The recall involves certain Pilot SUVs from model years 2009 to 2011. According to Honda, these vehicles may have a problem in the way that their seat belts have been sewn together. The stitching at the end of the lap belt on both the driver and front seat passenger seatbelt may not be complete, and the seatbelt may be at risk of coming loose from the anchor webbing during an accident. A person who is poorly restrained in a defective seatbelt like this is at a serious risk of traumatic injuries in an auto accident.

Honda has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has received two complaints about the defective seatbelts. One of these incidents involving a defective seatbelt occurred in 2010, while the other occurred this year. Honda owners whose vehicles are included in the recall are required to visit their dealers as quickly as possible, for an inspection. If necessary, the seatbelt will be replaced free of charge. Approximately 310,773 vehicles are included in the recall. 

According to Honda, it is not aware of any injuries as a result of these defective seatbelts.   Honda has investigated these incidents, and has attributed the problem to an inexperienced sewing machine operator at one of its suppliers.

Seatbelt use is widely believed to be one of the factors responsible for the decline in traffic accident deaths across the country. More Americans buckle up than ever before. Around the country, including in Georgia, seat belt usage is at record highs. 

Atlanta car accident lawyers have law enforcement agencies to thank for this increased use of seat belts on Georgia. The Click It or Ticket program in Georgia kicks off every year with increased law enforcement activities to make sure that motorists are securely buckled in while driving. The program has been exceedingly successful in raising seat belt usage rates, and is believed to be one of the most successful programs encouraging seatbelt use while driving. The program includes law-enforcement as well as publicity campaigns.

However, when a person is unsafely restrained in a detective seatbelt, he may not even know that he has a high risk of being injured in an accident.   A seatbelt may be unsafe when it is improperly latched, when it has fragile or torn webbing, or when there is retractor failure that results in slack.

According to the survey, 70% of Americans feel that traffic safety laws should be strictly enforced. There's a lesson here for Atlanta and throughout Georgia which has recently banned texting while driving - laws can be meaningless unless these are enforced and violators penalized sufficiently. 

Additionally, the survey also indicates that there is plenty of support for tough teen driver licensing standards. 86% of the respondents believe that new drivers should be required to complete a driver’s education course before they are allowed a driver’s license. American motorists also want to see automakers invest in technologies that will help prevent accidents and keep motorists safe. 60% of the respondents wanted automakers to do more to make their vehicles safer. 

There are really no surprises in this survey for Atlanta car accident lawyers. One of the factors contributing to the declining rate of traffic accident deaths in Georgia has been strict state and local action against devastating driving behaviors, like drunk driving and distracted driving. Several states around the country, including Georgia, have passed laws aimed at keeping intoxicated motorists off the street. Newer laws prohibit drivers from texting while driving, and in some states, using hand-held cell phones while driving. More government action in the form of enacting new laws and enforcing current safety laws can help reduce accidents and keep people safer.

Seatbelt usage among commercial truck drivers increased to 78% in 2010 from 74% the previous year. That is the fourth consecutive annual increase in seat belt usage in this section of the population. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, approximately 80% of commercial truck drivers in states that have primary seat belt laws wore seatbelts. However, in states which do not have primary seat belt laws, the seat belt usage rate among commercial truck drivers dropped to only 72%. 

The FMCSA is also reporting an increase in seat belt usage rates among both commercial truck and bus drivers in 2010. Those rates were 78% in 2010, compared to just 65% in 2007.

Atlanta truck accident attorneys credit the fact that most states now have primary seat belt laws that allow law enforcement officers to ticket a driver for failing to wear seat belts even if no other infractions are noted, for this spike in seat belt usage. Besides, the federal agency believes that greater enforcement has led to an increase in seat belt usage rates. The federal administration has also been spending more time educating commercial truck and bus drivers about the need to buckle up at all times. 

Commercial truck drivers are at a high risk of ejections during serious truck accidents like rollovers. Due to the weight and balance specifications in these vehicles, commercial trucks are at a much higher risk of rollovers, especially when the vehicle is traveling at high speeds and makes a turn.

The Washington Post warns parents against assuming that the car seat that they're using for their child will protect them from injuries in the event of an accident. The seats that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulates are only tested for protection in a front impact collision. The seats are not regulated against side-impact, rear end or rollover accidents. This is in spite of the fact that the risk of injuries and fatalities is often much higher in a rollover accident or a side-impact accident than a front impact collision.  

One of the reasons why the federal agency has failed to regulate the effectiveness of car seats in these kinds of accidents is the lack of proper-sized crash test dummies. That is also the reason why the agency has failed to regulate the safety of large-sized car seats that are used for toddlers above 65 pounds. There's a growing class of overweight children who are too heavy for infant car seats, and too young for seat belts. Car seat manufacturers have been marketing larger-sized car seats for children of this size, but the NHTSA has failed to regulate the effectiveness of these seats. One of the reasons has been the failure to develop a crash test dummy of an appropriate size.

As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we know the kind of devastating injuries that can result when children are involved in accidents. Auto accidents are the number one cause of accidental death for children between the age of 1 and 14. Many of these deaths could be prevented if the child is restrained in appropriate car seats. Unfortunately, the NHTSA's car seat testing processes do not include all car safety seats or all types of accidents thereby preventing parents from making an informed choice.

Wearing seatbelts should be a matter of common sense, and not a law. It shouldn't require a law to get pickup truck drivers to do the one thing that could dramatically reduce their chances of injuries or death in a truck accident. However, legislators in rural Georgia have always managed to scuttle any proposal to require seatbelts for pickup truck drivers despite the number of injuries and death caused by truck accidents each year.

With this new law, Georgia will not only manage to save lives and prevent injuries every year, but will also be eligible for federal highway funds. For years, Georgia has lost out on its share of federal funds, because of its failure to enact mandatory seatbelt laws for all.

Although the bill goes into effect immediately, officers will not begin handing out tickets until next month. That means that pickup truck drivers still have time to familiarize themselves with the new law. If you're driving a pickup truck, but not wearing a seatbelt, troopers will pull you over. They will give you a warning and not a ticket.

The new law still exempts pickup truck drivers who use their vehicles for agricultural purposes. However, all other pickup truck drivers including those who use their vehicles for work or for commuting purposes, will have to begin buckling up immediately.

The Atlanta injury lawyers at the Katz Law Firm represent injured victims of auto accidents in and around the metro Atlanta area, and across Georgia.

The study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety focused on more than 3,600 motorists between 2004 and 2007 who were involved in auto accidents. The researchers were stunned to find that motorists who used their seatbelts were up to 21% more likely to suffer fatal injuries in an auto accident, compared to motorists who were not wearing their seatbelts. The airbag designs in all these cases have been around since 2004, and, since 2008, have been part of the federal mandate for airbags. That means there are millions of cars out there equipped with these airbags, which seem to protect unbelted motorists against injury after an auto accident better than they do motorists who are safely buckled in.

There are no solid explanations for the results, but there are some theories out there.

·        Sophisticated new air bag designs may not be responding as anticipated when auto accidents occur in the real world.

·        Modern vehicle design may be contributing to high-impact crashes that increase the amount of force occupants of a car are expected to absorb in an auto accident.

·        There may have been changes in when and how the airbags deploy in an auto accident as a result of changes in crash test requirements.

Obviously, as Atlanta injury lawyers, we would push for more studies in this area. If airbags are not doing a good job of protecting all motorists, belted and non-belted alike when an auto accident occurs, then federal agencies need to consider rethinking these standards.