Seat Collapse in Accident - Follow Up

[Skaht]

Hey friends. This is a follow-up to my previous post here. I wanted to start a new thread for visibility.

Back story: Owner of a '23 Lariat Tremor. I was on a 2 lane road at a traffic light, waiting to turn left with my signal on and yielding to traffic. Speed limit is 45. My wife was in the passenger seat. We were rear-ended by a Volvo SUV at what was likely the speed limit. The hit was pretty dead on. There were no brake marks and witnesses said there was no indication of braking. Seatbelts were on. Airbags didn't deploy, which seems to be intentional as they wouldn't have done anything.

My seat collapsed fully, and my head rest nearly came off. I went backwards hitting the top/back of my head on the rear seat just below my headrest, breaking the skin. The glossy spot in the below photo is my blood. My wife's seat collapsed, but stopped 2-3 inches short of the rear seat (the photo angle distorts how low it actually was). She was uninjured aside from whiplash.

I've registered a complaint with the NHTSA, as well as located a similar complaint with a '22 that can be found by filtering to "seats." I've not contacted Ford, given their history with this scenario.

I will absolutely never likely won't purchase a Ford again and am actively looking to get rid of my wife's Bronco Sport. My 12 and 20 year old typically ride in the back and the truck was our road trip vehicle. If my 20 year old had been there, their legs would have been crushed and the top of my skull would have gone right into their nose area, causing god knows what kind of damage. My 12 year old would have definitely sustained leg injuries as well. Now we're down a car and having to all ride in a SUV built on the same platform.

This is a known issue, in all vehicles, due to an outdated NHTSA safety standard. You can read about it here and here, and about the act introduced to correct the issue (which I believe has not gone into effect) here. Also a video from CBS here. Wild to think a long-running issue that's killing children isn't a big enough deal for car manufacturers to invest in correcting.

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[Achtungg]

glad everyone is ok. good luck.

 

[Toddman45]

Damn, glad your ok.

 

[raul shabinguez]

I'm glad no one was seriously injured.
May I ask, What do you weigh?

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Hey friends. This is a follow-up to my previous post here. I wanted to start a new thread for visibility.

Back story: Owner of a '23 Lariat Tremor. I was on a 2 lane road at a traffic light, waiting to turn left with my signal on and yielding to traffic. Speed limit is 45. My wife was in the passenger seat. We were rear-ended by a Volvo SUV at what was likely the speed limit. The hit was pretty dead on. There were no brake marks and witnesses said there was no indication of braking. Seatbelts were on. Airbags didn't deploy, which seems to be intentional as they wouldn't have done anything.

My seat collapsed fully, and my head rest nearly came off. I went backwards hitting the top/back of my head on the rear seat just below my headrest, breaking the skin. The glossy spot in the below photo is my blood. My wife's seat collapsed, but stopped 2-3 inches short of the rear seat (the photo angle distorts how low it actually was). She was uninjured aside from whiplash.

I've registered a complaint with the NHTSA, as well as located a similar complaint with a '22 that can be found by filtering to "seats." I've not contacted Ford, given their history with this scenario.

I will absolutely never purchase a Ford again and am actively looking to get rid of my wife's Bronco Sport. My 12 and 20 year old typically ride in the back and the truck was our road trip vehicle. If my 20 year old had been there, their legs would have been crushed and the top of my skull would have gone right into their nose area, causing god knows what kind of damage. My 12 year old would have definitely sustained leg injuries as well. Now we're down a car and having to all ride in a SUV built on the same platform.

This is a known issue, in all vehicles, due to an outdated NHTSA safety standard. You can read about it here and here, and about the act introduced to correct the issue (which I believe has not gone into effect) here. Also a video from CBS here. Wild to think a long-running issue that's killing children isn't a big enough deal for car manufacturers to invest in correcting.

I am surprised you're ok, but glad you are.
Now I'm going to use a term that I don't like using and I don't like hearing.
Hey FORD seatbacks collapsing such as in the pictures is UNACCEPTABLE.
I'm not crazy about government interference in business. The Auto industry has had at least 8 years to correct this problem on their own and obviously they still haven't done it. It's situations like this that forced government agencies into regulating private business. Otherwise it's just profit over lives.

Sadly, this illustrates exactly what you went through and where your head ended up in that crash.
Your weight should not matter.
As you state your wife at 155 is not overweight. The crashed test dummies are not overweight and the seat still collapsed.

This is what it looks like with a child sitting behind you when the front seat back collapses. The adults head smashes into the child's face.
I took screenshots from the video.
I never knew that this was a situation that could happen and I'm utterly appalled that it has not been corrected.

 

[Skaht]

I'm glad no one was seriously injured.
May I ask, What do you weigh?

Totally valid question. 6'3, 325. Wife, however, weights about 155.

 

[EffNo50]

Can you unzip the seat covers and find/show what gave away? The seat frame or the gear mechanism? I'd like to know where I need to look for any possible damage after being read-ended, but much less severe.

 

[Skaht]

Can you unzip the seat covers and find/show what gave away? The seat frame or the gear mechanism? I'd like to know where I need to look for any possible damage after being read-ended, but much less severe.

Unfortunately it's in the possession of State Farm, and no idea where. I only had a couple minutes to snap those photos while grabbing stuff at the tow yard.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Can you unzip the seat covers and find/show what gave away? The seat frame or the gear mechanism? I'd like to know where I need to look for any possible damage after being read-ended, but much less severe.

Good question. We need an illustration of a locking manual seat back reclining mechanism VS A power seat back recliner which does not have a positive lock in.
Could have been the seat back frame itself ?

 

[Skaht]

Good question. We need an illustration of a locking manual seat back reclining mechanism VS A power seat back recliner which does not have a positive lock in.
Could have been the seat back frame itself ?

I will add: We could not raise either seat back up when trying to retrieve items from under the rear seat. Electric on my side was working for forwards and backwards, but not the recline.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

I will add: We could not raise either seat back up when trying to retrieve items from under the rear seat. Electric on my side was working for forwards and backwards, but not the recline.

I am not surprised. Looking at Ford designed (not a Maverick) power seat back recliner mechanics.
The forward and backwards of the actual seat bottom. Is totally different mechanics and motor.

VS

MANUAL SEAT RECLINE MECHANISM
(Non Ford)

Ford is not alone.
Added from the 8 year old video.
Almost all auto manufacturers have the same standards of auto seat back strength before collapsing. Good luck finding an auto manufacturer with a stronger seat back mechanics.

 

[PNWMaverick]

I will absolutely never purchase a Ford again and am actively looking to get rid of my wife's Bronco Sport....

This is a known issue, in all vehicles.....

It is always a good thing when everyone is safe. It is crazy that this happened on both seats and means the other driver must have been flying.

I do want to asked about the above statement. If this is an issue with all vehicles, why take it out on Ford like it is just them? What are viable alternatives that don't have the issue?

Edit:

I don't believe this is a widespread issue but is worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Skaht]

It is always a good thing when everyone is safe. It is crazy that this happened on both seats and means the other driver must have been flying.

I do want to asked about the above statement. If this is an issue with all vehicles, why take it out on Ford like it is just them? What are viable alternatives that don't have the issue?

Edit:

I don't believe this is a widespread issue but is worth keeping an eye on.

It could definitely be an over reaction, but the trauma from the experience and knowing my kid could have been there, I wouldn't ever feel safe. It could definitely be the same in any car.

It's more around the articles I came across when looking into this. Ford seemed to be the biggest offender with the least amount of response when asked about it. This could also just be my perception. I would say, that having owned 7 Fords, it would not surprise me if they didn't do more than required from a manufacturing standpoint. Seats aside, for a loaded Mav, there were so many parts that felt extremely cheap. The interior plastics, the seats, the front windshield, the paint.

All-in-all though, it's more a trauma response.

 

[ianjay]

Something like this happened to a friend years ago in a Toyota Camry. It turns out, seat back strength is something that is not carefully designed in most cars. In fact, the standard that had to be met at the time in North America could be achieved with a cardboard frame.
So it does not surprise me that this alarming failure is still common.

 

[JPatterson]

Indeed it is concerning to see this and I’m not an engineer but i can’t help but wonder if the crush space provided by the “give” in the seatbacks might actually protect the front seat passengers from worse injury. Like having a deep cushion behind you. That was a hard hit and certainly would have been worse if not life threatening for a rear seat passenger. Glad your kids weren’t there.

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