I am reporting a catastrophic failure of the rear seatbelt restraint system in my 2025 Mazda 3. The rear seatbelt guide geometry is badly designed, allowing the webbing to bunch and jam during normal operation. This physical obstruction prevents the seatbelt from retracting, leading to three severe safety hazards: 1) Total failure to restrain occupants. 2) Structural damage to the vehicle's safety cell. 3) Public hazard where the obstructed door rebounded open into oncoming traffic. Restraint Failure: On multiple occasions, the rear seatbelt jammed in the guide clip while in use. Due to the lack of retraction, a 200lb adult passenger was able to fully exit the vehicle while the belt remained buckled. Most alarmingly, the vehicle's safety logic failed to trigger any occupancy warning alarms. The system remained "satisfied" because the buckle was engaged, despite providing zero tension or restraint to the occupant. Structural Damage & Public Hazard: Because the belt failed to retract, it remained loose and obstructed the rear door's closing path. The door rebounded off the slack belt into oncoming traffic, resulting in a significant structural dent to the C-pillar (door jamb) immediately adjacent to the striker. This deformation occurred in a critical area for side-impact protection. Efforts to Resolve: The vehicle was inspected by a dealer, who claimed the system was functioning normally despite being shown the jamming. I escalated this to the Mazda North American Operations Executive Office. The executive team issued a final dismissal, refusing to provide technical answers or acknowledge the documented failure points. Crucially, they denied my request for a Regional Technical Manager (RTM) to perform an engineering review of the guide geometry and refused to inspect the damage to the C-pillar. By refusing a corporate inspection, Mazda has ignored a reported life-safety defect and its resulting structural damage. This is documented on a video provided
NHTSA ODI 11735932