NHTSA Complaint #11712494 — 2026 HYUNDAI PALISADE

Dear Public Safety office, I am writing to request clarification regarding the proper operation of seat belt retractors. I want to ensure that I fully understand how seat belt mechanisms are intended to function during normal adult use. The reason for my inquiry is that I am experiencing inconsistent behavior between the driver side and passenger side seat belts in my new vehicle (Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy 2026). I have taken the car to the dealership and they informed me that it's working as expected by Hyundai but I am still unclear. I want to confirm whether the behavior I am seeing aligns with safety requirements. Here is what I am observing: •The driver side seat belt behaves as I would expect: if pulled fully and released quickly, it locks momentarily, but it releases normally on the next pull. •The passenger side seat belt, however, locks and remains locked, preventing the occupant from pulling the belt out again and moving even a quarter of an inch. This only unlocks when they completely unlatch and relatch it. This occurs even when the belt has not been fully extended. My questions are: 1.Should a seat belt ever remain locked to the point where an adult passenger cannot pull the belt out again without unlatching it and not even move a bit? 2.Is it expected for the driver and passenger retractors to behave differently under normal use? I want to ensure that I understand the federal requirements correctly before pursuing further inspection or repair. Any guidance or clarification you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)