims who have been harmed by defective seatbelts might receive compensation that consists of compensatory and/or punitive damages. Compensatory damages will reimburse you for such things as medical care, lost wages, disability, and even suffering from the seat belt-related injuries. Punitive damages are sometimes awarded to victims as a means of punishing companies for wrongdoing. These damages can be significant, and they discourage manufacturers from releasing defective products or forgoing important safety testing in the future. If You’ve Been Injured Due to Seat Belt FailureIf you or a loved one has been injured due to seat belt failure, you have the right to claim financial compensation for those injuries with a defective product lawsuit. Most law enforcement officers who investigate these accidents miss a potential defective seat belt and it may take hiring an expert with accident reconstruction experience to uncover the truth. Using Seatbelt EffectivelyIn order to secure a passenger, a seat belt must: Seatbelt Defects LawSeatbelts are supposed to keep you tightly strapped in to prevent impact and ejection injuries. However, if the belt fails when you need it most, the consequences can be serious for you and everyone else involved. Without the belt to restrain you, you could be thrown around inside the car from the force of an impact. Or, perhaps even worse, you could be ejected from the vehicle altogether. Who’s to Blame for a Faulty Safety BeltIf you were involved in a collision and were injured because of a defective seat belt, you might be eligible to receive compensation for your injuries from the vehicle’s manufacturer or seller. Seat Belt Injuries in a Car AccidentHow seat belt injuries occur, how they can be prevented, and legal issues that can be raised around these kinds of injuries. Statistically, it has been proven that wearing a seat belt while traveling in any kind of motor vehicle saves lives. Of course, wearing a seat belt alone does not ensure the safety of drivers and passengers involved in a car accident. And at rare times, the seat belt itself may cause further injury. While the majority of seat belt injuries are minor and even expected especially in serious, high-impact crashes some car accident injuries caused by seat belts can be serious. How Seat Belt Injuries OccurIn many traffic accident scenarios, an automobile comes to a sudden stop, requiring a seat belt to restrain a still-moving driver or passenger. While a seat belt may indeed prevent severe injury when it is worn properly and functions as intended, it is entirely possible that the seat belt itself can cause injury to a driver or passenger, due to a variety of factors, including: The most severe injuries that can be caused by (or exacerbated by) seat belts include: • The shoulder belt should be placed across the middle of your chest and away from your neck Personal Injury LawyerWhen you need legal help with seat belt defects in Utah, please call Ascent Law LLC for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.
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