WWYD - Car seats & Accident?

A friend of mine was in a very weird parking lot accident yesterday.

She had two Britax car seats in the car (unoccupied).

Someone bumped her from behind while backing up. Very minor. This is not really where the question comes up, though, so bear with me.

If I understand correctly, what happened next is that she got out of the car to inspect the damage and the car that hit her sped off. So she asked the driver of the car parked in front of her if he had witnessed the accident. He denied it, and then hit his gas and intentionally rammed the front of her car, and then he sped off to. Turns out the two drivers know each other; the police have caught them both already. The first driver was unlicensed/uninsured and the second driver was insured (who knows what they'll pay for?).

How do you evaluate something like "did the air bags go off" when the car was shut off? Would the air bags have gone off, had the car been on? How would you know? Also, since the car was empty at the time of the second impact, how do you know whether the impact was hard enough to have potentially injured someone?

She's going to push to have the car seats included in the damages the other party is responsible for, along with damage to her car. But let's assume for a minute that insurance refuses to pay and there's not necessarily any way to squeeze money out of this guy. Does she need to replace the seats? What would you do if they were your seats? Would you continue using them until things are settled?

The car was able to be driven, the impacts were to the front and back (not the doors), no air bags deployed, nobody was in the car so no injuries. And since the seats are Britax, they're not in the "replace after any accident" category.

Um. That's weird. Why would anybody do something like that?

I think I'd talk to a Britax rep and see what they say. But if insurance is willing to replace, I'd probably replace. But partly because I like car seat shopping and new seats

Yeah, I agree that if insurance will replace, then go on the safe side and replace. And she is going to ask them to replace. I'm just trying to figure out what the best thing to do in the meantime would be. I can certainly see several possible reasons why the insurance might refuse to replace the seats.

It was such a weird situation. I think the second person somehow thought he was covering for his uninsured/unlicensed friend.

This thread posted twice and I have no clue why.

Yes, the air bags would have deployed even with the engine off, if the car's computer determined it was an airbag-worthy crash.

There were no occupants and therefore no injuries, same as if someone had hit her car while it was parked on the street. If she can get info about the other drivers' injuries (if any), that would lend some insight. She saw the impact, though my guess is that based on the circumstances (starting from a dead stop a short distance away) it's a minor crash.

That is really bizarre.

Do I understand that your friend was parked when the first car bumped her? And the second car was parked in front of her and drove forward? Since the cars were probably only a couple feet apart I can't imagine he had much speed when he hit her, so I'd think it was a minor crash. Bumper damage is expensive though.

As others have mentioned I would certainly include the car seats in the claim. That guy needs to cough up as much cash as possible.

Yeah, that's my thought. She was really freaked out, and the guy that did this intentionally needs to pay as much as can be squeezed out of him for it.

I completely sympathize with the feeling, too. I was rear-ended with a pretty significant force, not once, but TWICE by a guy sitting behind me in stopped road-construction traffic. The first time, I was a little shaken, but the second time I was afraid for my life - what kind of psycho would ram into you twice? I thought I was dealing with some kind of psychotic road rage. Well, the driver's excuse in that situation was that he had a muscle spasm in his leg and unintentionally hit the gas pedal. Twice. I've never quite believed him but since he didn't jump out of the car threatening my life I figured it was best to just accept his explanation at face value and leave it at that.

And, frankly, I had neck pain for about 24 hours after that accident. Had there been car seats in my car, I probably would have replaced them. The only damage to my car was to my trailer hitch, though.

Just a quick update. Both parties that hit my friend's car are being charged with DUII and felony hit & run. Turns out the one who hit her on purpose was the mother of the one who hit her by accident.

There are some crazy people in this world.

I think the car seats are uninjured, though. The speeds were very very low and vehicle damage is minimal.

thats good...but i would try to have them replace anyway..might as well

Wow. That's it. Just wow.

And I think I would try to get the insurance to replace the seats too just in case.

Yes, she's going to try. Because, well, why not?