Seat Belt Scare on Father's Day 2011 - Keep a Sharp Object in Your Car
Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 03:10PM Note: This was originally posted on July 13, 2011 but since several commenters have experienced the same issue with seat belts that will not retract, I am moving this front and center once again. Please be extra cautious with kids and seat belts.
Father's Day was outstanding for me and my family. Family lunch in Ojai and bicyling in Ventura. But something happened that could have made this the worst day of my life.
After we finished riding bicycles and playing around at the beach we came back to the car. My wife asked if she could buy something with my older son as my 5 year old, teenage stepson and I waited in the car. We were pretty tired from the day's activities.
Within 15 minutes my 5 year old started doing what 5 year olds do. Goof off. Play around, move around, get into trouble. Before I know it he's sitting in the passenger seat and had the seatbelt on. He knows he's not supposed to be in the front seat. As I was messing around with my phone, I told him to take the seatbelt off and get into the backseat.
Of course he didn't listen. The rest is a blur. We unbuckled the seat belt. I told him to get in the back seat again again, he kept messing around. I look over and the seat belt was wrapped around his belly. One last time, I tell him to take it off as I was relaxing and engrossed in Tweets and Facebook. The teenager was in very back of the minivan, headphones on.
You know the way it goes. I lost my temper and told him ONE LAST TIME to take it off, at which point I realize that he appears to be stuck. The seat belt has retracted with him in it. And he can't get out.
I tug on the belt but realize that isn't helping. The belt is now FIRMLY around his belly and with every little move, the belt tightens even more. We can't slide it off or move it.
Quickly I jump out of the car to try to remove the seat belt anchor. It's no use, there's no "button" on it to remove it. This thing continue to tighten. At that point my teenager's trying to help, also to no avail.
Only a few minutes have passed but this has quickly become an emergency. The belt isn't around his neck (thank God) but it is so tight that he is bound to suffocate before our eyes if we don't get it off of his belly.
The good and potentially life saving news is that I had a pair of fingernail scissors in the car. I really did not want to have to use them. I'm thinking "No, no, this kid isn't going to have to make me cut this seat belt off, is he?" But with my 5 year old in panic and shock, there was no more hesitation. As you can see from the picture above, I had to slice the seatbelt to save my son. What a bizarre and scary Father's Day twist.
My wife got back and helped soothe our son. I was pretty shaken up too but at the same time IRKED by the fact that this damn seat belt did not have a release button. I was also thinking how much it was going to cost to replace that belt.
Yes, this was the most expensive Father's Day ever. A lovely brunch followed by a $350 seat belt replacement. They had to replace the ENTIRE unit, not just the belt part itself.
I called Toyota the next day to report the issue. The rep was nice over the phone but told me they could not help me out financially. Thanks a lot Toyota. Your seat belt damn near killed my kid and you won't help me out.
I had planned to write about this that night, then hesitated out of embarassment, thinking people would judge me for "allowing" this to happen. In hindsight, I should have immediately taken him out of the car. He was bored and needed attention, as tired as the rest of us were from a long day.
But I realized that I HAVE TO share this story as it may save a life. In fact, this is not the first time this has happened. Retractable seat belts can KILL unwitting kids: 9-year old nearly strangled by seat belt, 3 year old strangled by seat belt, a teenager was strangled by a seat belt, young girl nearly strangled by seat belt.
LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) belt systems for child seats are great but they leave the shoulder belt unused and exposed to the possiblity of a fidgety kid messing around with it and putting themself in danger too.
These little 3 1/2 inch long fingernail scissors may have saved the life of my 5 year old.My Advice:
1. First and foremost, NEVER leave your kid alone in the car. The car is not a playground.
2. Keep your little kids AWAY from the seat belts. As discussed above, they may not retract and kids can get entangled in them. It can happen VERY quickly, I can tell you with certainty.
3. Keep a sharp object in the car (out of sight and reach of the kids of course). There are many items you should keep in your car for emergency situations, but among them keep a pair of scissors or a knife.
4. If you have young kids and are using the LATCH system, lock up or restrain your shoulder seat belts. They are dangerous.
I bought one of these car escape tools for each car too. Pretty nifty to have.
Reader Comments (5)
This same thing happened to my daughter over the weekend on a road trip. She was laying down in the back of the suv and when she went to sit up the same thing happened to her that happened to your son. By the time we pulled over on the side of the freeway it was wrapped so tightly around her stomach she could hardly breathe. And panicking saying she was going to die. And for a moment we thought we were going to have to start flagging cars down then I remember I had my hair cutting scissors in the back. We cut the seat belt off of her and it left burns around her waist. I have pictures of the seatbelt being wrapped around her and everyone who sees is horrified at how the seatbelt could of done that. I would like to know if you got anymore results from your dealership? I took my car in yesterday and they are ordering a new seatbelt but told me if a child leans over, or reaches for something on the floor this could happen. I think it's very scary and don't understand why if the car is in park and the engine is off that the seatbelt can't be realesed. I'm not sure where I'm going to take this from here but I do think other parents need to know.
Thanks
Tawnie Wolf
OMG! I just had to the something happen tks my 3 year old daughter! Thank the lord I was parked at my son's school to pick him up. I had flagged down a Mom to help me try to get my daughter to wiggle out of the seat belt but with any slight movement to loosen the seatbelt it got tighter and tighter. I then asked the Mom to watch my daughter while I ran to get the police officer and principal for help.
When both the police officer and principal saw the circumstance my daughter had wiggled herself in to the police then said there's no other way but to cut the seatbelt. AND AFTER TRYING TO PICK MY DAUGHTER UP TO CLICK THE RELEASE ON THE SEATBELT AND SEARCHING FOR A RELEASE BUTTON THERE WAS NO ALTERNATIVE FOR THE POLICE OFFICER but to cut it.
After calming my daughter down and rubbing her tummy, the police officer continued to tell me after 13 years while in his line of work, he's never had to use the knife specifically made for seatbelts .
Hopefully dealerships will begin passing a law in reference to SAFETY FOR OUR CHILDREN .
Lets see if I get reimbursed,
Jennifer (Woburn, Ma.)
This also happened to me. We were just about to cut the seatbelt but luckily we found the button for the seatbelt release. This reminds me that I want to keep a swiss army knife in the trunk of the car and other safety type items.
OMG!!! This same thing happened to me TODAY AND IM 23 YEARS OLD...i was at the back seat with my seatbelt on but since it was early in the morning i decided to take a nap until we get to the place while on the road i started to felt uncomfortable because of the seatbelt so decide to take it off but it was stuck i tried getting out of it turn it over my head but it just got tighter and tighter and the next thing i was exactly trapped as you all describe and my mom had to stop at a gas station were a guy tried to release it with no use and ended up cutting it...it was a scary thing and probably expensive ... =(
I had the same frightening experience yesterday with my 8 year old daughter. We have a 2011 Toyota Siena minivan and she was sitting in the back row. When we parked in the garage, she was unable to free herself from the seatbelt. She had somehow twisted the seatbelt around her waist. The seatbelt was unbuckled but every time we tried to pull on the belt, it would tighten even more and retract into the wall. I frantically looked for a release button (there isn't one) and searched the car manual for a solution. All the while, my daughter became more and more panicked. She was crying and complaining that she couldn't breathe. At that point, I tried cutting the seatbelt with a scissors to no avail. My daughter was pleading with me to get her out. I ran into the house and found a box cutter and was able to cut the belt. My next step would have been to call 911. It was truly an emergency. I called the dealership this morning to complain about this safety issue and they said that they cannot replace the belt under warranty because it was cut. I should have brought my child entangled in the belt and unable to breathe into the dealership and then they would have replaced the belt free of charge. Is this not ridiculous? I am furious. Parents - please be careful with seatbelts. They can be very dangerous.