Frayed, Cut Or Nicked Safety Belt Webbing Is Asking For Trouble

Car makers do everything possible to protect you from injury during an accident, but if you’re like many drivers, you may not be doing all you can to help yourself.

What Is Safety Belt Webbing?

Understanding safety belt webbing is easy: it’s the seat belt itself -- the strap that goes across your body to keep you safe in case of an accident or impact of any kind. And it’s exposed to all kinds of damage over its life. If you’re a smoker, your car’s safety belt webbing may have small burns. It can also become frayed at the edges from not rolling up properly. It can be cut, lose its strength over time or simply start to tear apart on its own if it was substandard to begin with.

When safety belt webbing isn’t in perfect condition, the belt can break and allow you or your passenger to fly through the cabin of your car during an accident or even out the window to be smashed by the car itself or other flying debris. You certainly don’t want that.

Replace Safety Belt Webbing

You may not know it, but having your safety belt webbing replaced is a simple process. Your car care professional may have or can order an exact replacement product of the proper color and width. If all belts are being replaced, your technician may suggest a superior replacement product rather than one that’s exactly the same as your old one.

If you don’t know how fraying or other damage to your seat belt happened, your repair technician may be able to determine if a part within the restraint system caused the damaged and recommend the proper repair to stop damage from happening again. It’s essential to repair or replace any component that isn’t up to factory specs.

In any case, you owe it to yourself to immediately replace damaged safety belt webbing if you want to stay safe in your vehicle.