Are seat belts supposed to retract in any rear-end collision?

Question

Are seat belts supposed to retract in any rear-end collision?

Answer 1

Seat belts are supposed to "lock" in any condition that causes the rider to move forward quickly.

The design used today is nearly identical that that used 20 years ago. A simple catch is located on the seat belt spool, when you pull more belt material with a quick or abrupt motion a gear catches locking the belt in place. Some vehicles will lock back tighter as you start to move backwards...making it even more constraining.

To answer the question...."any" rear-end collision, it's more like most. If the rider clenched themselves or moved at an angle the catch can and does fail. If the speed was low they will not catch. There are a few vehicles in production today that have electronic belts, these tighten/loosen based on information provided the safety/driving computers.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Seat belts are designed only to retract when released, only to the point where resistance is felt when the belts snug against the body and to retract into the car frame.

They do NOT retract in a collision of any kind, but, are designed to, simply LOCK in place to prevent any strain on them to loosen their hold on the passenger.