Ever since I started having children, the one constant thing I had always heard was that you always replace a car seat after an accident. I never heard any guidelines about possibly keeping your seat after an accident.
Monday my two year old and I were involved in a car accident going down the highway. Another truck slammed right into my drivers door and then we bounced away from each other. I drove the car to a stop. I was also able to drive the car home from the scene.
I asked the officers what I should do with my son to get him home since I have to get rid of the car seat he was in. The officer told me that he didn't think I would need to replace this car seat because the air bags didn't deploy and there was no damage to the truck anywhere around his seat.
I was skeptical, but I thought at least he will be in a car seat for the ride home. Once things calmed down, I was able to do some research on the subject of replacing safety seats after an auto accident. I wasn't surprised to see tons of information regarding safety seats and replacement of them. I was however, surprised to find a government site that has regulations for reusing a car seat after minor car accidents.
According to nhtsa.gov, there are 5 criteria that must be met in order to keep your current car seat after a crash. First of all, the vehicle has to be drivable after the accident. Secondly, the door nearest the car seat has no damage. Next, the accident didn't cause any injuries. Fourth, the air bags did not deploy. And finally, there must be no visible damage to the car seat.
Hopefully you learned something new today too. I was able to save a lot of money by keeping the car seats that were in the car at the time of the accident. So, remember if you are in a minor collision, you may not have to replace your current child safety seat.
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