Pregnancy Seat Belt Adjusters

If you are using a pregnancy seat belt adjuster or considering getting one, thank you for thinking of your baby’s safety on the road before they are born. Unfortunately, pregnancy seat belt adjusters are dangerous and should not be used.

Pregnancy seat belt adjusters, also called seat belt positioners, are devices that redirect the lap belt so the belt is no longer resting against the user's belly. This new routing is intended to reduce the pressure of the seat belt on the abdomen in a crash. Manufacturers of pregnancy seat belt adjusters claim this reduces the risk of injury for pregnant and fetal vehicle occupants.

Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) conducted extensive crash testing on pregnancy seat belt adjusters. They used crash test dummies that mimic a pregnant occupant. Tests were completed on a test sled and in actual vehicles. Adjusters with plastic hooks, metal hooks, and a piece of webbing that secured around the lap belt were tested.

Adjusters with a plastic hook broke completely. Adjusters with a metal hook and adjusters with an extra piece of webbing that secures around the lap belt hit the crash test dummy in the abdomen or groin. All the adjusters tested increased slack in the lap belt and allowed the dummy to move further forward before stopping. This increases the risk of injury to pregnant and fetal vehicle occupants.

https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/ausstattung-technik-zubehoer/ausstattung/schwangerschaftsgurte-auto/

There is a common perception that the main cause of injury for fetuses in crashes is external force acting on the pregnant occupant’s abdomen. While this can cause injuries, the actual main cause of injury to fetuses is placental abruption, a medical condition where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus.

Many different forces acting on the uterus can lead to a placental abruption. Most of these forces are internal to the body and are not the result of the lap belt pressing on the abdomen. A pregnancy seat belt adjuster would not provide protection against these forces. In fact, a seat belt adjuster will likely increase these forces on the fetus because the adjuster will allow the pregnant occupant to move further forward before stopping.

The makers of pregnancy seat belt adjusters claim that the standard seat belt is not enough to keep an unborn baby safe. Information from decades of studies tells us otherwise. There is no doubt that the standard three-point seat belt will reduce the chance of injury or death for a pregnant occupant and fetus when used correctly. Evidence shows us that pregnant occupants do not need a pregnancy seat belt adjuster.

See the Seat Belts & Airbags Help page for more information. https://hcpvs.org/seat-belts-%26-airbags-help

Seat belts are required to meet rigorous standards for design, construction, and crash performance. Drivers and passengers know they can trust that the seat belt is safe to use. Pregnancy seat belt positioners do not carry any of those guarantees. Manufacturers are free to build seat belt positioners with any design and any materials they choose. 

The most common style of positioner consists of a plastic hook attached to a webbing strap that wraps underneath the vehicle seat.  The plastic hook style positioners often claim to have a steel core with a plastic outer shell. HCPVS has cut open five different brands of plastic hooks that claimed to have a steel core and did not find a steel core in any models.

Most styles of seat belt positioners use a strap that wraps underneath the vehicle seat. This strap is routed around compressible, non-load bearing parts of the vehicle seat, rather than being anchored to hard points in the car like a seat belt. 

Many pregnancy seat belt adjuster manufactures claim their product is “certified.” This is simply not true. Federal motor vehicle safety standards do not have any standard that applies to a pregnancy seat belt adjuster. There is no way an adjuster could be certified or approved.

Federal motor vehicle safety standards establish a maximum amount of pressure the lap belt can place on the thighs. Placing more pressure on the thighs than the standard allows can cause serious and even life-threatening injuries. Vehicle and seat belt manufacturers test their products to ensure they meet this standard and are safe to use. None of the pregnancy seat belt adjusters available have been tested to ensure they do not exert more pressure on the thighs than the standard permits.

When using a pregnancy seat belt positioner, the user is modifying a safety system with a device that is not approved by the vehicle manufacturer. Seat belt systems are designed and tested to very specific standards. Using a pregnancy seat belt adjuster means the seat belt is now being used in a completely untested and non-approved manner.