October 2018 Moms

Long day, car seat safety

alexa_94alexa_94 member
edited August 2018 in October 2018 Moms
I’m sorry, I have no idea where to post this. 

I was in a a car accident today, the car is definitely totaled but insurance company hasn’t been out to inspect it yet. 
I’m doing well and so is baby. We spent 4hrs in L&D hooked up to a monitor. She’s healthy and I have a regular OB appt tomorrow so I will be following up then. My neck and lower abdomen are sore but there’s no bruising. The airbag didn’t deploy either but I didn’t hit my steering wheel with my belly. 

Now, my 6 yo is in a highback booster. She wasn’t with me, thank God. I forgot to ask the officer and whoever else would know, do I trash her car seat? I didn’t think about it at the time, I was so shaken and couldn’t think straight. 
It wasn’t anchored down or buckled and I know it flew into the back of my seat. It appeared to be fine but I really haven’t been able to inspect anything. 

If it is in one piece and appears normal is it deemed unsafe?

Re: Long day, car seat safety

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  • Okay thank you. I figured it would be but wasn’t sure. I’ve heard people say if the child wasn’t in it then you can use it. But under the circumstances because it wasn’t anchored to the seat I figured it’s trash now. 
    I just didn’t think to ask the appropriate person
  • Wow, that's scary! Glad you are ok and hope you aren't too shaken up. 

    And yes you need to replace it, your insurance should cover it. 
  • Even if they aren’t in it, I’d still trash it. DH was t-boned in March and we replaced DS1’s booster seat evens though he wasn’t in the car. 
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  • So glad you and baby are okay!
  • Glad your okay! In this situation definitely replace the seat. I have seen people say
    in minor incidents where there is no visible damage to any vehicle or injury that some company’s say the car seat is okay, but in this instance it’s definitely trash.  
  • Glad you and the baby are ok! And yes, new booster! Insurance should reimburse you, when I got in mine I just emailed a picture of the receipt to an agent and they sent a check that day.

    Also, after my accident I was told booster seats should be buckled even if not in use in prevent it from flying and causing injury during an accident. I had no clue, had never heard of that and no one had ever told me. I asked my DDs BMB and a couple people had said they knew that but the majority had not heard of that either. Makes sense and good to know though. 
  • Glad you and baby are okay!
  • Glad you and baby are okay! Take it easy and recover from this. Whiplash can take a few days to set in, I hope you're feeling back to yourself soon!! 
  • I’m glad both of you are okay! 
  • Glad you're both ok!  How scary. 

     

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  • Glad you're both ok! That is definitely scary. 
  • Glad you're both ok!

    My car was totaled a couple years ago when I was driving it and I had DS's empty convertible seat buckled into it at the time. The instructions for use after a car accident will be located in the user guide for your car seat. Insurance covered the brand new seat replacement no questions asked, but if they hadn't I'd have fought them tooth and nail, and used the seat owner's manual as backup.  My manufacturer (Britax) states that in accidents when a car can drive away from the scene (no airbag deployment) and the panel/door closest to the seat was not the point of impact the seat can safely be used. In your case, since the car was totaled, no manufacturer will recommend reuse 
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  • Glad you are ok! Definitely replace that car seat, you can never be too sure!
  • yikes, glad everyone is OK!  and yes, totally agree with the need to replace the seat.  The seat manufacturer is usually the best place to call if you're unsure.....and if the insurance gives you any grief, be sure to get a print out of the manual or an email or similar from the car seat manufacturer indicating that its no longer safe for use. (Not that i think you'll have an issue, but just in case).
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  • Glad you and baby are ok! 
  • Glad to hear you and baby are okay. Especially since the seat had some sort of impact (against your seat) I'd replace it. It's similar to a helmet, even if you drop it on the ground from a few feet you're supposed to get a new one. You don't know what damage has been done that can't be seen. 
  • So scary! Happy to hear you're both OK!
  • OH no! I'm so glad you both are okay!! 

    I've been in two accidents with a car seat/base in the car. 
    1) The first time, I was rear-ended and I only had the base in the car. Insurance of the lady who hit me still replaced it for me. That insurance company required me to turn in the "bad" base and they cut me a check for a new one. 
    2) The second time, my car was parked downtown and we were getting lunch. We got a call that our car had been hit. Some idiot ran a red light, t-boned another car and sent that car spinning and it slammed into our car so hard the entire car moved. That lady's insurance replaced the car seat too. 

    Good luck with it all! Working with insurance can be a PITA!
  • So sorry that happened to you but I’m glad everyone is ok!
  • So sorry you’re dealing with this, but so glad to hear you and baby are ok! Get some rest and take care of yourself.
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  • Yeah I never thought to keep it buckled down even without DD in it. Definitely will now. Airbag didn’t deploy but that was probably a good thing. I’m so short I have to sit close to the steering column. My belly didn’t hit the steering wheel but since it happened so quick they monitored as if it had. I wasn’t sore at all until afterwards where my seatbelt came across. 
    Still playing phone tag with insurance -_-
  • Looks like you’ve gotten lots of great info. I’m so glad you and baby are ok and your other child wasn’t in the car. Hope you’re able to relax and be comfortable at hom the next few days after such a stressful day!
  • How scary! So glad to hear you and baby are OK. 
  • Glad you are both okay and hopefully insurance will cover a replacement for you!
  • Glad you’re ok!  Some boosters now have LATCH so that you don’t have to buckle them in when the kids aren’t using them (you use the LATCH to keep the seat in the car and still use the seat belt for the kid when it’s being used - note for FTMs, this is the only time you use LATCH and a seatbelt on the same car seat, it’s usually one or the other.). I know Chicco’s boosters do and think Gracos do as well (although, for Chicco, if you’re using it as a high back booster, you’re still supposed to buckle it in even if you’re using LATCH to prevent the back from detaching if it’s a bad accident).
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  • @purplegoldfish2 Do you know which boosters have the LATCH? My daughter is still in a 5 pt harness 90% of the time (she's 7) but I don't love the one we have now for when my mom or sister take her. We have 2 Frontiers for each of our cars now, which I am guessing you still use the click tight for even in booster mode (but I'll have to check to make sure when we make that switch), but they are heavy and a pain to switch out so I'd like an easy booster for those rare occasions someone is taking her.
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