We had a disturbing incident of my 16 year old son getting stuck and twisted in seat belt on a long drive to Montana. We had a safety worker helping us and he tore off the side of the plastic where the seat belt is, hoping to find a release button with no luck.. he ended up having to cut the belt. Now our van has lots of damage from that when it could have been an easy fox with a release.. it was a very tense 40 mins of getting it off.. it was very tight around his waist and constricting his abdomen

- Springfield, MO, USA

Rear seat passenger of uber vehicle struck by another vehicle in high impact collision wound up on floor of vehicle. She believes she engaged the seat belt prior to collision & questions why she was thrown on to floor of vehicle. Both vehicles in motion. Other vehicle ran a stop sign at 60 mph on city street.

- Lyndhurst, NJ, USA

I parked my car in the driveway of my daughter's playdate's house and stepped out for less than 5 minutes to pick her up, leaving my 8 year old son in the third row in the van. After helping her with shoes and a jacket my daughter ran out in front of me then told me my son was screaming. I thought he was screaming because he was upset with me. I returned to find my son with a red face, streaming tears and holding on to the seat yelling, "mom! I can't breathe! the belt's around my neck! help me!" indeed my son's neck was entangled in the second row middle seat belt. Trying to remain calm I tried to release the belt at the anchor point attached to the left side of the seat with the male end of the buckle but it could not reach because the belt had retracted too far and locked. I tried to get him to turn to untangle but the belt was too tight and continued to retract and lock further with any additional movement. I ran back to the front door of the house, banged on it and yelled for a pair of scissors. Scissors in hand I ran back to the van. The other mother ran behind me, saw my son entangled (now pale-faced but still breathing) and watched me cut the seat belt to release him. The belt was so tight the capillaries around his eyes, on his face and neck had burst leaving red spots. Red lines were evident around his neck and a bruise the size of a half dollar where the belt had twisted was visible. He did not require medical attention as he did not loose consciousness. The next day I explained the situation to the school principal and nurse; his teachers followed suit. While the buckle is used to release the belt at its preliminary anchor point there also needs to be something on the side of the seat itself that can be used to release it instead of or in addition to the actual buckle itself. That way if it locks the belt can still be released.

- Wellesley, MA, USA

My 6 year old daughter was sitting in the 3rd row passenger side of the car. She wanted to get a blanket out of the trunk while driving on the highway because she was cold. She unbuckled and turned to lean over the third row seat into the trunk. She inadvertently had her neck caught in the middle seat belt which was not buckled but still suspended from the mid-line of the car. The seat belt locked in place and became like a noose around her neck. My 9 year old daughter attempted to release the middle seat belt from the bottom. I was a passenger in the car while my husband was driving. I climbed into the back seat, lifted her up and called to my husband to pull over. The seat belt kept tightening because it was inappropriately in the lock position. The mechanism to release the seat belt would not release, it requires a small tool. My husband stopped the car ran around back lifted my daughter and tried to pull down on the seat belt, by this time she had burst multiple blood vessels in her face and eyes. She was passing out. I keep a small pocket knife in the car for emergencies and was able to get it and cut the seat belt off from the mid-line near the ceiling. My daughter suffered contusions around her neck, broken blood vessels in her face and eyes and a hoarse voice for two days. Thank the lord she is young enough to have a soft airway or she certainly would have suffocated. Unfortunately Honda Motors was not very responsive to my call about this potentially fatal design flaw. I also observed on the internet that two other parents have made the exact same complaint with a 4 year old and 10 year old child to consumer reports. I believe because the seat belt could not be released from the bottom (via an orange release button) that all children are in danger from this seat belt. The car should be recalled and this seat belt mechanism changed out.

- Corona, CA, USA

2.10 year old daughter took the middle seat belt which hangs from the top of the car of our 2011 Honda Odyssey and wrapped it around her neck. The seat belt locked and you could not release it except to cut it off. Police was called to cut the belt she had bruises on her neck but nothing more serious. Thank god I did not brake hard or she could have been strangled. They should have an emergency release button or a better location for the seat belt. Out of reach of a curious toddler.

- Dobbs Ferry, NY, USA