Blog - Trantolo Law
Many lawsuits arise as a result of defective seatbelts. One common problem is inertial unlatching, that is, accidental unlatching.
Over 100 million cars in America have seatbelts with the release button on the front face of the buckle. In some frontal collisions, rollovers and side impacts, the release mechanism can be inertially disengaged when the back of the buckle hits part of the seat structure or of the human body. Previous lawsuits have shown that manufacturers are reluctant to admit the existence of this defect. However, in a precedent-setting case against General Motors, crash test videos were introduced into evidence which demonstrated seatbelts unlatching in internal tests conducted by General Motors itself.
In recent years, there have been more landmark cases against American and Japanese car manufacturers for this defect. During a crash many types of seat belt buckles can inertially release and come open, releasing the occupant completely. This happens as a result of inertia force being applied to the back of the buckle in the form of the forward movement of the occupant into the buckle. When the inertial energy is transmitted to the spring of the buckle, it releases the tension on the latch plate, allowing it to spring open. Then the seat belt is useless. Surprisingly, it takes only relatively low forces during a car crash to cause the button to depress, permitting the latch plate to be free and the passenger to be released, perhaps fatally.
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