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For more than 30 years, field research and laboratory testing have consistently demonstrated that properly wearing a seat belt dramatically reduces the risk of occupant death or serious injury in motor vehicle crashes. The emergency-locking portions of seat belt retractors are critical components that engage as a result of vehicle deceleration and lock the retractor as webbing is withdrawn during the onset of occupant loading. The field performance of emergency-locking retractors (ELRs) is commonly called into question. Recent studies have raised concerns about the effectiveness of retractor locking mechanisms in multi-planar collisions, including rollovers. Investigators of vehicle crashes would benefit from samples of diagnostic physical evidence which could be used to assist in distinguishing between an unrestrained occupant, a properly restrained occupant and a restrained occupant where the ELR mechanism was disabled in a crash environment and allowed webbing to “spool-out”.