So what are the chances of two seatbelts failing in one crash??

RubysGirl · Jan 29, 2007

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/local/16493719.htm

Any thoughts?

AdventureMom · Jan 29, 2007

Wow. How tragic...

I hate to say it but I think it's highly unlikely that two seatbelts failed. That's just my opinion, but my heart goes out to them.

scatterbunny · Jan 29, 2007

They are investigating whether the two carseats were properly installed.

How exactly can they figure that out? Based on stress put on the seatbelt? I'm curious!

I also think it's highly unlikely that two seatbelts would fail. My heart still goes out to this woman. I would want to die if my two children died because I was one of the roughly 80% of the population who installed or misused the carseats.

That poor woman, and her family.

AdventureMom · Jan 29, 2007

I looked at a video that showed the wreckage...

Honestly, the passenger side of the car and the rear of the car were quite mangled... Looks like some heck of an accident. It was very sad - they showed one of the carseats lying on the side of the road.

The sad part is that every other school district in that area had a delayed opening due to inclement weather, except for the district where this woman taught. She was on her way to work in icy/wet weather, in an area of the country that doesn't get much of that...

Morganthe · Jan 29, 2007

IMO -- not likely. Probably incorrectly installed, although I"m not sure how with a baby bucket or a harness system for the 18month old -- too loosely fastened into the seats, would be my best guess, perhaps?

It's very sad.

But I would like to give a thump on the head to the neighbor
"“ A parent is never prepared to lose a child. They always expect a child to take care of them in their final days.”"

Always expect a child to take care of parents in the final days?????? Always??? I don't know about you, but that's not ever been my intention for my daughter when she grows up. I'd be devastated if my child died before me, no matter the circumstance and it wouldn't even occur to me that no offspring of mine would be around to take care of me when I got sick and old.

Ijiot!

RubysGirl · Jan 29, 2007

javascript

layVideo('1181135', 'Jack%20Kuenzie%20on%20Sumter%20Co.%20crash%20that%20killed%20two%20children', 'v', 'News', '109067', 'News', '', '');

Found that. That is a mess, I'm not sure I'd expect either to survive that unless both were rearfacing in perfectly installed seats on the opposite side of the vehicle.

RubysGirl · Jan 29, 2007

http://www.wistv.com/Global/category.asp?C=67008&nav=menu36_3

That first one didnt' work.. scroll down till you see "Jack Kuenzie on Sumter Co. crash that killed two children "

AdventureMom · Jan 29, 2007

RubysGirl said:
Found that. That is a mess, I'm not sure I'd expect either to survive that unless both were rearfacing in perfectly installed seats on the opposite side of the vehicle.

Yeah, that was my thought, too...

ETA - It seems like it was a pretty high-speed crash - probably higher than the crashtests for carseats. I'm sure something akin to what Consumer Reports found is what happened (that many seats can't withstand a 70mph crash).

Lys · Jan 29, 2007

OMG! That is very close to where I am from.
I'm surprised my mom didn't tell me about it!

Morganthe · Jan 29, 2007

RubysGirl said:
http://www.wistv.com/Global/category.asp?C=67008&nav=menu36_3

That first one didnt' work.. scroll down till you see "Jack Kuenzie on Sumter Co. crash that killed two children "

If you scroll up, there's also a vid from the day after where they interviewed coworkers & then another from the funeral last Thurs (Jan 25). Very sad.

ajweeks · Jan 29, 2007

Very sad and very scary! Car seats just shouldn't be ejected under any circumstances. A seat belt is meant to hold a lot more than just a car seat with a small child in it. I wonder if the seats were installed with seat belts or latch?

Victorious4 · Jan 29, 2007

When at least 4 out of 5 carseats can have an average 3 potentially fatal misuse errors, it's MUCH more likely that the cause is misuse rather than seatbelt failure -- so very sad & more reason to get seats checked: even if it was a highspeed crash, ejection can be prevented if the carseats are used correcly (I'm also curious how they determine correct use after the fact?!)....

Robert · Jan 29, 2007

Due to the extensive damage its possible the seat belts pulled from the anchor points releasing the belts. Its hard to say just from the pictures.

Wineaux · Jan 30, 2007

God, did you see the damage done to the front end of the 18-Wheeler? That was a serious crash at very high speeds. It's just hard to imagine anyone in the van surviving that crash at all.

So sad.

AdventureMom · Jan 30, 2007

Wineaux said:
God, did you see the damage done to the front end of the 18-Wheeler? That was a serious crash at very high speeds. It's just hard to imagine anyone in the van surviving that crash at all.

So sad.

Wow! That was a VAN? I thought it was a Honda Civic... Either it was a small car to begin with or damaged enough to make it look like a smaller car.

ajweeks · Jan 30, 2007

No, I think it was a Nissan Altima. So not a huge car to begin with. It is actually amazing that the mother survived.

AdventureMom · Jan 30, 2007

ajweeks said:
No, I think it was a Nissan Altima. So not a huge car to begin with. It is actually amazing that the mother survived.

That's right - I remember reading that. Yes, I thought it was amazing anyone survived as well. The rear passenger side looks like it took a direct hit and it wouldn't surprise me if the whole seatbelt anchor was ripped apart, especially on that side...

AdventureMom · Jan 30, 2007

This story prompted me to do a Google search on "carseat ejected". Here is a sampling of what I found in less than 10 minutes

:

Child restraints being ejected:
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_345210307.html
http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_028163716.html

Chld restraints not used correctly:
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/11/03/news/local/doc454a0b0c17735369009688.txt
http://www.sbcfire.com/fp/carseatprog/index.html
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/2006/11/several_injured.html

Children not restrained:
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/story/child-dies-in-wreck-on-i-4/
http://www.goletavalleyvoice.com/cgi-bin/frontpage/readarticle.cgi?article=901

These are all so sad and tragic - and what's even more disturbing on a personal level is looking at some of the pics of Nolan in a carseat and seeing that we actually left buckles undone, etc.

I think alot of folks think, "Oh, I'm just going a few blocks to the grocery store" or "Well, he/she is so unhappy - let me loosen the straps a bit". It's all so sad b/c the resulting injuries/deaths above could've been prevented...

Splash · Jan 30, 2007

Well, at least one of the kids was in an Alpha Omega, famous for misuse.
But yeah, that looks like an unsurvivable crash. I would not expect any child seated at the point of impact to survive, regardless of what seat they were in. Poor woman. I'm surprised she lived and wasn't more hurt.

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs · Jan 30, 2007

How horrible. I too would not want to survive a crash that both of my children didn't. I can't even imagine.

I would never want to cause this poor mother more pain by placing any "blame" on her for their carseats not being properly installed or used, but if that's the case, then it would be helpful for other parents to know so that they can hear what can happen with a misused carseat. People just don't understand the consequences can be deadly.

So what are the chances of two seatbelts failing in one crash??

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