Shoulder Seat Belts

Thank you for your newspaper’s excellent article about our settlement with Ford Motor Co. for failure to provide rear-seat shoulder harnesses in our Escort (“Ford Settles for $6 Million in Suit,” April 4).

We feel it is very important that your readers know that, while rear-seat lap belts may prevent a person from being ejected, they can also cause death or paralysis in head-on collisions. We learned of this safety hazard the hard way when we were in a serious accident and lap belts broke the spines of our 11-year-old sons, killing one and leaving the other a paraplegic.

Federal law requires that all 1990 cars be equipped with rear-seat shoulder harnesses. However, there are still millions of cars on the road which should be retrofitted with them. Unfortunately, many dealers are refusing to install the harnesses because they don’t want to assume liability.

We’re urging consumers to demand that their dealers install the rear-seat shoulder harnesses. If your dealer refuses, write to your congressional representative. Don’t take “no” for an answer. The life of your loved ones may depend on it.

JAMES MILLER

PATRICIA MILLER

Carlsbad