OT: When your infant car seat is in a accident

[SaraMc]

Hi everyone, I felt I needed to post this because well it happened to me.
Myself, DH and my 5 day old son were in a really bad car accident this past friday. We are all ok. DH and I have minor whiplash but we are doing ok, our DS is great, would never know that anything happened. He cried for about 2 seconds after the impact and then went back to sleep.

But what I didnt know until after is that if your child's car seat is in a accident it has to be replaced because it took the impact of the accident and may not be able to handle it again.

I didnt know this, Im glad I did. Our insurance verified this and we are replacing it tonight. I just wanted to let you all know incase this ever happens to you.

Wishing everyone lost of pixie dust and magically dreams

Sara

 

[grlpwrd]

Thank goodness you all are okay!

I knew about it (getting a new carseat), but thanks for spreading the word.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Yes. I did know that. Most times around here, the Safe Kids Collition will give you a new one. They are a group that does free car seat installation checks and gives out car seat information. Also, I've been told never to buy a used car seat at a garage sale or on Ebay because of this reason. You'll never know for sure if the seat was in an accident.

Glad everyone was alright.
My DH is a firefighter and was at an accident last week where everyone wasn't alright. It turned out to be very sad, a young family was torn apart.

 

[Caitsmama]

Wow! I am glad you are all ok!! How horrible!! And good thinking to get a new seat.. that definately makes sense.

 

[gris gris]

Glad to hear everyone is okay! You should post the kind of carseat you have!

On the flip side of this, it's hard to get rid of a car seat when you no longer need it. I have one that I'd like our consignment shop to take but she won't because there's no way to verify if it's been in an accident.

 

[pweyl36]

Also carseats expire.just check the back of the carseat theres an expiration date on the back.

 

[Dina]

I'm so glad you were all ok!!! I have a question though-- I was in a car accident last week, however I didnt' feel any impact whatsoever-- fender bender-- she slid into me (was driving through parking spots in a parking lot)-- I heard the cars collide (the side of her car scraped my bumper-- there's damage in the bumper but there wasn't really a collision-- I don't think she even realized she hit me at first- I didn't feel a thing in terms of impact-- at first I thought she was far enough away until I heard the cars scrape each other. The kids weren't in the car, but their seats were-- Do I need to replace them? I don't mind doing it, but I know my husband's gonna think I'm a nut since there really wasn't any impact between the two cars (both are just scraped up pretty well). I feel like an idiot even asking this, but I heard you need to change them for minor accidents as well. Please don't flame me for being dumb LOL-- just wanted someone's opinion.

 

[diseve]

I'm not sure about the minor fender benders. For that you might want to check with the manufacturer. But for the OP then yes I would get a new seat. We were involved in a very bad rear end accident last summer. I ahead and replaced my daughter's car seats for my own peace of mind. But I am glad that you were all okay.

 

[tjmw2727]

Thanks for the reminder and I am so glad everyone is ok. FWIW - the insurance company should pay for the replacement cost of the carseat - even in a minor fender bender.

I had a simliar experince and the insurance company gave me a very hard time about replacing the seats. I had two dd's in traditional front facing fully harnessed carseats at the time. Graco was AWESOME and did two things to help me:
1 - they wrote a letter to the insurance company to help me with my claim.
2 - if the insurance would not replace my seats they said would replace them if I provided them (Graco) with a copy of the rejection letter and the seats that were involved to be used for testing. They offered to send boxes and postage to return them to Graco.
The letter from Graco was enough for the insurance company to cut a check.

Dina - yes you should definatly look into replacements as the seats are made to withstand the force of one "crash" and the mfg can't guarantee they will do the job effectively a 2nd time around. Check your carseat manual as there should be a paragraph on that. Again - I am glad your all ok and it was just a bender but put in a claim with your insurance co and hopefully you can get them replaced either by insurance or the mfgr.

TJ

 

[rt2dz]

I'm so glad you were all ok!!! I have a question though-- I was in a car accident last week, however I didnt' feel any impact whatsoever-- fender bender-- she slid into me (was driving through parking spots in a parking lot)-- I heard the cars collide (the side of her car scraped my bumper-- there's damage in the bumper but there wasn't really a collision-- I don't think she even realized she hit me at first- I didn't feel a thing in terms of impact-- at first I thought she was far enough away until I heard the cars scrape each other. The kids weren't in the car, but their seats were-- Do I need to replace them? I don't mind doing it, but I know my husband's gonna think I'm a nut since there really wasn't any impact between the two cars (both are just scraped up pretty well). I feel like an idiot even asking this, but I heard you need to change them for minor accidents as well. Please don't flame me for being dumb LOL-- just wanted someone's opinion.

You really are supposed to change them even for the minor stuff, regardless if the child was in them or not. We had a fender bender ($5000+ worth of damage, but not really much of an impact) and I forced the other drivers insuriance company to replace it. It wasn't easy, but I stood firm. I think the fact that I had a 2yo in the car with me and was 5 months pregnant made them less likely to want to go to court over the whole thing b/c of a $200 seat.

To the OP: Glad everyone is fine.

 

[Shannon G]

Dina,

You might want to check with the manufacturer of your car seat, but more recent articles that I've seen actually say that you don't necessarily have to replace a car seat after a minor crash. I'm sure there is more information out there, but here's information from one article I found on parenting.com:

When Your Car Seat's Been In a Crash
What to do if your infant seat has been in an accident
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By the editors of Babytalk
One of the cardinal rules about car seats has always been to replace a model that's been in a crash. Now, thanks to the constantly improving quality of today's seats, that has changed. Recent studies have shown that child safety seats can withstand the impact of a minor crash without affecting their future performance, says National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson Eric Bolton. How can you tell if your crash was minor? It must meet all the following criteria:


You were able to drive your car away from the scene of the crash.

The vehicle door closest to the child safety seat was not damaged.

There were no injuries to any of the occupants of your vehicle.

The vehicle's air bags did not deploy.

There is no visible damage to the car safety seat itself.

If you're still unsure, take your car seat to an authorized inspection station for free advice. (Find one near you at nhtsa.gov.) Need to replace a damaged car seat? Talk to your insurance agent; some policies will cover the cost of a replacement seat.

 

[kathi29]

The insurance should cover the cost of a new seat. Don't let them tell you any different. Some are better than others as far as their helpfulness, but the seat needs to be replaced and they need to pay for it.

If someone came to me with a seat that was in a minor crash, no visible damage, I would still advise them to replace the seat. The seat may be okay, but to not replace it is to use your child as a crash test dummy. The only way to tell if there is hidden damage to the plastic is to destroy the seat by testing it to see if/when it fails.

That said, if it was just a scrape, I might make a personal decision not to replace the seat; you could make the same decision. But as a CPST, I could never in good conscience tell a person that a seat was okay if it was in anything more significant than a small scrape. None of us would take on that liability or stake our certification on telling a parent that a potentially unsafe seat is fine.

Also, any seat belt that was occupied during the crash, including those used to install the child seat, should be replaced. Seat belts are also a one crash safety device. The webbing of the belt stretches some to absorb crash forces, and it only does that once. For the safety of everyone, make sure the seat belts are replaced as part of the repairs.

 

[Nanu57v]

Sara, What brand carseat do you have? Britax will replace them for free!

 

[tmt martins]

Little OT but this also goes with any type of Helmet bike, motorcycle,or skate.

I'm glad all is OK and you took the advise to replace it . You would be shocked at how many people I know just take the money and put the same carseat right back in.

 

[SaraMc]

I'm so glad you were all ok!!! I have a question though-- I was in a car accident last week, however I didnt' feel any impact whatsoever-- fender bender-- she slid into me (was driving through parking spots in a parking lot)-- I heard the cars collide (the side of her car scraped my bumper-- there's damage in the bumper but there wasn't really a collision-- I don't think she even realized she hit me at first- I didn't feel a thing in terms of impact-- at first I thought she was far enough away until I heard the cars scrape each other. The kids weren't in the car, but their seats were-- Do I need to replace them? I don't mind doing it, but I know my husband's gonna think I'm a nut since there really wasn't any impact between the two cars (both are just scraped up pretty well). I feel like an idiot even asking this, but I heard you need to change them for minor accidents as well. Please don't flame me for being dumb LOL-- just wanted someone's opinion.

From what I understand there is certain thins that have to happen like the airbags deploying, injurys, the car being undrivable ect. We were stoped and hit by a car going 60km/hr ( almost 40 miles per hour) that didnt make any attempt to stop. Well that was until he hit our car, launching it over the wheel well of the truck infront of us and into the next lane of traffic where we hit a car in that lane. We went to the hospital via ambulance. So we kinda hit most of the critera of having it replaced which we did tonight..

 

[SaraMc]

Sara, What brand carseat do you have? Britax will replace them for free!

We had a Graco Snugride that goes into the Graco Quatro tour stoller which was in the trunk and also was replaced. Being in Canada our insurance is covering it.. Well actually since we were hit from behind the guy who hit us ( who was charged with Careless driving btw) insurance most likely will be paying for that and our car which is still being looked at for an estimate or if its a total write off.

 

[kathi29]

Sara, What brand carseat do you have? Britax will replace them for free!

Sometimes Britax will replace them. You have to call them and see if the crash fits the criteria they are looking for.

 

[kathi29]

From what I understand there is certain thins that have to happen like the airbags deploying, injurys, the car being undrivable ect. We were stoped and hit by a car going 60km/hr ( almost 40 miles per hour) that didnt make any attempt to stop. Well that was until he hit our car, launching it over the wheel well of the truck infront of us and into the next lane of traffic where we hit a car in that lane. We went to the hospital via ambulance. So we kinda hit most of the critera of having it replaced which we did tonight..

Kinda hit most of the criteria? You DEFINITELY have the criteria. If they are repairing your car, please please make sure all the seatbelts get replaced.

 

[kkevcamsmom]

I am a home daycare provider and have been cert. as a car seat safety installer and the seat will need to be replaced for safety reasons. There may be a weaking in the shell that will not withstand another crash.


Please replace the car seat ASAP.

Glad everyone is ok and hope you keep healing quickly!


Lori

 

[kkevcamsmom]

Dina,

You might want to check with the manufacturer of your car seat, but more recent articles that I've seen actually say that you don't necessarily have to replace a car seat after a minor crash. I'm sure there is more information out there, but here's information from one article I found on parenting.com:

When Your Car Seat's Been In a Crash
What to do if your infant seat has been in an accident
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By the editors of Babytalk
One of the cardinal rules about car seats has always been to replace a model that's been in a crash. Now, thanks to the constantly improving quality of today's seats, that has changed. Recent studies have shown that child safety seats can withstand the impact of a minor crash without affecting their future performance, says National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson Eric Bolton. How can you tell if your crash was minor? It must meet all the following criteria:


You were able to drive your car away from the scene of the crash.

The vehicle door closest to the child safety seat was not damaged.

There were no injuries to any of the occupants of your vehicle.

The vehicle's air bags did not deploy.

There is no visible damage to the car safety seat itself.

If you're still unsure, take your car seat to an authorized inspection station for free advice. (Find one near you at nhtsa.gov.) Need to replace a damaged car seat? Talk to your insurance agent; some policies will cover the cost of a replacement seat.

What they fail to mention is that a minor crash is one there is a minor bump to the bumpers of the cars involved and is under 5 miles per hour. In the classes I took to be certified (a 16 hour course) we were told that if the impact is enough to lock up your seat belt, your child will be safer if you replace the seat.

Even with no visible damage the shell structure could be damage or weakened. The seat should be checked by a cert. safety seat installer who is trained to look for weakeing in the seats.

In the end you are better getting a new seat.

Also if you live in an area where you have hot summers and very cold winters you should replace your car seat every 5 years. They can get fatiuged from the heat and cold and may not work properly after the 5 year period.

Lori