Description of the Safety Issue I am submitting this complaint to report a serious seat belt safety incident involving entrapment and inability to self-?'release, which required emergency intervention. While parked, my daughter as a passenger in my Jeep Gladiator, became tangled in the seat belt in such a way that she was physically unable to release herself or exit the vehicle. Despite multiple attempts, the seat belt could not be disengaged, and the situation escalated to the point where I had to cut the seat belt to free her. This was not caused by a crash, sudden stop, or misuse. The seat belt-??s configuration, retraction behavior, or release mechanism appeared to contribute to the entrapment and prevented normal occupant egress. Why This Is a Safety Concern Seat belts are intended to protect occupants and allow safe release when needed. In this incident, the seat belt instead: -Entrapped a child occupant -Prevented self-?'release -Created a situation where cutting the belt was the only way to avoid further harm Had this occurred during an emergency (fire, water submersion, post-?'collision scenario), the inability to quickly exit the vehicle could have resulted in serious injury or worse. Outcome of the Incident -No collision occurred. -No vehicle warning lights or alerts were present. -The seat belt was rendered unusable only because it had to be cut as an emergency safety measure. -The incident caused significant distress and created an immediate safety hazard. Request for Review I am requesting that NHTSA: -Review this incident as a potential seat belt design or functional defect -Consider whether similar incidents may be occurring but underreported -Evaluate whether this issue warrants further investigation, service bulletin, or recall activity Seat belts should never place occupants-?"especially children-?"into situations where escape is difficult or impossible.

- Midlothian, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Gladiator. The contact stated that the rear middle seat belt failed to retract or operate as needed. The contact stated that the seat belt had to be manually tightened to function as needed. The contact initially took the vehicle to the dealer where a diagnostic test found no defect with the seat belt. As the failure persisted, the contact took the vehicle back to the dealer where the failure was confirmed and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

- Fort Valley, GA, USA

The vehicle auto stops when putting on the driver-??s seat belt, in direct conflict with owner-??s manual. The owner-??s manual specifies that if the -??Driver-??s seat belt is not buckled-?? it will prevent an auto stop, but preventing the auto stop is the opposite of the act of buckling the seat belt initiating the auto stop. Furthermore, the instrument cluster does not present a -??STOP/START READY-?? message which is the first necessary condition for an auto stop. This issue creates a serious safety hazard, as the vehicle presents factually incorrect information to the driver and the vehicle unexpectedly stops creating driver confusion and distraction. Additionally, this creates a serious safety hazard as the issue inhibits the driver from attempting to flee an emergency situation, wherein the driver hops into an idling vehicle, plugs in their seat belt, and the vehicle turns itself off. The malfunction was reproduced and confirmed by multiple service personnel at 2 different dealerships, who expressed safety concerns. The malfunction was also recreated by 4 independent mechanic shops and documented as a safety concern. However, an FCA Technical Advisor (TA) claimed that the vehicle is -??operating as designed-??. This portion of the vehicle-??s Auto Start / Stop System is NOT operating as designed and documented in the owner-??s manual. I feel unsafe driving the vehicle, as this is one of numerous hardware / software malfunctions plaguing the vehicle. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request.

- Kingwood, TX, USA