Car seats after car accident

evansmom · Aug 7, 2014

I was rear ended yesterday pretty hard. We are all fine thank goodness. It was not my fault and the other driver is accepting complete responsibility. My car is in the body shop and I will have a rental car for at least a week. In that car, I have a Graco Turbo Booster and a Britax Marathon. I have a RSTV for my daughter to use and a backless booster for my son to use in the meantime while I am trying to figure this all out. I went onto the NHTSA website and it is considered a minor accident since I meet all 5 of the criteria-

The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;

The vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged;

There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;

The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND

There is no visible damage to the safety seat

Am I ok to reuse these seats? Just wanted other opinions please...

Thank you.

LISmama810 · Aug 7, 2014

Glad you're ok!

Graco requires replacement after any crash. Britax only requires it after crashes that meet the NHTSA standards you found.

There are a couple other things to consider, though. Were your kids in the seats at the time of the crash? What state are you in? Were there ANY injuries (including whiplash or sore neck)? Sometimes people don't think it's "really" an injury unless there's blood

Since the other person is at fault, hopefully their insurance will cover replacement (or at least replacement of the Graco). Or, depending on your state, your insurance might cover it.

evansmom · Aug 7, 2014

Yes, kids were in the car at the time. They have no complained about anything yet. My shoulders are a bit sore and stiff and I bumped my head a little on the steering wheel but nothing crazy major…

Would you go ahead and just include it on the claim and see what happens for both seats?? I've never had to do this before, thank god.

Thank you!!!!!

LISmama810 · Aug 7, 2014

Yes, I'd include it. Sore shoulders and a bumped head count as injuries, IMO. (A crash that can cause someone to hit their head is possibly strong enough to damage a seat.)

Are you in Illinois or California, by any chance?

aeormsby · Aug 7, 2014

evansmom said:
Yes, kids were in the car at the time. They have no complained about anything yet. My shoulders are a bit sore and stiff and I bumped my head a little on the steering wheel but nothing crazy major…

Would you go ahead and just include it on the claim and see what happens for both seats?? I've never had to do this before, thank god.

Thank you!!!!!

I would consider that an accident related injury so I would definitely replace both of the seats!

I felt fine not replacing mine after accidentally backing into a parked vehicle

But there was absolutely no damage to my vehicle and the other vehicle only had the bumper cracked because I hit them with our hitch receiver.

evansmom · Aug 7, 2014

No I am in Las vegas. Does the state make a difference?

LISmama810 · Aug 7, 2014

evansmom said:
No I am in Las vegas. Does the state make a difference?

Only in California and Illinois. Laws in both of those states require instance companies to replace seats that were occupied during any crash.

Car seats after car accident

evansmom

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evansmom

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