Personal InjuryOutdated Buckle Technology are Resulting in Safety Defects
Despite numerous advances in passive restraint systems over the past two decades, surprisingly the FMVSS and industry standards governing the manufacture of seat belts and buckles have essentially remained the same to date. Moreover, little effort has been made by the American automakers to improve the designs for seat belt buckles used in American automobiles during that time period. The government's watchdog agency, NHTSA, further has not only done little to improve these designs, but has actively resisted proposed changes which would make these buckles safer. Meanwhile, advanced technologies available which would dramatically improve the safety of these buckle systems have been largely ignored.
As a result, despite the recent trend toward equipping all passenger vehicles sold in the United States with end-release buckles, there remain literally billions of RCF-67/Type I buckles in U.S. vehicles still on the road today. As explained in the above section, these buckles represent an outdated buckle-latching technology designed in the 1960's, and continue to possess serious defects of which most Americans are largely unaware (e.g. false and inertial unlatching), until a serious accident occurs.
As a direct consequence, over the past twenty-five years, thousands of Americans who made a conscious effort to put their seat belts on have been killed or seriously injured during auto accidents when their seat belt buckles have become suddenly unlatched. More disturbingly, evidence obtained by attorneys representing these injured persons reveals that the auto industry has been well aware of these buckle unlatching-related casualties, and have suppressed them from the public and the U.S. Government in order to avoid the massive expense of forced recalls and to save money on the manufacturing costs of their vehicles.
These buckle unlatching defects generally fall into two categories: false latching and inertial unlatching.
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