According to the NHTSA, seat belts save more than 10,000 lives in the United States every year. As I've discussed before on this product liability blog, wearing a seatbelt is the most effective way to prevent injury or death in car accidents. During the accident, a properly designed seat belt will prevent passengers from being thrown about or ejected from the vehicle and will distribute the forces of impact to the strongest areas of the body – the hips, shoulders and chest. But if a vehicle’s seat belts are poorly designed or manufactured, serious injury or death can result. So how do you know if a seatbelt defect created enhanced injuries in a car crash?
Here are some classic signs of seatbelt defects:
Here are some classic signs of seatbelt defects:
- Both serious and non-serious injuries to belted occupants. For example, one seatbelted occupant walks away while another seatbelted occupant is paralyzed or suffers a serious head injury;
- An injured occupant is found wearing a loose-fitting seatbelt. This could indicate excess slack caused by improper retractor performance;
- An occupant is found unbelted but witnesses swear the occupant was seatbelted before the crash. Better yet, the occupant has seat belt marks on her body, but was unbelted after the crash. All of these could indicate unlatching or false-latching of the seatbelt buckle;
- Serious injuries in only moderately severe crashes. When restraint systems work properly, occupants typically are not seriously injured in moderate speed crashes; or
- The seatbelt webbing is torn or ripped or the seatbelt is pulled loose from one or more of its anchors.
If you have questions about whether there is a seatbelt defect in your vehicle, contact Minnesota seatbelt attorney, Nate Bjerke, of Champion Law. I will answer any questions you have and provide a free evaluation as to whether you may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer. You can reach me at 651.766.5886 or by visiting our web-site.
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