What do you do after a crash?

whiteyacht

Active member
We were in an accident today. Nobody hurt, thank goodness! Our van was not drivable, and as we were unloading I mentioned to my husband that maybe my FIL (on the way to pick us up) could stop and grab a couple Sceneras at Walmart on his way. My husband refused, and we just used the seats the boys had been riding in to get home.

Thankfully we have another seat at home & are borrowing my mom's spare until I decide what to do, but it got me thinking- what do you do immediately after an accident if you have your kids with you? I wasn't happy about using crashed seats, especially because we had about 30 highway miles to travel. But how reasonable is it to expect people to buy new seats right after a crash?

The worst part about the accident, besides the fact that we now need a new van, was my 4 yo's reactions to (1) not being able to go to the baseball game we had been en route to and (2) being told his beloved seat couldn't go in a car anymore. :( I'm pretty sad about their seats, too!
 
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wildeyes

New member
oh that bites.

the only time i've ever been in an accident was in front of my house, so i just pulled into the driveway. i wouldnt be happy in your situation either. thank goodness nothing happened on your way home.
 

Joyofbirth

New member
My mom has a set of seats for her car. We had an accident with our oldest. I was pregnant and had an ambulance take us to the hospitsl. They had a built-in seat for her. My mom picked her up at the hospital with her seat.
No way would I reuse that seat. But sometimes you gotta do what you've gotta do. So glad nobody was hurt.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
If I could, I'd have someone bring a spare seat from home.

However, NHTSA has compiled extensive data on crashed and re-crashed seats (in a crash-test setting) and honestly it appears a kid is still pretty well protected even in a seat that has been visibly damaged in an accident. Not necessarily optimally protected, mind you, but the seats generally pass crash testing a second time even after visible damage. So if I didn't have another option, I would drive my kids home in the seats they have, confident that they were better off than in no seat at all and not worry about it too much beyond that.
 

jacqui276

New member
I was in an accident a few months ago where my car was damaged quite badly and I replaced the seats. I was on the other side of the city from my house. I kept DS in his crashed seat for the ride home. I drove on smaller roads rather than taking the freeway because my bumper was half off and my car was making grinding/clunking noises with every slight turn. I was later told that my car was technically "not driveable" and it had to be towed from my house to the auto body shop. In the moment, I didn't realize that the accident was as bad as it had been (also hit my head fairly hard so probably shouldn't have been driving home) so I didn't think anything of keeping him in his seat to drive him home. Thinking about it later, I probably should have had my car towed and had someone pick us up with a car seat for the drive home (was a 2 hour drive to get home due to slower roads and rush hour traffic).
 

cowgirlsmommy

New member
I would try to get someone to bring spares. Luckily when we were hit, we were right in front of the daycare so I just dropped my kids off and was able to drive home and swap seats before I had to have them in the car again.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
In the moment, I didn't realize that the accident was as bad as it had been (also hit my head fairly hard so probably shouldn't have been driving home) so I didn't think anything of keeping him in his seat to drive him home.

Yeah, the last accident I was in I was shaken up worse than I thought. I didn't have any serious injuries, but I think a certain amount of mild brain-against-skull was going on. It was a freeway situation and there was a worse accident ahead of us (I had stopped to avoid hitting the cars in front of me that had just crashed, and the truck behind me was following too close and couldn't stop in time). So when EMTs showed up, we told them to go check on the other accident - they hadn't realized there were two - and I drove myself home. When I got home, I realized I couldn't form a coherent sentence and had someone turn around and drive me to urgent care. In hindsight I shouldn't have been driving either. I've made a mental note that next time I'm in an accident of any significance at all, I'm calling for a ride or taking a cab or something, because at that moment I may not be able to make a good judgment about my ability to drive.

And if I'm getting a ride home anyway... might as well have the person bring a car seat if possible.
 

tam_shops

New member
Once I called a friend that has extra car seats and another time the car was empty so we just used the seats until the next day when we went to get new seats...

I've also read, somewhere on the ICBC site that a lot of seats are replaced and don't *really* need to be, but I kind of wonder if that's their way of trying to get out of replacing seats b/c not everyone will bother to insist on replacing them, then it's cheaper...

My motto is may as well upgrade the seats, just in case!

tam
 

jnamommy

New member
In case of emergency, you do what you have to do. it would be great if you didn't have to reuse the seats at all, but sometimes in the real world you have no choice. When we were in our serious crash two years ago, my van was totaled and my mom was taken by ambulance. My dad came to get the kids and me. He had a spare seat for one kid, but the other I was forced to use the crashed seat just to get home. Under the circumstances, there was no way I could get a new seat or send someone home to get a spare.
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
I just used their seats that were in the crash. After an accident the last thing I need to worry about is finding someone to bring me seats.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I've never been in the situation, but unless there was massive visible damage - in which car I'd expect ambulance transport would be needed - I would probably use the crashed seats to get home without much worry.
 

rxmommy

New member
I've never been in the situation, but unless there was massive visible damage - in which car I'd expect ambulance transport would be needed - I would probably use the crashed seats to get home without much worry.

Yes, this. I figure if I'm in an accident bad enough where there is visible damage to the seats my kids are likely going to the hospital anyway.

If I could I'd find someone to bring us spares but if it was a minor accident and the car was driveable I would drive home in the seats and not worry too much about it. Like PP said it's far safer than driving them in no seats at all.
 

ginny4

New member
i'm much with the PPs. in our instance mine was driveable so i took then home & weren't crazy close to home either. If it was ambulance worthy i'd try to find a different way to go home using extra seats i have at home or whatever.

you do what you gotta do & wouldn't worry about the seats TOO much. a crashed one is better than nothing
 

whiteyacht

Active member
Ok, I feel better now! Especially reading that the NHTSA says it should be ok. We're definitely not using the crashed seats at this point; I think they're going to become movie watching chairs for the playroom. Now I'm just shopping for replacements. :)
 

callumsmom

New member
The beginning of this year my husband was on the way to drop our son off at daycare. While waiting at the same light he waits at every morning a large pick up truck ran a red light. He was driving my 03 Malibu because his Impala was in the shop. We were lucky that my mom was able to go get them afterwards and already has a seat in her car.
My son was evaluated at the scene by the paramedics who were worried about him. He had no signs of trauma. In fact he kept proclaiming, "car go boom," and laughing. My husband was already bruising from where his arm hit the door and he was sore for 2 weeks, but refused to go to the doctor. I didn't know why everyone was in a panic about my son while my husband was on the phone with me until I saw my car in person.
The damage was all front end and front driver side quarter panel. However, my engine compartment contents were shifted as was the frame of my car, by several inches to the point that the mechanics at the shop it was towed to said it couldn't be safely repaired. I broke down when I saw it because that poor car was like a moving target and had been hit in the front quarter panel before.
Seeing the damage caused by this accident and how much worse it was than previous accidents was a real eye opener. Especially since my husband actually saw the truck run the light, hit a minivan and keep coming right at him. He had the quick reaction to back up which probably saved him from major injuries.
My son was a few months shy of 2 and was rfing in a AOE. Would I have had my child ride in his crashed seat if I had to to get him to safety, yes if after inspecting it I didn't see any visible damage. Luckily we did not have to make that choice. We were lucky in a lot of ways that day though. And now he rides in a TFP so his giant torso has tons of room to grow.
 

Mommy!

Active member
I had to pick up my (uninjured) nephew from the police station in the middle of the night several years ago after him and his parents were in a major wreck. We didn't even have kids of our own then so no seats. One of the police officers lent us his own personal seat.:) I don't know what we would have done otherwise; they had cut the straps on his seat at the hospital to get him out.
 

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