why no rear tether on infant carrier seats??

[chay]

I know this is just anecdotal but this is what helped me sleep at night. There was an collision about four years ago where a loaded dump truck going ~70km/hr (so ~43mph), basically ran over a small car from behind that was stopped to turn left. There was no evidence he even touched the brakes. The car was unrecognizable, driver died instantly but the kid in the back in a RF AOE was ok once they were able to get him out (well he had broken legs and black eyes from hitting the seat back but all things considered he was good). Had his seat been tethered he would have had considerable forces on his neck (obviously can't say how that would have turned out or if it would have been worse/better than broken legs and black eyes).

** note - see post below with corrected info about the injuries ** Sorry for posting inaccurate details.

Personally I kind of like the idea of it acting like a spine board that moves with the kid. I can see how it would be advantageous to tether in a side collision and if I had actual anchor points to RF tether too I might consider it especially for my now big kids but I'm personally not comfortable using my front seats as untested anchors so all of my RF seats aren't tethered.

Anyways, nothing official but maybe it will cause some thought.

 

[TechnoGranola]

The car was unrecognizable, driver died instantly but the kid in the back in a RF AOE was ok once they were able to get him out (well he had broken legs and black eyes from hitting the seat back but all things considered he was good). Had his seat been tethered he would have had considerable forces on his neck (obviously can't say how that would have turned out or if it would have been worse/better than broken legs and black eyes).

So much for no documented cases of broken legs while RF like is often said. (I'll make the assumption that medical personnel would have documented this child's case). Do you have a link to this?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

 

[Pixels]

The correct quote is no legs broken due to being RFing, in other words if the child had been FFing their legs would likely be broken anyway.

 

[chay]

Well as it turns out I had the details wrong all of these years (my original info was from someone who I believe was a friend of the family). According to this the kid had a fractured collar bone and the mom died the next day.

Warning - disturbing picture
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2007/06/12/dump-crash-070612.html

Sorry for posting incorrect info.

 

[jess71903]

Well as it turns out I had the details wrong all of these years (my original info was from someone who I believe was a friend of the family). According to this the kid had a fractured collar bone and the mom died the next day.

Warning - disturbing picture
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2007/06/12/dump-crash-070612.html

Sorry for posting incorrect info.

at that car!! It is AMAZING that ANYBODY came out of that alive. Wow!

 

[TechnoGranola]

The correct quote is no legs broken due to being RFing, in other words if the child had been FFing their legs would likely be broken anyway.

That may be correct but I have still seen people state that there haven't been documented cases of broken legs RF. My point really was that it would be nice if people didn't have to mention it all and potentially get it wrong, because broken legs can happen no matter what direction you're facing. And it's stupid that we have to defend RF because of this broken leg worry. *sigh* LOL

 

[ketchupqueen]

Fractured collar bone sounds like he might have benefitted from some form of rebound control, though not necessarily a tether.

And yes, I've come across at least one documented incident of a broken leg rf, but it was due to a tree's intrusion and yes, could have hit her head if she was ff.

 

[penguingrooves]

Well as it turns out I had the details wrong all of these years (my original info was from someone who I believe was a friend of the family). According to this the kid had a fractured collar bone and the mom died the next day.

Warning - disturbing picture
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2007/06/12/dump-crash-070612.html

Sorry for posting incorrect info.

OH MY GAWSH.... TERRIFYING!!! this brings me to a different topic of RFing at a rear-end collision. theoretically, we all ERF because more/most severe crashes are from the front or the side, but if that's the case, a true rear ender like the one posted above should be a case for FF. (btw, i still RF my petite 4- and 2-year-olds.) maybe there comes a point during seemingly unsurvivable crashes where luck comes into play, despite the fanciness of car seats, RF/FF, tether, anti-rebound, etc... i guess all we can do is to have statistics and probability on our side by minimizing risk while hoping for the best.

 

[aetj115]

Not to mention imo there is a difference between a car being ran over by a truck as opposed to a crash force. Correct? Yes, I'm sure there was crash force, but not the same as a truck only rear ending a car. Am I making sense?

 

[Pixels]

OH MY GAWSH.... TERRIFYING!!! this brings me to a different topic of RFing at a rear-end collision. theoretically, we all ERF because more/most severe crashes are from the front or the side, but if that's the case, a true rear ender like the one posted above should be a case for FF. (btw, i still RF my petite 4- and 2-year-olds.) maybe there comes a point during seemingly unsurvivable crashes where luck comes into play, despite the fanciness of car seats, RF/FF, tether, anti-rebound, etc... i guess all we can do is to have statistics and probability on our side by minimizing risk while hoping for the best.

Yes, in a rear end crash your child is at about twice the risk RFing than they would be FFing. But twice a very tiny number is still a very tiny number.

Only 4% of fatalities are from rear end crashes. The vast majority are from frontal, frontal offset, or side crashes, and we know that RFing makes a big difference in those types of crashes. I'll take double the risk in 4% of crashes* in order to make my child five times safer in 94% of crashes.

*Crashes severe enough to be fatal.

 

[StillThankful]

Fractured collar bone sounds like he might have benefitted from some form of rebound control, though not necessarily a tether.

And yes, I've come across at least one documented incident of a broken leg rf, but it was due to a tree's intrusion and yes, could have hit her head if she was ff.

Anne, your car accident story still moves me. I clicked on your link and noticed your pamphlet. Can I post it to my FB page?

 

[ketchupqueen]

Anne, your car accident story still moves me. I clicked on your link and noticed your pamphlet. Can I post it to my FB page?

Of course! Share away, that's why it's there.

 

[canadiangie]

I'd love to have the foot prop option available in the US for infant seats but our crash sleds don't have floors

A foot prop helps to prevent downward rotation. I believe OP's concern is with rebound.

But maybe you're just saying you'd like to see foot props in general, in which case, carry on.

 

[StillThankful]

A foot prop helps to prevent downward rotation. I believe OP's concern is with rebound.

But maybe you're just saying you'd like to see foot props in general, in which case, carry on.

Thanks for the clarification. I actually didn't know the difference