Seat belts are designed to protect vehicle occupants during crashes or sudden stops by spreading the inertial forces across rigid parts of the body. A typical seat belt system uses a retractor mechanism with a spool that winds the webbing. The retractor has a locking mechanism to stop spool rotation during collisions. Some modern seat belts also use pretensioners that tighten the belt immediately before impact to further reduce occupant movement. Load limiters then release a small amount of additional webbing under high forces to prevent injury from overly tight seat belts.