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Defective Seat Belt Lawsuit Attorneys

Automobiles have come a long way since seat belts were first offered as an option in cars manufactured in the 1950's. Seat belts made today are designed to protect occupants of a vehicle from injury and prevent an occupant from being thrown from a vehicle (ejected) in the event of a collision, vehicle rollover or sudden stop. If you are involved in an accident, you expect that your seat belt will protect you from serious injury and prevent death. Seat belts are designed to minimize driver and passenger contact with the windshield, vehicle roof, steering wheel, or other parts of the vehicle interior.

When seat belts unbuckle during a collision, or tear in half during a collision, the consequences can be catastrophic or even fatal. Some seat belt defects may not even be detected if the buckle unlatches during the collision. Investigators will believe that the occupant was unrestrained, and the defect may only be discovered if other surviving occupants insist the deceased victim was in fact wearing a seat belt.

Defective Seat Belts

It is important to note that wearing a seat belt does nothing to prevent an accident, and thousands of occupants wearing effective, properly working seat belts die every year in accidents. A certain number of collisions are simply not survivable. You should always wear your seat belt. However, seat belts, like so many other products, may be flawed to due to defects in design or manufacturing. When a seat belt fails during a collision, due to a defective design or fault in manufacturing, the victim may die or sustain serious injuries as a result of the seat belt failure.  The seat belt should never tear or rip in half during a survivable collision, and the buckle should not disengage. The belt material is designed to withstand forces up to 6,000 pounds.  Ripped or torn webbing may be indicative of a manufacturing flaw in the material or webbing of the defect. If you are injured by any seat belt design defect or seat belt manufacturing defect, you have legal rights.

Seat Belt Recall Information

Every year the NHTSA receives complaints of incidents involving defective seat belts, some of which result in serious injury or even death. Millions of vehicles have been recalled for seat belt defects, for thousands of different reasons. Some of the recent recalls in the last few years include the Nissan Versa, Mercedes Benz R Class, Lexus IS, Jeep Commander, Chevrolet Express van, Dodge Stratus, and Nissan Murano. You can check for seat belt recalls of your vehicle at safercar.gov.

Seat-Belt Related Injuries

You may have heard of "seat-belt syndrome," which refers to injuries sustained in an automobile accident as a result of wearing a seat belt. Types of seat-belt related injuries include injuries to the abdominal wall, abdominal organ damage, fractured sternum, ruptured liver and ruptured bowel. These injuries may not indicate that a seat belt was defective. In some cases a victim sustains these injuries as a result of a collision, but would have died in the collision had he or she not been wearing a seat belt.

Seat Belt Injury Lawsuits and Settlements

If you have been injured in an accident or a loved one died in an accident, an attorney can investigate the role that the safety restraint belt played in the accident. If your injuries or a loved one's death could have been prevented by a properly working seat belt, you may be entitled to compensation from the manufacturer of the automobile. Contact Estey & Bomberger to discuss your rights with an experienced product liability attorney. All consultations are free and confidential. If we handle your case, we will not charge any legal fees unless we recover money for you.