#seat-belt-fit-test

#seat-belt-fit-test

A seatbelt status indicator that doesn't work correctly could create confusion. Not wearing a seatbelt increases the risk of injury in a crash.

Three children, two aged 7 and one of them a 5-year-old boy, were riding electric motorbikes in Angwin Tuesday evening when all three reportedly crashed into the side of a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu. The crash happened around 6:15 pm, as Bay City News reports, on the 400 block of Newton Way.

For three decades, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has been smashing vehicles with an adult-sized dummy sitting in the front seat, simulating a type of head-on collision where two vehicles are slightly offset. It's always been a challenging test, above and beyond the minimum standards that car companies are legally required to meet. The IIHS conducts tests and independently awards safety ratings that are meant to reward companies for superior safety, well exceeding minimum standards.

Car seat misuse rates are pretty high right now. According to data from the National Digital Car Seat Check Form (NDCF), 74% of the almost 60,000 car seats that child passenger safety technicians (CPSTs) checked in 2025 were not being used as the manufacturer intended. The top culprits? Misused seat belts, harnesses and tethers.

The National Safety Council recently estimated that U.S. traffic deaths plummeted by nearly 5,000 between 2024 and 2025 - a 12-percent drop, and the largest single-year decline since at least 1999. That estimate still means that 37,810 people lost their lives in car crashes last year - a horrifying number, but the lowest one published by NSC since 2019.

As they headed toward Highway 24 from Camino Pablo, their child was strapped into her car seat, looking sleepy. Then, in a fraction of a second, something frightening happened. As Shah turned the car onto the horseshoe curve of the ramp, he said, the back passenger door next to their baby swung open violently, all 60 pounds of it, much of it "ultra-hard" stainless steel. Shah and his wife screamed out in shock, and Shah immediately pulled onto the shoulder to see what had happened.

Honda and DriveOhio have teamed up on a new road safety initiative in which Honda vehicles are being used to collect real-time data that can advise about potential issues and road deficiencies before they become a problem. Honda's Proactive Roadway Maintenance System, which has been in prototyping since 2021, uses "advanced vision and LiDAR sensors" to identify issues such as worn or obstructed road signs, damaged guardrails, rough roads and emerging potholes.