Awesome news story RE: rented seats

If this is in the wrong place, move it. The technician was one of my instructors 3 years ago. This is SOOOOO good!

http://www.komotv.com/news/problemsolvers/15290931.html?video=YHI&t=a

Isn't this awesome? 3B posted about a blog she read regarding this issue and the blog owner posted an update, including a news article about this story.

Here's the link: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=35067

What Britax seat is Debbie Dubrow's son riding in at the end of the video? I can't tell, but it has no HUGS, and he's FF, so I'm hoping it's a Roundabout.

Some of those shots look like they were taken at my place! Great story!

I know this is petty but is anyone else wondering why a woman who owns several britax seats would choose to rent a fisher price t-shield I would think that if you're shelling out $250 on a carseat you would at least have some kind of knowledge about what's safe.:twocents:

I don't know what seats she's using, but I noticed the HUGS thing too. It was a great story. I was thinking of contacting KOMO 4 and mentioning that she might want to see a tech, but I have about 30 minutes total to cook and eat dinner, and I shouldn't be here right now

mominabigtruck said:

I know this is petty but is anyone else wondering why a woman who owns several britax seats would choose to rent a fisher price t-shield I would think that if you're shelling out $250 on a carseat you would at least have some kind of knowledge about what's safe.:twocents:

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She's a registered member here now (check out the thread I linked to), so maybe you can just ask her yourself?

Anyway, based on what's been covered both in this story that Joni linked to and the stories (both the blog and the news story) from the other thread, I think I can safely say the woman did not choose a Fisher Price T-shield for her child(ren) to ride in. That was a seat they used as an example of how BAD the selection was/is. She chose the ones that seemed the cleanest and newest and hoped for the best, all the while planning this expose'.

Thanks to this woman, Advantage Rent-a-Car is getting rid of all the old, unsafe seats.

Oh, that's awesome!!! Great story... and great ending. :thumbsup:

And I do think that's a RA, based on the child's age (about 2?) and the fact that his head is almost even with the back of the shell.

scatterbunny said:

She's a registered member here now (check out the thread I linked to), so maybe you can just ask her yourself?

Anyway, based on what's been covered both in this story that Joni linked to and the stories (both the blog and the news story) from the other thread, I think I can safely say the woman did not choose a Fisher Price T-shield for her child(ren) to ride in. That was a seat they used as an example of how BAD the selection was/is. She chose the ones that seemed the cleanest and newest and hoped for the best, all the while planning this expose'.

Thanks to this woman, Advantage Rent-a-Car is getting rid of all the old, unsafe seats.

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Ohhh, I thought that they filmed what had happened, kind of a reinactment Too many years of watching Rescue 911 I guess

:ROTFLMAO:

No, the mom in question chose the safest-looking seats she could, and afterwards contacted news media who did a "sting" operation on at least two different Advantage Rent-a-Car locations, which is where they examined the T-shield.

mominabigtruck said:

I would think that if you're shelling out $250 on a carseat you would at least have some kind of knowledge about what's safe.:twocents:

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Not talking about this particular woman, but just generally, I know a ton of people that buy Britax just because they can afford it without a second thought and they were told Britax was the best brand. They just buy the most expensive without doing any research and don't know squat about what's safe and what isn't. Usually end up using the seat wrong too, loose harness etc.

Good point, btw but you are missing one important part of your message.. Mom's that buy Britax are not only buying because they can afford it, and were told they are the best brand, but know that they are rated all around the safest... at least that's what the studies tell you. So it's not till you research the seat itself and know what it's all about that you truly know. For me I do a ton of research and make sure it's passed all safetly testing, read all the posts about it, make sure it fits, etc..of coarse I have a few concerns with the new one not out yet due to lack of info....yet I really do trust Britax... I have 4 of them now.. (2 are extras in the inlaws car)

BTW no offense to anyone, but I would NEVER, ever, ever put my sons in any carseat not knowing the history, date and safety reports....I would never rent a carseat, buy a used one, etc.. I will and have however borrowed my sisters marathon for an extra, which I know the complete background history and DOM on...I just can't imagine putting my sons in that type of danger, not knowing is scary..

My Aunt asked me years ago when I my oldest was just a little over a year if I wanted my cousins old seat for an extra, they didn't need it anymore and it was safe.. I took one look at it, it looked very old.. It had to be 7 or 8 yrs old, very worn and I very respectifully told her thank you anyway but we really didn't need another seat... so even though she is my Aunt, I wouldn't use it..

minismom said:

Not talking about this particular woman, but just generally, I know a ton of people that buy Britax just because they can afford it without a second thought and they were told Britax was the best brand. They just buy the most expensive without doing any research and don't know squat about what's safe and what isn't. Usually end up using the seat wrong too, loose harness etc.

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jwren said:

Good point, btw but you are missing one important part of your message.. Mom's that buy Britax are not only buying because they can afford it, and were told they are the best brand, but know that they are rated all around the safest... at least that's what the studies tell you. So it's not till you research the seat itself and know what it's all about that you truly know. For me I do a ton of research and make sure it's passed all safetly testing, read all the posts about it, make sure it fits, etc..of coarse I have a few concerns with the new one not out yet due to lack of info....yet I really do trust Britax... I have 4 of them now.. (2 are extras in the inlaws car)

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Please don't think I'm nit-picking, because I adore Britax just as much as you do , but the "studies" that tell us Britax is rated safest are only Britax's own crash-testing. There is no independent testing that says Britax is, unequivocally, safest. The fact is, all seats sold in the US pass the same federal tests. Some companies (Britax, Recaro, Sunshine Kids, Compass and lately Evenflo) claim they test above and beyond federal standards.

As a tech, I have to point out these things. All seats sold in the US must pass the same federal testing standards, and all are as safe as the next as long as they are used properly and fit properly. We can only speculate about the extra features some seat have and whether or not those seats might be safer. We truly know nothing concrete.

jwren said:

BTW no offense to anyone, but I would NEVER, ever, ever put my sons in any carseat not knowing the history, date and safety reports....I would never rent a carseat, buy a used one, etc.. I will and have however borrowed my sisters marathon for an extra, which I know the complete background history and DOM on...I just can't imagine putting my sons in that type of danger, not knowing is scary.

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I totally agree with you there. Even if a rental company is spectacular about cleaning and maintaining carseats, I wouldn't be comfortable using a rental seat. However, most of the concerns about a used seat (missing parts, involved in a crash, recalled, expired) are addressed by the rental car company's policy on rental carseats. The fact is, many parents WILL use a rental seat, so it's wonderful this mom was able to get the rental car company to make these changes.

scatterbunny said:

I totally agree with you there. Even if a rental company is spectacular about cleaning and maintaining carseats, I wouldn't be comfortable using a rental seat. However, most of the concerns about a used seat (missing parts, involved in a crash, recalled, expired) are addressed by the rental car company's policy on rental carseats. The fact is, many parents WILL use a rental seat, so it's wonderful this mom was able to get the rental car company to make these changes.

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And on the bright side, the rental company will know if the car has been in a crash... as to if they replace the seat or not though, is another story.

Rental carseats are scary. In 2002, when my son was just 6 months old we flew to Seattle where my family lives. My mom borrowed a Britax RA from a coworker who was just as obsessed about carseats as I am so I felt it was safe. My inlaws flew up from San Diego and they rented a car, from Hertz I think. They rented a carseat as well in case we might want to use it in their car. I took one look at it and was disgusted. I didn't even know as much about carseats then or expiration dates, but I knew that I wasn't going to put my baby in this T-shield seat with a vinyl cover!