You expect your vehicle’s restraint system to protect you and everyone else in your vehicle from extreme injury during a crash. However, faulty safety belts may result in catastrophic injuries.
If a defective seat belt led to your injury in a car accident, you may have a case for compensation from the manufacturer responsible.
Importance of seat belts
The statistics show that properly made seat belts save lives. The NHTSA reports that they saved approximately 14,955 lives in just one year. When a manufacturer does not ensure proper production, a faulty seat belt robs you of the protection you need and may have dire consequences.
Cause of faulty seat belts
Defects may come from a faulty design, or they could stem from a problem during the manufacture or assembly of the vehicle.
Although a vehicle’s restraint system may seem simple, each component plays a critical role. For example, a defective buckle may not properly latch and secure you in the vehicle, or it may have poorly designed cables, which results in the force from a crash throwing you from a vehicle and causing severe injuries.
The tension-relieving device within a restraint system ensures a person has adequate slack for moving. However, when a device is faulty, the belt may have too much slack and not be supportive enough during a crash, leading to severe injuries.
Injuries from faulty seat belts
When seat belts fail to provide the protection needed, car accident injuries may be more severe than they would have been with a properly functioning seat belt. For example, rather than simply hitting your head on the window and sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury, you may fly through the window and sustain a life-changing brain or spine injury, severe fractures, internal organ damage and internal bleeding.
If a faulty seat belt played a part in your injuries, receiving compensation from the responsible parties may help you recover some of the financial losses you incurred.