NHTSA complaint: 1996 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE — SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
I WAS DRIVING NORTHBOUND IN THE 1996 JEEP (A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VEHICLE) ON A MULTIPLE LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAY (POSTED SPEED LIMIT OF 45 MPH) AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP AT AN INTERSECTION FOR A RED LIGHT. MY VEHICLE WAS THE FIRST NORTHBOUND CAR TO STOP AT THE INTERSECTION. I WAS WEARING MY SEAT BELT AND SHOULDER HARNESS WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE WHILE STOPPED HERE. SEVERAL SECONDS LATER, AN INATTENTIVE DRIVER IN A PICKUP TRUCK COLLIDED INTO THE LEFT-REAR PORTION OF MY VEHICLE AT A WITNESS-ESTIMATED SPEED OF ABOUT 30 MPH. FOLLOWING THE IMPACT, THE SHOULDER RESTRAINT SYSTEM DID NOT RESTRAIN MY UPPER BODY. AS A CONSEQUENCE, MY HEAD HIT THE STEERING WHEEL WITH SUFFICENT FORCE TO CAUSE MULTIPLE HEAD AND NECK TRAUMA INCLUDING CONTUSIONS, LACERATIONS, MUSCLE STRAIN, A FRACTURED NASAL BONE AND SEPTUM, A SEVERE HEADACHE, LINGERING PAIN, AND DELAYED VERTIGO. MY INJURIES WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE SEVERE HAD I BEEN WEARING MY EYEGLASSES OR SUNGLASSES. THE JEEP WAS PROPELLED THROUGH THE CONTROLLED INTERSECTION AND EVENTUALLY CAME TO A STOP IN THE SOUTHBOUND LEFT-HAND TURN LANE; IT DID NOT COLLIDE WITH ANY OTHER OBJECTS. I EXPRESSED MY CONCERNS TO DAIMLER-CHRYSLER OFFICIALS ABOUT THE "APPARENT" FAILURE OF THE SHOULDER RESTRAINT SYSTEM TO PREVENT MY INJURIES AND THEY LAUNCHED AN INVESTIGATION. THEIR FINDINGS WERE THAT "THE SHOULDER RESTRAINT SYSTEM WAS NOT DESIGNED TO RESTRAIN THE DRIVER IN A REAR END COLLISION". IF THIS IS THE CASE AND IF THE SHOULDER RESTRAINT MECHANISM IN THIS JEE
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation