replacement of seatbelt/LATCH after collisions.

tiggercat · Aug 30, 2008

When would you replace a seatbelt after a collision? Most people seem to know about replacing carseats, but very rarely do I hear of people actually replacing seatbelts. Does the severity of the collision matter, and if so how much? What about occupied vs. unoccupied CR? How about the driver's belt or any other occupied seatbelt? Seatbelt mountings, or just webbing.

What if you're involved in a collision and the childseat is installed with LATCH? Are the anchors still ok or do they need to be serviced/replaced? How would you know?

Just hypothetical, but I really am curious.

joolsplus3 · Aug 30, 2008

Some seatbelts rip out, like the Britax Rip-stitch tether and have a label that shows to be replaced... front seatbelts with pretensioners (single use explosive devices) probably usually need to be replaced and would have an indicator. I don't know how totally accurate it is, but my BIL owned auto body shops for years and he said the computer checklist for any given car would pop up with a list of things to inspect/replace after a collision, and seatbelts are on the list.
Not sure about LATCH, I've read it should be 'inspected' but haven't heard yet of it being replaced (I'm imagining a pretty bad crash if LATCH bars get bent, and I've read that in Ford's extensive anchor testing, the carseat top tether hook would fail--with VERY high weight tests- before the top anchor even bent)...I don't know if metal can weaken imperceptibly, however, and be weak for subsequent crashes?

christineka · Aug 30, 2008

I've read my manual which says after an accident the occupied seatbelts should be replaced or at the very least, inspected. I don't have latch, so it says nothing about that.

tiggercat · Aug 30, 2008

I had forgotten about the rip stitching, that would be obvious. Do rear seatbelts have something like this? I was checking out the seatbelts today (don't laugh) and only the front ones have those warnings/labels.

joolsplus3 said:
Not sure about LATCH, I've read it should be 'inspected' but haven't heard yet of it being replaced (I'm imagining a pretty bad crash if LATCH bars get bent, and I've read that in Ford's extensive anchor testing, the carseat top tether hook would fail--with VERY high weight tests- before the top anchor even bent)...I don't know if metal can weaken imperceptibly, however, and be weak for subsequent crashes?

That's kind of what I'm getting at. How would you know if the anchors had been compromised in a collision. The Ford results make you wonder why the CR manufacturers don't use stronger clips, if they are the weakest link.

I've never heard a suggestion that top tether anchors should be replaced along with seatbelts, either.

azgirl71 · Aug 30, 2008

Technically you should replace all seatbelts that were in use during a crash. This is acually a standard rule. Even when DH and I went to a airbag presntation given by GM they made a point to state this.

However, insurance companies do not want to pay to replace seatbelt that still work properly. DH says he has to prove to the insurance company that the seatbelt is no longer safe before they will pay for it to be replaced.

ETA: Lowere anchors cannot be replaced, only the top tether.

replacement of seatbelt/LATCH after collisions.

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