- Auto Accident Injury
- Auto Deaths
- Back Injuries
- Brain Injury
- Car Accident Injury
- Catastrophic Injury
- Closed Head Injury
- Design Manufacturing
- Fuel Fed Fire Injury
- Head Injuries
- Occupant Ejections
- Paralysis
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Roof Crush Injury
- Seat Belt Injuries
- Tempered Glass
- Tire Blow Out Injury
- Trailer Sway
- Traumatic Head Injury
Chrysler Gen-3 Seatbelt
Chrysler began using its Gen-3 seatbelt, short for Generation 3, in 1993. The Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelt has a release button raised above the cover, which consumer groups and countless lawsuits have claimed are defective in design and unlatch during a wreck. The location of the button, according to various safety experts and countless allegations, can easily be released with a hand coming down or an object flying and hitting it during a wreck when things are tumbling around.
By April 2003, lawsuits linked at least five deaths to the Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelt, which was estimated to be extremely low because of the inability to discover if occupants were wearing seatbelts in fatal accidents. Consumer groups Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety both called for a recall of the Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelt. Public Citizen described the Gen-3 to be "a good example of a defect covered by a totally inadequate standard" and Center for Auto Safety said "when it comes to seat belt buckles this is really the worst we've seen to date."
According to court records, Chrysler had suspected problems with the Gen-3 seatbelt in 1998, following a crash test of the Dodge Durango. In the test, the dummy's seatbelt unlatched after impact, which a Chrysler engineer admitted under oath in court testimony that the automaker concluded "that some object in the vehicle, whether a dummy appendage, cabling instrumentation, contacted the buckle button on the rebound and caused the button to be depressed." The Chrysler engineer said the crash test conclusions led the company to change seatbelts on the Durango and Dakota in the 1999 models and on, but still, a Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelt recall was never issued on earlier truck models and the Gen-3 was still used in other vehicles, including minivans.
By 2000, Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelts were no longer being used in the front seat of its minivans, with the company citing new technology. The Gen-3, however, was still put in the back seat. Chrysler maintained the Gen-3 seatbelts were "thoroughly tested and meet all appropriate safety standards," and claimed any lawsuit settlements were made simply to avoid drawn out, costly trials.
According to Public Citizen, the Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelts did not unlatch inadvertently in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tests because the instrumented dummy and the seat were positioned perfectly. The "30mm ball test" is commonly used by major car manufacturer tests for safety standards. The seatbelt latch should not be able to open when the ball is rolled across it, but the Chrysler Gen-3 seatbelt opened while other seatbelts did not. Chrysler stopped using the 30mm ball test, and even one of Chrysler's own engineer testified the belts failed this test that many considered to be a standard industry safety test.
Public Citizen has said that, "Chrysler has chosen to ignore this particular test and has continued to put these seatbelts in vehicles," which both Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety called on the NHTSA to adopt as industry standard tests because it was more rigorous. The agency had considered requiring an inadvertent release test in the late 1970s but automakers opposed the test, finding it too burdensome and it was not adopted.If you have any questions about your legal rights regarding the Chrysler Gen-3 Seatbelt, please contact us.
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