INERTIAL RELEASE - SEAT BELT BUCKLES THAT UNLATCH OR OPEN DURING A WRECK
 During the wreck/impact, many types of seat belt buckles can inertially release and come open, subjecting the occupants to untold dangers. Both of the 2 major types of buckles used by vehicle manufacturers (the side release buckle and the end release seat belt buckle), can release or open during a wreck. On a side release button buckle, the inertial release happens as a result of inertia force or energy being applied to the back of the buckle in the form of the forward movement of the occupant into the buckle. When the inertial energy is transformed into the spring of the buckle, it releases the tension on the latch plate, allowing it to come open The impact of the pelvis or other hard body part, sends a shove wave or vibration to the spring under load, resulting in a vibration resulting in the buckle inertially releasing. When this happens, the occupant is then as if he wasn’t belted at all. Many times after a serious automobile crash, the occupants are told that they were not wearing the seatbelts, when in fact they specifically remember having them on or they are so injured that they can’t remember. This often happens when the investigating officer finds the occupant either thrown from the vehicle or in a position other than where they were seated. Relatively low forces during a wreck can cause the button to depress, permitting the latch plate to slip out while under load, subjecting the now unbelted occupant to injury, ejection or even death.
Under normal operation in the TRW / QSS buckle, a ramp is designed to raise the latch to the unlatched position when the press button is depressed. The ejector, which is powered by a coil spring, is then pushed and ramped upward toward the unlatched position. The problem arises when, in a vehicle rollover, significant vertical accelerations are imposed on the seat belt buckle. The potential for inertial release results from the press button displacement by the movement of a pretensioner. While the overtravel of the latchplate may be limited by the size of the aperture, the latch plate overtravel may displace the press button backward enough to allow release of the latch plate. A similar mode of inertial release may also be possible from transverse accelerations and impact of the buckle into the center console.
In 1992, the Institute for Injury Reduction (IIR) petitioned NHTSA to investigate such defects, but after several months, NHTSA denied the petition. Its own laboratory results indicated that inertial forces could cause a buckle to open, but that it didn’t happen in real world accidents. If you or a loved one has been in a serious accident and you believe that the seat belt buckle may have opened during the crash, then steps must be taken in order to preserve the vehicle and not allow anyone to test or tamper with the seat belts until a trained automotive seatbelt engineer has thoroughly documented the evidence. Destruction or loss of the buckle can cause untold problems in one's attempt to prove the case.
End release buckle failures or releases, while not as easy to demonstrate by a parlor trick, still will fail under proper conditions. The end release buckle, with the release button being at the end of the buckle instead of the side, also has been known to have release problems as well, including the obvious problems of the GEN 3 buckles with a button that is too tall, allowing for accidential releases and inadvertiant depressions. A second design flaw with the end release buckle stems from the way the buckle stalk allows the buckle to be elevated so that the buckle is no longer flush with the seat trim and therefore the buckle is subject to failure and opening during a rollover.
BUCKLE RELEASE / INERTIAL UNLATCHING LAWSUIT - TALK TO A LAWYER
 If you or a loved one have been seriously injured in an accident in which you believe that the seat belt buckle failed to hold or it inertially or inadvertently opened or released during the collision, subjecting the user to increased injuries and dangers that they otherwise would have been protected from, then you may have a right to file a legal action to recover for your injuries or losses. Willis Law Firm is very familiar with this problem andhas previously battled with many of the auto and seat belt manufacturers concerning these defective seat belts and other design issues. Talk to a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Call Toll Free 1-800-883-9858 or fill out this Free Seat Belt Lawsuit Evaluation Form
PLEASE NOTE: The statements and information provided on this web site are for the informational purposes only. This law firm is not affiliated in any way with any trademark owner. The use of any trademarks on this site is for product identification and information purposes only. This webpage is provided to you to assist in information about seat belt injuries, seatbelt deaths, seat belt defects, rear seat or center seat lap only belt injury, lawsuits, seat belt buckle failure, buckle opening, NHTSA recall, torn webbing, seat belt recalls, seatbelt retractors, plastic buckle housing defects, problems with the tall end release buttons on the Generation 3 or Gen 3 seat belt buckle button on some Chrysler vehicles, lap belt injury, excessive slack in belt webbing, automatic belt injuries,and other seat belt defects and failures.This site is not intended to provide legal advice to the reader and NO attorney-client relationship shall be deemed to arise from the receipt this page and/or its associated pages or any oral or e-mail communication to or from with the Willis Law Firm. There will be NO lawsuits filed, claims made, letters or phone calls made for a prospective client, until that person is represented by the firm. An attorney client relationship only arises after the attorney and client have signed a written attorney client contract.
Mr. Willis is licensed attorney in New York and Texas. He is a Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Lawyer, certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Read more about Board Certification, Click Here. Principle office is Houston, Texas.
Mr. Willis has represented clients in personal injury, auto accident, seat belt defects, suv rollover, van & truck rollovers and other product liability and negligence cases from across the United States, including clients from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin & West Virginia.
Further, any statement or reference to past personal injury, products liability or other lawsuits, settlements or verdicts should NOT be relied upon in one's own case or in your decision on which law firm to hire. All client's cases, facts, injuries, damages, venues and lawsuits are different and there is NO way to predict the outcome of a particular case, verdict of a jury or judge or the strength of a case before a judge, jury or the appellate court system. The client is responsible for all of their own medical expenses. All cases are handled on a contingent fee basis. NO attorneys fees or case costs charged to client, unless a recovery is made for the client. Often in very serious and catastrophic injury and death cases Mr. Willis may associate with another products liability attorney as co-counsel and in other matters, the case may be referred. In cases where a legal matter is referred, Mr. Willis will continue to maintain joint responsibility with the handling attorney or lead counsel and actively monitor the progress and development of the case. Due to his 22+ years of experience in personal injury and products liability cases, Mr. Willis will often continue to assist in working with the hired experts and engineers and in research of the defective product or other related legal matters in the case.
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