Honda CRV and Safety

Ok ... So not little kids, and my CRV didn't have side air bags ... But, I had an accident in the middle of heavy commuter traffic on 395 HOV lanes headed into DC. All 4 sides of the car were damaged in some way and the right rear tire was in the middle of the road. I didn't hit another vehicle and spun the car around ... It was 6:30 in the morning. Still not sure how I managed that one (God must have been watching over us). So my boss was in the passenger seat and a slug (commuter stranger helping us get to work without traffic ... I know it's a weird deal in this area) was in the back seat. The slug got out of the car, talked to the officer, and got in the car with another commuter who had stopped at the accident to offer a ride to anyone who might need it. None of us walked away with an injury and the CRV was totaled. Loved that car ....

I don't remember what happened, because I got knocked on the head, but we were in an accident in my CRV. Apparently, I slipped my foot off the brake when picking up a toy, and rolled into an intersection, and we were t-boned by a semi.

The kids were 4 and 1.

The oldest got a friction burn - she was holding a book, and it flew up and hit her cheek. The youngest had a bruise on her cheekbone, from the toy she was holding. I was knocked on the head and lost about three hours of time from the concussion, but mine was by far the worst injury. The front passenger area was...damaged. That entire side of the dashboard was crumpled - the area where the passenger's feet would have been was filled with it. The door was crushed, and anyone sitting there would no doubt have had their legs injured, but the seat itself, and the things sitting in it, were fine. I can't speak for side-curtain airbags - mine was an older model, and they weren't standard yet - but as for the crumple zones of the car, and the structural integrity...

We replaced it with another CRV.

I just traded my five year old CRV for a new CRV. They are very safe. I will tell you I take turns a bit faster than is recommended and that my car has never given any indication it would like to roll over, my mini vans used to shake their finger at me. :p

So far as the side curtain air bags I haven't really given them much thought because my youngest was six when I bought it. I will remind you they are curtain air bags, not what you have in the front. They only inflate out like three inches. Thanks to my older son lending his accord to a friend, bad move, I did see what the curtain air bags look like after they deploy. They look like deflated three inch thick inflatable curtains. They are just there to protect against side to side motion and only deploy when you are hit from the side. As in what would happen if a stupid kid using his friends brand new accord ran a stop sign and got t boned. :(

July:

Our CRV is a 2004 so it's not the same as a 2012...I believe the 2012's have side impact air bags...

I would go to consumerreports.org and get more information on the safety features as well as Honda.com to see what they have to say about their safety features!!

GOOD LUCK!!

Having side air-bags is critical to their safety! I would not dream of owning a car without them (and yet we do because we are saving for one JUST for the side-curtain air bags). We missed that new technology by a year or so.

I am a carseat tech so I love this stuff. The side-curtain airbags protect an occupant's head. Otherwise, their heads slam into metal and glass. Now, some cars have the bags that go lower than others, so sometimes a child in a carseat would not get the benefit of it anyway. You'd have to ask how far the CRV ones come down. But as the kids grow, they'll get that protection. Make sure you a have a carseat with deep side wings and head wings, to increase protection (and especially if the car doesn't have side-curtain airbags), and rear-face until at least 2 (but ideally 3 or 4).

Airbags in front can be dangerous and deadly and there are specific procedures to follow should a child in a carseat ride in the front seat.

Side-curtain airbags are a huge advancement that go a long way toward protecting peoples' heads, of all ages.

And the poster who had the accident gives us a good reminder of something important. No hard toys in the car or projectiles. I do allow soft books, but nothing hard like cups, etc.

Our family was in a rear end collision while we where in our CRV. The vehicle rear ended up was a smaller SUV going about 30-40 MPH. My husband, son, and myself where in the car at the time and and we walked away with no injuries. The CRV was totaled, the frame was bent up through the passenger compartment. We replaced the CRV with a new CRV.