Nearly 50,000 Chrysler vehicles are being recalled over an issue with their rear outboard seat belts that could fail to retract properly.

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 48,777 vehicles are part of the recall affecting certain 2023-2025 Dodge Hornet and 2023-2026 Alfa Romeo Tonale models, Fox Business reported Tuesday.

Authorities noted about 1.6 percent of the vehicles have the defect involving the seat belts, which could become twisted and not retract, thus failing to restrain the person using it and increasing the risk of injury in case of a crash.

“The NHTSA says that to resolve the issue, dealers will replace the seat belt retractors, free of charge. Letters notifying owners of the safety risk are expected to be mailed out starting on September 24, 2026,” ABC 27 reported Monday.

The news came not long after Chrysler recalled more than a million trucks, also due to a seat belt issue, News Nation reported Friday:

The recall applies to certain Ram 1500 vehicles introduced between 2019 and 2026, according to a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week. Over 1.2 million vehicles are affected.

“The second-row seat belt buckle anchors may have been improperly installed,” the notice says. “As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 210, ‘Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages.’”

Dealers will fix the issue at no cost to owners, and notification letters were expected to be issued at the beginning of next week.

The NHTSA website emphasizes the importance of seat belt use and how there could be fatal consequences to not using one.

“Buckling up helps keep you safe and secure inside your vehicle, whereas not buckling up can result in being totally ejected from the vehicle in a crash, which is almost always deadly,” the site reads. “Air bags are not enough to protect you; in fact, the force of an air bag can seriously injure or even kill you if you’re not buckled up.”