Seat belt induced injury is one of the many injury sources studied by ARCCA’s team of biomechanical, accident reconstruction and seat belt experts. The types of injuries and their locations are often unique to the seat belt and human interaction.
In this particular case, a vehicle experienced a mild rollover during which the occupant received a neck fracture and was paralyzed. As part of the study, our accident reconstructionist determined that the occupants experienced less than 3 to 4 Gs during the crash. ARCCA’s seat belt expert inspected the vehicle and seat belt and determined that the occupant was belted during the crash. The poor performance of the seat belt was demonstrated using an inversion study. An alternate design was then tested where it was determined that this was a protectable accident with little or no injury had a well-designed seat belt been provided. Through analysis, ARCCA’s biomechanical expert determined the nature of the neck fracture, and he also confirmed that the improved design would have resulted in no injury to the occupant.