I was just recently telling my husband that we now need to trash my mother-in-laws car seat. She was just in an accident a few days ago. My husband said true but was thinking that since our toddler was not in the seat it should be fine.
So my question for all of you out there is:
Child or not in a car seat it still needs to be trashed, right? Just because of stress the seat was in, mostly a good finder binder, it has become not safe right?
Thanks everyone!
My mother-in-law and I have decided to replace the car seat with a new and trash the old one. I tried to look for a station that would check it for us but there is none around the Jacksonville area, bummer. So we are going safe rather than sorry later.
Hello! You are correct, it is no longer usable by anyone. It should be removed from circulation. :)
Yes, the car seat needs to be trashed. I worked for State Farm for a long time and handled claims. In a lot of cases we even paid for the replacement of the car seat ( regardless if a child was in it or not)..
Better to be on the safe side!
A friend of mine was in a car accident last year. She did have to replace the car seats in her car, however there are times when you don't. Her car was totaled which justified it. Check out this website which provides basically the same info she learned about. http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/weeklyquestion/a/carseats_...
Also, depending on the damage to your mom's car she may be able to claim the car seat with the repairs that need to be done. Have her check it out.
I personally would replace it, just to be safe and not worry about it every time he rides with her.
Because he is going to be three and that's when mom's start thinking about booster seats I am including a link to utube that stresses the dangers of booster seats and encourages parents to keep their kids in a 5 point harness for as long as possible. Just being and advocate for the safety for other people's kids. It worries me to see kids in booster seats.
Video on UTube - talking about the dangers of booster seats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
Good website to mark to check on car seat safety info.
Yes you need to get rid of the car seat. Whether your child was in it or not makes no difference. I went to the car seat course they offered at St. Joseph's Hospital and learnes so much. That was one thing if the car is in an accident you need to get rid of the car seat and also car seats expire. Big shock!!!!! You can use them only 6 years. One of my mom's friends got pulled over and her car seat was expired ( she didn't know) she got a fine had to appear in court to pay it and show a receipt that she bought a new one. They are getting real serious about this.
Hope this helps.
R. J.
Car seat needs to be trashed whether the child was in the accident or not.
It depends on the severity of the crash. If it was just a fender bender, then no, but if it was a hard collision, then yes, I'd replace it!
If you go to the National Highway Safety Administration website, I believe there is a checklist to see whether a seat needs to be replaced. And if you have a Britax, go to their website for the details, but they will replace their seats for free if the accident meets certain conditions.
I'm glad your MIL is okay!
I would trash it. I have read that no matter how minor the accident there could still be unseen stress fractures.
I don't know what kind of auto insurance she has but it should be covered. We were rear-ended, we were able to drive away etc. We all went to emergency to be sure. No problem with the insurance company. We got a check for a brand new Britax car seat to replace our old one. btw, you didn't mention what the severity of the accident was. Google is always a good source of information.
Check with the insurance company. My insurance company was going to reimburse me for new seats. My accident was so minor that I didn't feel it was necessary to replace them.
I can't say for sure but I would definitely throw the car seat away. You may also want to call the telephone number on the car seat and see what the company recommends.
Good luck
R.
My advice I think it is still safe but I would call the manufacture of the car seat!
My friend's mother was in an accident with her child's carseat in the car (but not the child). Her insurance company paid for a replacement carseat. It is not considered safe anymore, and the insurance company should pay for at least part of it.
I was in a car accident a couple of years ago. My daughters car seat was in the back seat when this happened. Thankfully she wasn't with me when I was hit by a big truck doing 55 miles, needless to say I no longer has a back seat because my trunk was my new back seat. The police took out my car seat & gave me a slip to give to the insurance company to have them replace the one that was in my car at the time of accident. They didn't even give me the option to keep it or not. They just took it. It's always better to be safe then sorry. You can't put a price tag on your children(s) lives.
I was recently in a car accident and the first thing the police said was that we needed to get a new car seat. I was concerned, so I called my pediatrician who said the same thing. The stress is their concern. My sister-in-law was recently re-ended and she was told to get a new one as well. Since there was a car seat involved, the insurance company should pay you back for the new car seat.
You are correct. If a carseat has been in a vehicle that has been in an accident, it must be replaced.
I would contact the insurance company. They may reimburse for the replacement.
I found this at ABOUT.COM:Pediatrics
Q. We were just in a car accident. Fortunately, everyone was restrained and no one was injured. Can we still use our children's car seats even though they were in an accident?
A. It depends. If it was a moderate or severe crash, then yes, you should replace the car seats.
However, if it was just a minor accident, then you may not automatically need to. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an accident is minor if:
the vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;
the vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged;
there were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;
the air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
there is no visible damage to the safety seat.
If your accident meets all of those criteria, then you probably don't need to replace their car seats. If it was a more moderate or severe crash or if you aren't sure if your child's car seat is still safe, then you should likely replace it. Or at least have it checked at a Child Safety Seat Inspection Station
If you do a Google search on Car Seats and Accidents it will come up will all kinds of sites that have handled this same question.
From what I have read and what you have said (not a whole lot about that actual severity of the wreck) I would say that your car seat should be perfectly fine to continue to use.
Hope this helps.
Good luck
M.
Yes you are right. Absolutely get rid of it.
Trash it! It's not worth the risk.
