Lap Belt Injury Attorneys in Philadelphia
Millions of lives are saved and serious injuries are prevented by the proper use of seatbelts and restraint systems during automobile accidents. Seatbelts keep occupants inside the vehicle in the event of a collision, and can also prevent the occupant from striking objects within the vehicle, like the steering column, center console, or windshield. Three point seatbelts and lap belts are the most widely used seatbelts in passenger vehicles. Three point seatbelts, or lap/shoulder seatbelts, have a strap across the pelvis and hip area, and a strap across the chest and shoulder. Lap belts, on the other hand, only have one strap running across an occupant’s pelvis or hip region. In the event of a car crash, a three point seatbelt system will spread the force of the impact across the sturdy pelvic bones and throughout the upper torso, lessening the impact any one region of the body may experience. For lap seatbelts, the force of a car crash is localized to the pelvis and abdomen, creating a substantial risk of injury to the abdominal region and internal organs.
Even though seatbelts are supposed to protect you from serious injury, lap seatbelts often cause severe, and sometimes fatal, injuries due to their unsafe design. When a vehicle is involved in a front-end collision, the vehicle will slow down very rapidly, while the occupant’s body will still be moving forward. A lap belt will hold the occupant’s pelvis and abdomen in place, but the occupant’s upper and lower body would be propelled forward. This can cause the person’s body to jackknife, with the torso and legs being thrown forward violently, resulting in injuries to internal organs, including organ rupture, bowel perforation, bowel and organ dissection or separation, herniated organs, and internal bleeding. Lap belt injuries can also result in vertebral dislocation, fractured vertebrae, lumbar spine fracture, spinal cord laceration, spinal cord compression, paraplegia, and paralysis. These conditions are often referred to as "seatbelt syndrome." Because the upper body is not restrained when a lap-only seatbelt is used, there is virtually no protection for an occupant’s head and neck, and spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, closed head injury, and open head injury are likely to result if the occupant strikes the seat in front of them, the steering column, or the windshield.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been advocating to make it a mandatory requirement that all seat positions in passenger vehicles be equipped with lap/shoulder seatbelts, instead of lap-only seatbelts for decades. A 1999 NHTSA report concluded that lap/shoulder belts are 25% more effective at preventing serious injuries and death in car accidents than lap-only seat belts, and offer considerably greater occupant protection in a front-end collision. In fact, the report stated that while backseat lap belts did reduce the risk of head injury in the event of a car accident, lap belts actually increased the risk of serious abdominal injury.
Automobile manufacturers have been aware of the serious injuries lap belts can cause for decades, but they continued to use them in vehicles, especially in rear seats, to avoid redesigning models and save a few dollars. It wasn’t until 2007 that vehicles were required to have three point lap/shoulder seatbelts for every seat, including the rear center seat. This means that cars that are only a few years old most likely have lap-only seatbelts for rear center seats, placing occupants at a risk of serious injury and death that could have been avoided if auto manufacturers did the responsible thing and used lap/shoulder belts years ago, when they learned of the dangers.
If you or a loved one has suffered catastrophic injuries or death caused by seatbelt syndrome, or the use of a lap-only seatbelt, the experienced Philadelphia defective seatbelt attorneys of Reiff & Bily may be able to help. For over thirty years, our team of highly skilled attorneys, nurses, and doctors have investigated and litigated numerous claims of automobile product liability and lap belt injuries. We have a proven track record of success, winning hundreds of millions in damages on behalf of catastrophically injured or wrongfully killed victims and their families. We have always advocated for consumer protection, and firmly believe that safety should never be an option. Our attorneys have litigated against the world’s top auto manufacturers, and held them accountable when their irresponsible actions have catastrophically injured or killed innocent consumers. Contact one of our attorneys for a no-obligation, confidential consultation, and we will investigate your claim.
