What Used Car Owners Should Know About Faulty Seat Belts
Car manufacturers will voluntarily recall certain cars when faulty car parts cause injuries or death. Several manufacturers have recalled cars because of faulty seat belts and belt failures.
Lawyers, and consumer groups such as Public Citizen, have served as public safety advocates in the area of car recalls, catering to consumer complaints and lobbying for the voluntary recall of dangerous vehicles. Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the government agency responsible for auto safety, in charge of investigating consumer complaints about faulty car parts and responding to formal complaints filed for actions against car manufacturers.
Cause for Recall
Types of seat belt failures:
- Plastic seat belt release buttons in some Japanese imports, including Honda, Nissan and Mazda, can chip and crack, preventing release latches from working properly
- "Gen3" model latch buttons on belt buckles in some Chryslers sit one half-inch higher than the rest of the buckle assembly and can be accidentally activated, causing the belt to unlatch
- In December of 2005, General Motors issued a recall of 425,000 passenger and cargo vans, stating consumers reported problems latching the seat belt or unlatching it once the belt was in place.
When the Original Owner Does Not Respond to the Recall
The business of recalling cars is often complicated by the resale of recalled cars. Oftentimes, the original owners of recalled cars do not respond to the recall to replace a defective car part. Even when manufacturers and dealers send "reminder" mailings, there has been a trend of unresponsiveness on the part of original owners to fix the faulty car part at issue.
When the original owners of such cars do not respond to the recall to replace a defective car part, and then sell their recalled cars, new owners can be unaware of the potentially life-threatening defect.
Car manufacturers that have recalled certain cars pay car dealers for recall repairs to encourage repairs and prevent future liability. Some dealerships allow Individuals, who have purchased cars that were recalled for having faulty seat belts, to bring the car back to the dealer to run a computer check on past repairs.
Newsletter Articles
- Personal Injury
- "Assumption of Risk" as an Affirmative Defense in Negligence Cases
- What Used Car Owners Should Know About Faulty Seat Belts
- Taking Unsafe Toys Away From Children
- An Overview of the FDA's Policies on Recalls