This just in from a reader re: Chrysler Town and Country:
Please help me….I’ve hit a brick wall with all my inquiries and this is a HUGE issue.
Please go to youtube and type in silverlake003 and the video list will show up.
It’s about the third one down with the back bumper of a Chrysler Town and Country, sort of a wine color.
This quick video will explain it.
We were rear-ended just before Christmas.
The seatbelts did not lock and my daughter who was in a booster was flipped outside down and pinned between her seat and the passenger seat.
The seatbelts lock if you slam on the breaks but not if you are sitting still.
I filed a report with the NHTSA but was simply sent an email that said CASE CLOSED.
Please help me ensure that no other child has this happen to them.
Now, I don’t know what year model she’s referring to, but her video and comment is of interest as we all expect a seatbelt to work when we slam on the brakes. But what happens upon rear impact?
I know from personal experience—will never forget it as it was the night that news about Sam Kinison’s death was all over the radio—when a car rear-ended me at a red light. I began to jerk forward for sure—but my seatbelt restrained me from having my steering wheel imprint a nice doughnut “O” on my chest. It was a hit and run, so the idiot who did it was never caught, or apprehended.
Be that as it may, I expected my seatbelt to work. And it did.
Chrysler did have a Town and Country recall a number of years ago—in 2005—NHTSA Campaign ID#04V047000—for defective seatbelts. The issue at the time was “After performing the NCAP test, it was discovered that on certain minivans equipped without the available “Stow N Go” seating option, the right front seat belt retractor assembly may have been improperly assembled….As a result the seat belt may not properly restrain the occupant during certain crash conditions, which can increase the risk of injury.”
But no seatbelt recalls since. And a quick check on Town and Country models from the years 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 results in only a few reported seat belt complaints with the NHTSA.
Still, a picture (or video) can be worth a thousand words. No, a layperson’s video is not the same as some closed circuit test drive over at Consumer Reports—but by the same token, it does raise an eyebrow.
Thanks, Sarah, for sharing your story.