The Nissan Versa is a subcompact car that’s been around the block for a few years now. The Versa, known for its affordability, is popular because it doesn’t cause you to break the bank to get one. 

However, affordability doesn’t necessarily equal value as we see in the case of the Versa. It seems, though, that Nissan sacrificed safety measures in order to offer the best price. One Car Complaints user shared a story detailing how a piece of safety equipment took away a life instead of saving it.

Seat belts should save lives

We’re taught to wear our seat belts when driving or riding in a vehicle right from the start of driver’s training. The reason is that those belts are safety features designed for the sole purpose of saving a life when a crash occurs. 

The government wants every person to get into the habit of wearing them so that we can save more lives in car crashes. Nowadays, automakers install seatbelts in every vehicle that comes off the production line. Most states have even made safety belt usage mandatory. 

However, we sometimes hear of unfortunate incidents where seat belts failed and a person wearing it lost their life. This happened to one user on CarComplaints.com who shared a story of losing a passenger in their Nissan Versa because of a defective seat belt part. 

What happened with the 2013 Nissan Versa?

One user reported an incident that occurred with their 2013 Nissan Versa. The car was involved in a head-on collision. The impact of the crash threw one of the passengers out of the restraint in the vehicle, and that person died because of the injuries they sustained. 

The Nissan Versa was traveling less than 45 mph at the time of the accident. It’s important to note that the passenger killed in the crash was wearing a seat belt, but it apparently failed. 

The forum user reporting the complaint said the anchor bolt from the seat belt broke, causing the seatbelt to let go and send the passenger flying from the seat. 

The person killed only weighed 115 pounds. When you factor in the speed the vehicle was going in, which was less than 45 mph, it makes the bolt breakage incident even more terrible. The forces that these anchor bolts are designed to handle wasn’t even at play here. The bolt broke by some other means, and that resulted in the tragic death of a loved one. All other people involved in the crash escaped with little-to-no injuries. Their seatbelts held with no problem. 

The Nissan Versa isn’t what you’d call safe to begin with

Apparently, this isn’t the only incident that Nissan has encountered since starting the production of the Versa. Motor Junkie has it listed in the No. 14 spot of cars that aren’t safe vehicles.

The Nissan Versa is known as a fatality-prone vehicle, as reported by Motor Junkie. The IIHS gave the Versa Poor ratings in frontal crash tests for the 2016 model of the Versa. 

Add to that the limited number of safety features they offer, it’s not really surprising. In fact, another incident, reported by The State, resulted in a lawsuit with Nissan over the tragic death of a young high school girl. 

A crash occurred while she was driving, causing the Versa to roll. She was evicted from the vehicle and died from her injuries. Her side airbags didn’t deploy in the crash. Her lawyers said they felt that Nissan should’ve had a rollover crash detection sensor to deploy the side bags in order to protect the driver. Many other vehicles had it. 

Nissan didn’t admit any guilt or wrongdoing since there were no laws in place, at that time, requiring them to have a rollover crash sensor. They did, however, settle the lawsuit with $1.5 million. 

The Nissan Versa may be an affordable car, but since it fails in the safety department, you should avoid this one. Find a vehicle that has more safety features in your budget range, and you’ll be much happier for it.