Restraint Systems

As with any restraint system, there is always an issue that the safety systems did or did not operate properly and may have been the  contributing factor to injuries and fatalities in vehicular accidents. CED’s Vehicle Crash Group (VCG) has experience in loss issues that relate to suspected restraint system failures.

CED has performed numerous inspections and analysis on both claims of inadvertent and non-deploying airbag systems.  Since 1998, automotive manufacturers have been using on-board computer systems called Electronic Data Recorders (EDRs) to record event leading up to and during an accident.  CED has the ability to download and extract data from certain vehicular EDR systems that help  determine if an airbag system has potentially failed.  CED engineers inspect and examine the suspected system to look for potential mechanical defects or design failures.

At CED our engineers examine three parts of a seat belt to determine the suspected failure. For the seat belt itself,  our  experts  use material science to examine the material to determine if the material failure was caused by stress, fatigue or a cut.  For the latch plate, CED engineers remove and examine the latchplate to see if the plate operated as intended and designed.  CED engineers have extensive experience in evaluating both inertial locks and pretensioner systems.