So my husband has the car today...

I get so paranoid when my husband has the car (with car seat in tow and we are at home), that he will get in a fender bender and then we'll have to replace the car seat. As it's my understanding car seats need to be replaced after any type of accident.
Do others feel this way? Does anyone remove the car seat in situations like that?
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Because of the weather, or because your DH is a lousy driver? I trust Nathan with carseats in his car. And I wouldn't freak if he was in a collision (woo hoo, new seats!). But I always have a spare somewhere, either in my car or in the house.

If the weather is so bad that there's a real big chance of a collision, and you have no way to have another seat, then yes, I may remove them. If it was just because my husband was driving, nah. I trust him to drive. But like I said, I have spares. Laine has a TFP and an Avenue (Avenue is in my closet). Piper has a Nautilus, Parkway, RSTV, and a High Rise. The RSTV is in my closet, the High Rise is actually in my trunk at the moment. I should take it out. It normally lives in the basement.

Wendy
 

Mom2FiveGirls

Active member
I don't typically worry about it, but last week when we had ice and snow and DH had to go to work I went out to his car and took the car seats out. I just really didn't want to have to replace them if, heaven forbid, he had gotten in an accident (which was more likely because of the weather). He doesn't drive my truck (with our main car seats in it) that often and when he does he either takes the seats out (if he needs to fold the seats down to transport something, etc) or the girls are with him, so its really not an issue.

I almost got in a wreck the other day. I was leaving school and was driving along and all of a sudden a car decided that they didn't want to get onto the highway (which is what lane they were in..they were actually already on the curve of the on ramp) and cut in front of me! I barely missed hitting them. It scared me to death and of course my first thought was not about me getting hurt or the truck getting messed up, etc...my first thought was "oh crap! We'd have to replace the car seats!".
 

noahsmom24

Active member
If this was my ONLY car seat, Money was tight so I couldn't get access to one quickly, then yes I might take it out. I mean Probably not unless dh was just that bad of a driver, but mine isn't. Although sometimes he can have a lead foot, but most of us can sometimes.
It's totally up to you and based off from your situation.

ETA: Yes, as mentioned above if bad weather was a thread then yes, that might be another reason to take them out.

:)
 
Well mainly b/c I'm worried of other drivers, the roads(icy)-I have heard of people getting in fender benders and having to replace the seats. Also I am worried b/c we JUST bought our car seat and well you know Murphy's Law:rolleyes:

We do have an extra seat at home-still haven't decided if we should sell it or keep it, but maybe I'll hang on to it.
Well I guess I'll see if I can get a good install in the centre, if that fails then I'll leave it on the side installed via Latch, in the latter case I will be more inclined to remove it when the roads are bad, but if the centre proves to be a hard install I will be inclined to leave it and just hope for the best. Can only live life thinking "what if" so much.
Yes, it's kinda of funny when thinking about getting in accidents we worry about having to replace the seats :) Or in some cases getting to replace them ;)

Thanks for all the replies.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Is he more likely to get in a crash when you are not with him, or more likely to get in a crash than you are? I'm not sure I understand the fear.
 
Is he more likely to get in a crash when you are not with him, or more likely to get in a crash than you are? I'm not sure I understand the fear.

Well basically when he or I are driving without our child- is my concern -regarding moving the seat. IE the seat is not needed, so should we remove the seat to 'save' from replacing it, in the event we get in an accident.
 

karlatta

New member
I'd leave the seat in. Each time to you remove and re-install a seat, you introduce the possibility of making an error in installation.

I would rather take a very small chance on having to replace the seat than move the seat around so much that it's potentially less safe for my child to ride in.
 
I'd leave the seat in. Each time to you remove and re-install a seat, you introduce the possibility of making an error in installation.

I would rather take a very small chance on having to replace the seat than move the seat around so much that it's potentially less safe for my child to ride in.

That's a great suggestion! Never thought of it that way. :thumbsup:
 

Pixels

New member
Most seats need to be replaced after any collision, but not all seats do. You have to check your owner's manual.

I wouldn't take seats out because I was afraid DH was going to get in a wreck with them. If the roads are that dangerous, he isn't going anywhere. And frequently reinstalling seats opens up the door for making a mistake when you reinstall. I don't think the risk is worth the potential benefit.

We do have spare seats. Even if we didn't, I still wouldn't take the seat out on a regular basis. Either the collision was relatively minor, and I'll accept the risk of using the seat to go straight to the nearest Walmart, Target, BRU, etc. and pick up a new seat, or the collision was serious enough that someone is picking us up, in which case I'll have them stop at the store on the way.

Really, it's the same whether you have spare seats or not. Unless you are going to sit on the side of the road after a fender bender while you wait for someone to bring you an uncrashed seat, you are going to use a crashed seat for one trip if you have your child with you. If you didn't have your child with you and you don't have spares, someone can run to the store and pick up a seat before the child has to go in the vehicle again.
 

Mrs.Wifey

New member
I've never worried about it with DH, but I have removed the TF from MIL's van except when I know DD is going to be using it... She has a track record of accidents(all low speed fender benders, but still) and I would rather not replace the seat.
 

tl01

New member
I know in my state, the insurance company has to cover my seat if we are in a crash. My seats are the least of my worries in a crash. I'm more worried about the people involved in the crash. We do have a back up seat so we'd have something to use while we got the other seat replaced.
 

babyherder

Well-known member
I have the same problem! Worrying about unused seats I mean. I don't have a spouse. I babysit and just keep seats in my car for emergency situations. These are unexpected things. So generally have about 3 seats in my car at any given time. Most of the time they are unoccupied. I can't remove them because they are their just in case. Of course, my first fender bender did in three of my boosters in one shot. At college I don't have seats in my car but I was home for a few weeks in Jan and had the seats in my car for 1 to 2 weeks. Of course that's when the fender bender happened. So I'm replacing them. Frustrating but overall no big deal. No one was hurt and the cars are relatively ok too.
 

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