Certainly, weak seat-backs can cause severe injuries to passengers, especially from rear-end collisions. One must keep in mind that when a vehicle is struck from the rear, the occupant moves towards the impact, or to the rear, with great force. Resulting injuries can occur to the front-seat occupant and the occupants, such as children, in the rear seats. When a front seat back fails due to a rear-end collision, the front-seat occupant can suffer head trauma, neck injuries, and back injuries as a result of striking the rear seats. Dangers to rear occupants can be fatal, which many times involve children. A rearward-ejection front seat can crush a child sitting directly behind that seat. Very little has been done by car manufacturers when designing and testing seats to withstand a rear-end collision. As such, car manufacturers can arguably be found negligent for their failure to design a front car seat that would withstand collapsing due to a rear-end collision.
Should you have any questions, or know someone who has sustained severe injuries due to a collapsing front seat, feel free to call me and perhaps I would be able to help that individual against the car manufacturer. You can see my website by clicking here or call me at (818) 706-3790 for a free consultation.