OREANDA-NEWS. Seat belts are, well, about as important as safety equipment gets. Thus, when seat belt integrity is compromised, it's a problem that needs to be dealt with posthaste. Following a fatal accident in Canada, Toyota is recalling 2.87 million vehicles worldwide, about 1 million of which are in North America.

The recall covers two crossovers -- the gas-powered, 2006-2012 RAV4 and the electric, 2012-2014 RAV4 EV. Toyota's statement on Wednesday explained that, during a front crash, rear seat lap-belt webbing might get cut on part of the seat's metal frame. If that happens, the seat belt could separate, eliminating any passenger protection.

Toyota will notify all the owners via snail mail. To fix the issue, dealerships will install resin covers that prevent the belt webbing from contacting the metal frame. The seat belts themselves are perfectly fine -- it's the contact that's the problem.