> It's not clear to me that an engineer working on making seatbelts work better is the best person to decide when they reach the point that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

I agree that they're not the best person, but they are an active participant in the process. As a participant, they have an ethical duty to raise their concerns. Consider that an engineer "working on making seatbelts work better" is (arguably) the organizational expert on seatbelt operations. It is perfectly appropriate for engineering management to address the raised concerns through risk management and for the engineer to accept this decision because it was through a defined PLM process.

When, as in the quote, the justification for accepting the dismissal of concerns is that "it was a business decision", it raises red flags for me.