10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 9,243 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
My 14-year old became entangled in the seat belt in the 3rd row passenger-side seat of our new Honda Odyssey van. The seat belt was wrapped around his waist. The seat belt would not allow us to gain any slack to loosen the belt. All attempts to loosen (by feeding in slack to gain release) only made the belt tighter until my child was literally hanging from the roof of the vehicle. This happened on an interstate, 8 hours from home. Luckily I was able to cut the belt to release him. (I happened to have a knife in the car, which is very unusual.) I have asked Honda to repair the belt. They have offered 50% only. I am more concerned that there is not a manual override to allow the seat belt to be released. I understand now that the seat belt goes into a different mode when extended all the way. It will not release until the belt is retracted all the way. It sounds like Honda has fixed a safety issue concerning child car seats, but they have created a new safety hazard for all children. What if the belt had gotten wrapped around his neck? any child placed in a seat belt has the potential of pulling the seat belt out all of the way and allowing it to get wrapped around their body or neck.
- Raleigh, NC, USA
The lap/shoulder belt in the center position of the third row seat was anchored with the anchor latch. My 2 1/2 yr old child pulled the seat belt down; somehow it wrapped around his neck. The seat belt had been pulled out completely, so it was locked. The automatic seat belt tensioner was activated and the belt was tight around his neck. Thankfully, he made enough noise to arouse attention from a person sitting in the second row. There was barely enough room for my fingers to fit between the belt and his neck - with him leaning completely back on his carseat. The anchor can only be released using the latch plate, but the belt was too tight. We were forced to cut the seat belt to relieve the tension on his neck. He received welps on both the right and left sides of his neck. We immediately filed a complaint with the city police department. This could have been a fatal incident as I am almost always by myself with my triplet children and would probably not have seen nor heard him!!! at the very least, parents should be notified of this possibility.
- Cashion, OK, USA
- Farmington, AR, USA