Humvee Seat Belts Break

FORT PICKETT, Va.--An investigation is underway by the U.S. Army to determine why the seat belts failed on a Humvee utility vehicle. Two soldiers in the Virginia National Guard suffered broken bones in the crash when heaved into the Humvee’s windshield, and they would have been hurt more severely had they not been wearing GI helmets, commanders said.

The manufacturer, AM General Corp., is testing the belts. According to the Associated Press, Army Safety Engineer George Jarvis reported that the crash, which happened in June, was the first seat belt failure in Humvees since the Army started buying them in about 1985.

An inspection of 20 to 30 Humvees at Fort Pickett revealed fraying in a vehicle’s seat belts, and bases were issued an alert to inspect all Humvee seat belt assemblies: “If the webbing is frayed or the integrity of the belt is questionable, have it replaced immediately.”

AM General has produced about 113,000 Humvees for the Army--the vehicles have replaced the Jeep as an all-around military transport. They have multiple configurations, such as carrying cargo, troops and weapons while also serving as ambulances.

The AP said that thus far the Army has not issued a service-wide safety bulletin over the Humvee selt belt issue.