Warning: Child deaths mentioned

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bnsnyde

New member
OMG. Awful. What caused the deaths? I mean what injuries, likely?
Was it preventable at all?

I'm wondering if there are headrests. Seatbelts on? Looks like many of the kids would have 5-stepped anyway.

Whenever I hear of something like this I try to find out if there was any way to make it more survivable.
 

Cath3114

New member
bnsnyde said:
OMG. Awful. What caused the deaths? I mean what injuries, likely?
Was it preventable at all?

I'm wondering if there are headrests. Seatbelts on? Looks like many of the kids would have 5-stepped anyway.

Whenever I hear of something like this I try to find out if there was any way to make it more survivable.

I have read all the stories on the various Denver news outlets. That link was the most detailed, giving the names and ages. None mention seats, seatbelts, etc. I did read it was a construction zone, and going from two lanes to one lane, so I'm wondering if the dad/driver was distracted and maybe didn't realize. Purely speculation.

Some of the kids definitely would have 5 stepped. But it's possible the van had no headrests, or only lap belts. Or there may not have been any seatbelt usage. Hopefully more details will become available.

In the one picture, does anybody thinks that looks like a car seat in the foreground, or is it just me?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

luckyclov

New member
I wonder how fast the van was moving...and if the semi was at a complete stop at the time of impact?

That looks like the Ford commuter van DH sometimes drives when it's his turn to drive for the vanpool at work. And sometimes DS1 rides in the front passenger seat (no headrests in the rear seats and horribly fit lap/shoulder belts, even in a HBB) in a NBB when he brings it home and we have to be at different places with different kids at the same time. Yikes.:eek:

Really, really tragic story.:(
 

EmmaCPST

CPST Instructor
This makes me so sad.... I'm a tech in Colorado and a I work very closely with a few different county foster programs. Kit Carson is pretty far from me, but still. Awful.
 

tam_shops

New member
Such a tragedy. Take your eyes off the road for 2 seconds and when the line of cars has stopped, anything can happen and we've ALL taken our eyes off the road for 2 sec at some point for some (legitimate or not) reason.

f you look into the back of the van (through the door), it looks like there are shoulder belts above the seats to the left. And, the bench style seats do not have any head rests. So unfortunate that they can make vehicles w/ out head rests...

Though, really, the driver would have had a head rest and shoulder belt and it didn't sound like he made it, so not sure it'd have helped all that much...

Though, one assumes the 4yo was in a car seat/hbb, perhaps far enough away from the impact that she made it, how great is that!

tam
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
The story has been updated with a lot more details. Only two of the 13 were restrained.
 

Qarin

New member
Headrests are great, but without wearing a seat belt you'll never get the opportunity to slam back into your seat and get whiplash because you didn't have head support to the tops of your ears.

Headrests prevent some additional injury; seat belts save lives.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
And, seatbelts prevent you from injuring others in the vehicle, as well as preventing injury and death in many crashes. Such a pity and a waste when they are available but not used. :(
 

bnsnyde

New member
How terrible most were not buckled. I didn't understand how so many died in that type of crash, but now it makes sense. No seatbelts. :(
 

luckyclov

New member
Like I said in my earlier post, those rear seats are awful. The benches have no headrests and the seatbelts are just...terrible. We tried several HBBs in the rear seats with DS1 and the belt fit was terrifying. The lap belt crosses over DH's soft ab and he's a 5 foot 10 1/2 inch, 190-lb male. Nevermind the lack of head support and ridiculous shoulder belt design. Which is why I've always opted to have DS1 in the front passenger seat in a NBB, seat as far back as possible without compromising shoulder belt fit, when DH brings home the commuter van.

Ford needs to revise the rear seating safety in those vans, period.
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
That's a Dodge Ram Wagon. It only has shoulder belts on the driver's side of the benches. All the rest are lap belts. Although lap belts would have been better than nothing.
 

luckyclov

New member
That's a Dodge Ram Wagon. It only has shoulder belts on the driver's side of the benches. All the rest are lap belts. Although lap belts would have been better than nothing.
It's a Dodge?

I couldn't see any identifying info, so I assumed Ford since it looks exactly like the commuter van DH rides for work. In that one (don't know the year), the rear benches have no headrests, in any seating position, but it does have lap/shoulder belts in all 3 positions on each bench - even though they're horribly designed.
 

Keeanh

Well-known member
It's a Dodge?

I couldn't see any identifying info, so I assumed Ford since it looks exactly like the commuter van DH rides for work. In that one (don't know the year), the rear benches have no headrests, in any seating position, but it does have lap/shoulder belts in all 3 positions on each bench - even though they're horribly designed.

Haha, well, I was going to say it's a Dodge because of the single rear door, the square-ish taillight, and the wrap-around rear window...

But then I re-read the article and it says 1999 Dodge Ram, so no sleuthing required, LOL.

With 3 shoulder belts, that'll be a 2008 or newer that your husband uses. And as bad as they are, I'm pretty sure the shoulder belts in the Chevy are worse. I wish they would overhaul the seating in those vans, but I guess it didn't work so well for Dodge -- the Sprinter didn't last long :(.
 

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