Did You Know Defective Seat Belts Constitute as Product Liability?

It has been proven that seat belts prevent serious injuries and save lives. However, in order to keep automobile passengers safe, they must be properly manufactured and installed. A defective safety belt is one of the most common examples of product liability and can be very dangerous in the event of an accident.

The Dangers of Defective Safety Belts
When a moving vehicle is forced to stop suddenly, inertia causes the driver and its passengers to keep moving until something stops that movement. If the passengers are wearing a seat belt, they will remain in their seats. If they are not, they will keep moving until their movement is halted by something else. Sadly for the victims of an automobile accident, this usually involves a violent collision with the dashboard, windshield or other objects. When traveling at such high speeds, the human body is likely to sustain serious damage when colliding with virtually any object.

Common Seatbelt Defects
According to SafteyForum.com, bad seat belts can be labeled in several ways, including but not limited to the following:

• Inertial unlatching, which occurs when a seatbelt has not been designed to withstand the tension of being knocked against the passenger or vehicle.
• Unintentional unlatching, which occurs when a passenger's seatbelt accidentally becomes unbuckled during an accident.
• Outdated designs, such as the lap-only seat belts in older vehicles that fail to protect passengers from sustaining injuries to the torso and upper body area.
• Lack of tightness, where a seatbelt has so much slack that a passenger could slip beneath the belt during an accident and suffer serious injuries.

Resulting Injuries of Product Liability
Defective safety belts can cost lives and result in serious injuries for the victims of an automobile accident. Among the most common injuries are head trauma and spinal cord injuries such as paraplegia and quadriplegia. Tragically, these defective products can also lead to wrongful death.

Obtaining Legal Assistance
While modern designs are effective and reliable for the most part, some manufacturers sacrifice by creating products that offer the minimum level of safety just to cut costs and increase their profit margin. Defective seatbelts that suffer from weak installation points, false latching, unlatching and retractor failures can result in a number of serious injuries. If it is determined that more effective and available technology could have prevented or minimized injury in an accident, the company that manufactured the seatbelt may be held liable for the damages. A person that suffers an injury as a result of the defect could have a meritorious claim for product liability due to a bad seat belt.

If you or a loved one has suffered injuries caused by a poorly designed seatbelt or other defective products, our team of experienced product liability attorneys can determine if you have a product liability case and help you fight to receive compensation for your emotional and financial stress. Feel free to contact us at 1-877-405-4313 or complete our online form for a free evaluation of your case.

THE RASANSKY LAW FIRM
2525 McKinnon Street
Dallas, Texas 75201
CALL US AT
1-877-405-4313