# 2025 KIA TELLURIDE — SEAT BELTS
> NHTSA complaint `2239516` · 2026-08-26 · Kia America, Inc.
## Severity
- **Deaths:** 0
- **Injured:** 1
- **Fire:** No
- **Crash:** No
- **Police report:** No
- **Medical attention:** No
- **Vehicle towed:** No
## Vehicle
- **Make:** KIA
- **Model:** TELLURIDE
- **Year:** 2025
- **Manufacturer:** Kia America, Inc.
- **Component:** SEAT BELTS
- **Speed:** 65 mph
## Narrative
My stepson became entangled in the left/driver-side third-row seat belt of my 2025 Kia Telluride. The seat belt webbing became wrapped/tangled around him and the seat belt retractor entered a locked condition. We were unable to create sufficient slack or otherwise release him from the restraint.  The situation became a life-threatening child-entrapment emergency. Emergency services were called and responders ultimately had to CUT THE FACTORY SEAT BELT WEBBING to free the child.  My safety concern is not simply that a child became tangled in a seat belt. My concern is that once this occurred, the seat belt/retractor locked in a manner that prevented us from releasing tension and freeing the child. The only available solution during the emergency was for first responders to physically cut the restraint.  I have also located reports from other Kia Telluride owners describing children becoming trapped when third-row seat belts became wrapped around an occupant or seat component and subsequently locked.  I am also aware of NHTSA Recall 26V356 / Kia Safety Recall SC372 involving certain 2027 Kia Telluride and Telluride Hybrid vehicles. That recall involves a driver's seat belt emergency locking retractor that may lock while the webbing is being extended. I understand that recall applies to a different model year and seating position and may have a different underlying cause. However, because my 2025 Telluride experienced a serious seat-belt retractor locking event involving a child
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*Source: [NHTSA ODI](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/) · MORVS · CC0 1.0*