UNSAFE SEATBELTS?
FOX13 Investigates

We've all heard that seat belts save lives. Now FOX13 Investigates a seat belt some claim unbuckled right when they needed it most.

It's in millions of cars. Is it in yours?

Instead of shooting hoops with her daughter Autumn, Yvonne Moran would prefer sitting on the sidelines and watching her with her Dad. But Autumn's father never got a chance to see his daughter grow up. He died when she was just eight months old.

Bart Moran was running an errand to the grocery store. A car broad-sided his Dodge minivan. His van flipped and Bart went through the window. Yvonne believes he was wearing his seatbelt but the seatbelt failed to protect him.

"It didn't save Bart's life," says Yvonne, "because it was defective in design and because it actually came unlatched."

Yvonne Moran sued DaimlerChrysler. She claimed the seat belt came undone right when her husband needed it most. She won. Three years ago, a Texas jury awarded her $6.7-million.

The jury found the seatbelt "defective as designed" and "99% responsible" for the death of Bart Moran. Chrysler is appealing the verdict.

"Had the seat belt been secure and not come undone," says Yvonne, "he'd be alive today."

As incredible as it may seem, the very same type of seat belt that was in Bart Moran's van; the same belt the Texas jury found responsible for his death; is still in more than 14-million DaimlerChrysler SUV's, trucks and minivans.

To this day, Chrysler puts them into brand new cars.

Chrysler began using the Gen 3 seat belts, short for Generation 3, 10 years ago. On the Gen 3, the release button is raised above the cover. And that, says attorney Billy Edwards, is the problem.

"During a wreck, a hand can come down and hit the button," says Edwards, "a bottle of water can hit the button, an elbow can hit the buttons. Anything can hit the buttons and release it during a wreck."

Edwards made that very argument in the Bart Moran case. The proof? He says a bottle of shoe polish in Moran's van which opened during the crash.

Police photos show paint splattered everywhere, even in the retracted section of the seat belt. He told the jury the only way that part of the strap could be covered with polish is if Moran was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.

On the Gen 3 seatbelts (center)
the release button is above the cover

Edwards' law firm created a web site, www.unsafebelts.com, to inform car owners.

Edwards likes to demonstrate the "30mm ball test" which is commonly used by major car manufacturers as a safety standard. The seatbelt latch should not be able to open when the ball is rolled across it.

Other seatbelts didn't open. But the Gen 3 did. In fact, Chrysler quit using the 30-millimeter ball test. In 1992, Allied Signal, the seat belt manufacturer, was so concerned about the Gen 3, that it sent Chrysler a letter saying it needs more time for testing and "Chrysler must recognize the risks [of going forward] and hold Allied harmless for any pitfalls..."

The Gen 3 was the seatbelt in the van Myron and Carol Lindeman were driving. They were on vacation in Panama City, Fla in 1998 and died when their van collided with a car. Their family also sued Chrysler, claiming both their seatbelts failed and inadvertently unlatched. This case never went to trial. Chrysler settled admitting no wrongdoing.

And in 2000, a 14-year-old girl from Arizona was killed when she was thrown from her mother's minivan. The family sued Chrysler with the same claim---the belt unbuckled during the accident. Again, Chrysler settled admitting no wrongdoing.

Orlando, Fla attorney Marie DeMarco represented both families in their suits against Chrysler. How much did Chrysler pay the families? That's confidential.

"All I can tell you is that they did settle the claims and the claims had to do with the defective nature of the buckle," DeMarco tells Investigative Reporter Glenn Selig. And when asked what she would do if the seatbelt were in a vehicle she owned, she replies, "sell my vehicle and buy another vehicle."

Lawsuits link the Gen 3 seatbelt to at least five deaths. But consumer advocates fear the number may actually be a lot higher because the vast majority of cases may be going undetected. They say it's often impossible to tell whether a seat belt became unlatched because if the person dies, there's usually no way to tell if they buckled their seat belts.

Public Citizen and the Center for Auto Safety are both calling for a recall of the Gen 3 seat belt.

"When it comes to seat belt buckles," says the Center's Clarence Ditlow, "this is really the worst we've seen to date."

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, known as NHTSA, says the government is getting complaints from drivers, but the rate is very low. And in a statement told FOX13 Investigates, "There have been no recent complaints of injuries. Many complaints can be summarized as follows, 'I have not experienced this failure but Chrysler needs to recall these buckles because they are unsafe.'"

Court records show Chrysler suspected there was a problem with the Gen 3 in 1998 after a crash test of the Dodge Durango. In the test, the dummy's belt unlatches after impact. In testimony played in court, a Chrysler engineer admits it.

Paul Plantinga says under oath: "We 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."

Plantinga said the crash tests convinced Chrysler to change the seatbelts on the Durango and Dakota from the 99 models and on.

But Chrysler never recalled earlier models of those trucks. And the company continued to use the very same seatbelts in other vehicles, including the minivan.

A year later in 2000, citing new technology, Chrysler stopped using Gen 3 belts in the front seat of its minivans, but still puts them in the back seat where kids usually sit.

Johanna Bonfilio from Massachusetts claims her child's car seat has unlatched eight times. She's one of many car owners who've complained to the government about this seatbelt.

"It's almost like driving with brakes that don't work sometimes," says Bonfilio. "You don't know whether they're gonna work. It's scary."

Kate Signer, who has a three-year-old daughter, also complained to the government. She says she can't find a dealership in Florida willing to replace the seat belts in her minivan.

"Every time I tried to look into getting the belts changed out or asking questions about it," says Signer, "I felt like I would bang into walls and couldn't get anywhere."

She feels ignored. And so do many other car owners. FOX13 Investigates has learned the government isn't even investigating their complaints.

FOX13 Investigates contacted an independent auto safety expert. Sean Kane helped expose the Ford Explorer/Firestone tire problem. He's convinced Chrysler needs to recall the Gen 3 seat belt.

"There's certainly ample evidence that the Gen 3 releases in crash testing, industry tests and in real world incidents," says Kane, "so there's no reason or rationale that this buckle should still be in vehicles."

But Chrysler defends the seatbelt.

We wanted an on camera interview, instead Chrysler sent a statement saying the seat belt has "an excellent safety record."

Chrysler says "Gen 3 seat belts have been thoroughly tested and meet all appropriate safety standards." Regarding lawsuits over the Gen 3, Chrysler says, "the company has found substantial evidence that the seatbelt simply was not being worn."

And why has the company settled lawsuits? DaimlerChrysler responds "to avoid a long, drawn-out and costly trial."

In the case of Bart Moran, Chrysler says attorneys failed to prove a defect in the seatbelt caused his death. That's why the company is appealing.

Yvonne Moran says her fight won't be over until Chrysler removes the Gen 3 seatbelt from every car, van and SUV.

Says Moran: "I don't ever want anyone to actually have to experience what I went through."

TO CONTACT THE GOVERNMENT ABOUT THE GEN 3 SEAT BELT:
DOT Auto Safety Hotline 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
Or write:
U.S. Department of Transportation,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Defects Investigation
NSA-10.01, 400 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590

Click here to file a complaint online

Click here to contact your U.S. Senator or Member of Congress

Return to May 2003 Newsletter