If your car broke down on the side of the road...

A

Alicia-N-2SafeBugs

Senior Community Member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #1

Would you leave your carseats in your car?

I saw a broken down car abandoned on the side of the road yesterday and there were 2 carseats in the back. I couldn't help but wonder if those kids left the scene with no restraints. Hopefully someone who had spare seats picked them up.

Even if that was the case, I wouldn't leave my seats! I'd be afraid they'd be stolen. Of course, maybe I'm paranoid. My is obsessive about locking the car...he always says "we have hundreds of dollars in seats in there!"

 

lovinwaves

New member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #2

Well, first off I would hope my newer car would never break down..

But, if it did I would definitely take my carseats with me so I would have something to put my kids in. If for some reason I didn't need to take them(carseats) with me because my ride already had seats in their car, I would probably just leave my two seats installed in my car. We live in an extremely low crime area. I would never worry about them being stolen. Besides I would have my car towed ASAP.

 

didymama

New member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #3

i'd have the car towed before i left the sceen. used to work for a towing company and i know how not so smart some of these folks are. i call for a back up ride and follow them to garage/home. and i would never leave the seats! especially not the radian. though i would now have to call for 2 cars since i have the only car that fits 3 seats. or one goes with me in the wrecker.

 

Simplysomething

New member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #4

I'd not leave them or anything else in the car, if I could help it. lol

And my seats are just the scenera and the turbobooster, but still.

 

Morganthe

New member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #5

Well, I'd never leave my carseat behind especially since 99% of the time my munchkin is with me. I'd need it for her. Now DH, that's another story. I bet he'd forget unless he happened to call me before he left his car. I'd remind him. But since all he does is drive to and from work or occasionally through town, it wouldn't be that big of a deal for me to go pick it up asap.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #6

I work as a cashier at a department/outlet type shop a few nights a week. Last night, there was a family waiting for the sister of the mom to show up to pick them up. AAA had just towed their car, so obviously the battery was dead or something. The 2 kids with them were maybe 3 and 5? No seats were in their possession while they were waiting. Maybe the sister had seats in her car, but I am thinking NOT. What are people thinking?

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #7

I wouldn't, but that's because we don't have spare seats!

 

beeman

Active member

• Dec 10, 2006

• #8

Yeah, I'd take them if I needed them.

 

mominabigtruck

New member

• Dec 11, 2006

• #9

Well I probably would. When we bought our seats we had them in the back of the pickup and were doing some other shopping and everytime we went in another store I made my husband load them into the cab of the truck. I'm sorry but I'm just not leaving $600 worth of seats sitting out there in the open for anyone to take.

 

R

RoundaboutTraveler

New member

• Dec 11, 2006

• #10

For me, it would depend on the circumstances. Location, as well as who picked us up!

I wouldn't leave my car on the side of the road, but one time my battery just up and died at a park after our strollercize class. We live in a pretty safe area so I would have left the car seat installed if dh were picking us up (he has a seat installed in his vehicle, too). However, dh was at work and a friend from the class offered to drop us off at home, so I took the seat. That was actually the ONLY time our Roundabout was removed from our car after first installation (and I had it back in my car and re-inspected 2 days later, lol). So if the car were in a safe location and someone with a safe seat picked us up, then yes, I'd leave the seat in!

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Dec 11, 2006

• #11

One time I was directly behind a car that hit a deer on the highway. The driver was a mom that had her 2 yr old with her (in his car seat, thankfully) and I gave her a ride. Since I had extra seats installed already, she didn't need to bring hers along. I would definitely take mine with if I needed them, and even if someone stopped that had spare seats in their car, I would have to check the installation and everything, so it would probably be easier to just use my own!

 

R

RoundaboutTraveler

New member

• Dec 11, 2006

• #12

stayinhomewithmy3 said:

One time I was directly behind a car that hit a deer on the highway. The driver was a mom that had her 2 yr old with her (in his car seat, thankfully) and I gave her a ride. Since I had extra seats installed already, she didn't need to bring hers along. I would definitely take mine with if I needed them, and even if someone stopped that had spare seats in their car, I would have to check the installation and everything, so it would probably be easier to just use my own!

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One time I took my car in for what I thought would be a quick oil change, and found out it needed a minor repair, but it would take a while to get the part. I was just about to take the car seat out of my car and put it in the shuttle so they could drive us home, when in walks my neighbor WITHOUT her dd (same age as my son--19 months at the time). DD was with grandma, and the neighbor was there about grandma's car which was being worked on. She offered to give us a ride home, and since I knew her car seat was properly installed, I said yes. He was forward facing and I wasn't so happy about that, but it was a short ride and I figured ff in a properly installed seat was better than rf in a seat installed in a hurry. Plus then I would have had to reinstall it in my car later and get it reinspected, ugh! I was nervous the whole way home, though! That neighbor never did agree with my crazy "opinions" on extended rear facing, either!

 

lovinwaves

New member

• Dec 11, 2006

• #13

RoundaboutTraveler said:

Plus then I would have had to reinstall it in my car later and get it reinspected, ugh! I was nervous the whole way home, though! That neighbor never did agree with my crazy "opinions" on extended rear facing, either!

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What do you mean by reinspected?

 

R

RoundaboutTraveler

New member

• Dec 12, 2006

• #14

lovinwaves said:

What do you mean by reinspected?

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After I put the seat back in the car, I had it inspected (again) at the police station. I am not a CPS Tech so I wanted to make absolutely sure I'd done it correctly. The officer (who IS a CPS Tech!) told me I'd done a great job with it so now I feel pretty confident about reinstalling that particular seat, if I have to.

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• Dec 13, 2006

• #15

RoundaboutTraveler said:

After I put the seat back in the car, I had it inspected (again) at the police station. I am not a CPS Tech so I wanted to make absolutely sure I'd done it correctly. The officer (who IS a CPS Tech!) told me I'd done a great job with it so now I feel pretty confident about reinstalling that particular seat, if I have to.

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A good tech will make sure you know how to install the seat on your own every single time. If one lets you leave after simply installing your seat for you then make them take the time to have YOU do it in front of them and check you on your installation. Then you don't need to have it rechecked every single time you move it around.

Wendy