We’re all familiar with the experience of struggling to find the seatbelt buckle when it’s hidden away behind us. However, few are as well acquainted with the feeling as the owners of 2021-2023 Ford Broncos, a recall notice has revealed.
Ford is in the process of recalling 175,550 Broncos as a result of a design flaw that allows the seatbelt latch in the front row seats to hide away too well, making them hard for the driver and the passenger to find.
For Ford, the real issue is that its vehicles, therefore, do not satisfy federal safety regulations. Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that if a seatbelt buckle is hard to find, it may discourage occupants from using them.
Read: Ford Recalls 2023 Bronco, Ranger After Wheel Falls Off, Allegedly Hits Another Vehicle
If an occupant does not buckle up, they are vastly more likely to be injured or killed in an accident, so it is important that the use of this vital safety device be as easy as possible. Also, it’s annoying to have to fish around between the seats for the seatbelt latch.
The cause of this issue is that the latch plate is in a position that does not offer enough space between the seat back and the interior trim. This hinders access to the part, making it hard for occupants to access it and buckle up.
NHTSA first alerted Ford to the potential non-compliance on May 4, 2023. That case related specifically to a five-door Bronco, and now the automaker is looking into the root cause behind the failure to meet regulations.
Although it is not aware of any customer warranty or field reports, it will launch a recall campaign to fix the issue. It plans to start reaching out to customers on June 30, and asking them to return their vehicle to an authorized dealer, where a clip will be added to the latch to prevent it from sliding between the seats.
