Seat belts failures are more common than you think. The seat belt is supposed to prevent injury. But sometimes they are designed so poorly that they cause injury. When a defective seat belt which mechanically fails or when it is designed defectively, the defective seat belt can cause serious injuries in an auto accident.
In fact, it has been shown that a seat belt failure can even be worse than not wearing one at all. However, you should assume that the seat belt in your car was properly designed, and you should wear it at all times when your vehicle is running. You have every right to assume that your seat belt is not going to fail, and you should know that the failure to wear a seat belt is responsible for thousands of deaths a year. It is so important, that most states require you to wear a seat belt. It is thus eqaully important that the seat belt which you are relying upon be properly designed so taht seat belt failure does not occur.
One common design defect that causes severe seat belt injuries is the "Lap-belt only" seat belt. These designs are dangerous and fail the government-imposed duty to "remain on the pelvis under all conditions, including collision or roll-over of the motor vehicle." (See: FMVSS 209S.4.1(b)). In fact, seat belt injuries can occur in a simply rear-end auto accident, when the passenger or driver, who has been restrained by a defective lap-belt only, slides upwards and back. When this happens, the person sufferes a seat injury when they are propelled away from the "lap-belt only" protection and out through a window. Many seat belt lawsuits have been filed under precisely this circumstance.
Another common seat belt failure occurs during a front-end car accident. In these situation a seat belt injury can occur when the occupant submarines down and forward, causing the neck or spinal cord to suffer
serious and often fatal injury from the seat belt's defective design.