OHIO LAWYER FOR DEFECTIVE SEAT BELTS

Seat Belt Failures Can Result in Catastrophic Injuries

In Ohio, wearing a seatbelt is required by law for all front-seat passengers and children under the age of 15. While seatbelts won’t prevent every car accident injury, they can dramatically reduce the severity of injuries suffered in car crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that properly wearing a seat belt can reduce front seat passenger fatalities by as much as 45 percent and critical injuries by up to 50 percent.



However, the safety benefits afforded by seat belts are dependent on the seat belt actually functioning as intended. A defective seat belt may give drivers and passengers a false sense of security. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize they’re driving or riding in a car with defective seat belts until it’s too late and an accident has already occurred.

Holding auto manufacturers and seat belt designers accountable for seat belt defects is incredibly important. There is no room for error when it comes to vehicle safety devices. It’s important that the victims of defective seat belts receive the compensation they need to cover the costs these preventable injuries inflict upon Ohio families.

Frequent Seat Belt Defects

Seat belts are not particularly complex as far as car safety equipment goes. It’s not like an airbag that must inflate in fractions of a second with precision and accuracy. One would hope that the relative simplicity of a seat belt would make defects less common. That’s not always the case. Some frequently documented seat belt defects include things like:

• Seat belts failing to lock, allowing vehicle occupants to be propelled forward into dashboards, windshields or out of a vehicle in a crash
• Poor seat belt stitching resulting in seat belts snapping during a crash
• Seat belts that fail to latch or with latches that break or give when an accident victim’s body exerts force on the belt and fastening mechanism