Rear Seat Belt Problems of Toyota Matrix

The rear seat passenger-side and driver-side restraints are poorly designed and as such, they do not provide any lateral security near the doors for small passengers. My six year old daughter of average size usually falls below the shoulder restraint when she falls asleep. When she awakes and lifts her torso, the shoulder restraint often ends up behind her torso! this renders the shoulder restraint completely ineffective in preventing injury to the upper torso or head in any significant collision. Her head ends up resting on the door and this is potentially deadly in a side-impact crash.

See all problems of the 2005 Toyota Matrix 🔎.

Both rear seat belts lock up when in use. The individual sitting at either seat using the belt is unable to move due to a locked belt. You can not lean or move forward or in any direction. You must release the belt latch in order to be able to move or lean forward.

I wish to question the safety of seat belt design, as my son has now--3 times--gotten so tangled in his rear-seat belt that it had to be cut to get him loose. We have a Toyota Matrix, but I don't think this problem is specific to that model car. It happened once before in a rental car whose make I don't recall. No question our young, squirmy son did something weird; we think he put the shoulder strap behind him and then turned in some odd way. But after that, the design is such that the lap belt just kept getting tighter and tighter the more he tried to get free. Unfastening the belt did no good. And it seems quite dangerous for there to be no way to release it. There should be some kind of manual override mechanism for such cases. Or at the very least a warning in the car's manual that explains that if a passenger allows the shoulder strap tighten behind the body, there will be no way to loosen the lap belt. The Toyota dealer did replace the belts at no cost. They said they were aware of this happening beofre, and that they'd mention the problem to their design/safety department. But assuming that the seat belt design in most cars is similar, we thought it was a problem to bring to your attention.

See all problems of the 2003 Toyota Matrix 🔎.