← NHTSA complaints

2026 TESLA MODEL 3 — SEAT BELTS

crash2 injured · 2198989 · 2026-04-21

Vehicle

Make
TESLA
Model
MODEL 3
Year
2026
Manufacturer
Tesla, Inc.
Component
SEAT BELTS

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
2
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
Yes

Narrative

I was involved in a rear-end collision while stopped at an intersection. The impact was significant. During the crash, the front airbags did not deploy. More importantly, the seat belts in both front seats (driver and front passenger) failed to function as expected. Instead of tightening during impact, the seat belts appeared to loosen, allowing excessive forward movement of the occupants. As a result, I was thrown forward and struck the steering wheel. The lack of seat belt pretensioning raises serious concerns about a potential failure of the vehicle’s restraint system. This incident suggests that the seat belt pretensioners and/or related crash detection systems may not have activated properly under a significant collision event. I am concerned that this represents a safety defect that could increase the risk of injury in a crash. I request that this incident be investigated as a possible failure of the restraint system, including seat belt pretensioners and crash sensing mechanisms.

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11732730
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown