Involved in accident

Involved in accident

I was in an accident, and both of my little girls were in a car seat....Are these car seats supposed to be thrown away now...I have heard several rumors...If you have a Ford Truck, watch out..The seatbelts did not lock during our accident...The car seats went to the dash board...Let your friends and there friends know...

Carseat replacement in an Accident.

The general recommendation is to always replace carseats after an accident. They can be damaged and rendered unsafe. Sometimes, insurance will pay for the replacements.


Obviously, there are situations where a parent may make their own decision to ignore this recommendation. If you are in a very minor crash, where there are no injuries, no structural damage and the carseats were unoccupied, it is unlikely the carseats will have any damage, though you should still carefully inspect them. Even so, it is always better to be safe than sorry.


Sorry to hear about your truck's seatbelts. Do you know if they are designed without automatic/emergency retractors, or if it was a defect and they simply failed? Unfortunately, some types of seatbelts are not appropriate for carseats due to their inability to hold them properly in a crash. Usually, newer models are equipped with seatbelts adequate for carseat installation.


I sincerely hope everyone is recovering from the crash.

Re: Involved in accident

Please know that when your carseats are destroyed that if the insurance does not do it for you that you should take them completely apart. People scavenge trash piles and the like - an intact carseat would be too tempting. So put the harness and cover in the trash pick up one week, the shell the next week. The shell should be broken via sledgehammer, reciprocating saw or similar. If this is not possible then write on it in permanent marker DO NOT USE. This destruction applies also to any carseat over 5 or 6 years of age.

Also, some vehicles require a locking clip be used in order to help keep the seatbelt tight. This clip comes with every carseat and can usually be located in a holder on the back of the seat. Check your vehicle owner's manual or look here, www.homestead.com/murphyd...lips.html, for information on whether or not you need a locking clip.

If you need recommendations for new seats for your girls, do let us know. We would be happy to assist.

Century seats involved in accidents

I just wanted to let you know that another option with a car seat involved in an accident is to call the manufacturer. My husband and son were involved in a wreck about a year ago. My husband saw the lady was going to run the yield sign in town and slammed on his brakes so he was going less than 30mph when they crashed. I happened to call Century to report the wreck and make sure we should replace the car seat. My son used the Next Step SE car seat. They said they'd love to have the seat back for an investigation. They hardly ever get to test seats that are involved in actual accidents. They wished more parents would call them after their car seats had been in accidents.

The real kicker was that they asked me if I had gotten another car seat yet. I told them no, but I knew which seat I wanted. I said I wanted to upgrade to the Next Step DX since it has the front adjustment for the straps. They said that's great and would ship me out a FREE one in the next 2 days!!! We quickly got the replacement seat. They had us put our old seat in the new seat's box and they had someone pick it up so they could test it to see how it held up in the wreck.

I'm still so surprised that not only did we get a free replacement car seat from our insurance, but also from Century! I have to say, all my car seats will be probably be Graco/Century car seats, if Graco retains Century's wonderful customer service!