A few weeks ago, my daughter-in-law, Cory, was forced off the road and crashed into an embankment. The good news--she is fine; which makes me especially thankful because Cory was seven months pregnant at the time. Another relief, her two-year-old, my grand daughter, was not in the car. The bad news--the car was totaled.

Afterward, Cory learned and shared some important advice on car accidents and child car seats. I admit I was unaware of the facts and want to pass them along to other parents and grandparents.

Even though no child was in the car seat, the child restraint is considered unsafe after a major crash. Cory was told to get a new seat and cut the straps in the old one before disposing of it. That's to prevent anyone else from using it, should they find it in the trash.

Child Restraint Re-use After Minor Crashes

NHTSA Position

• NHTSA recommends that child safety seats be replaced following a moderate or severe crash in order to ensure a continued high level of crash protection for child passengers.
• NHTSA recommends that child safety seats do not automatically need to be replaced following a minor crash.
• Minor crashes are those that meet ALL of the following criteria:
  • The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;
  • The vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged;
  • There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;
  • The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
  • There is no visible damage to the safety seat
• Clarifying the need for child seat replacement will reduce the number of children unnecessarily riding without a child safety seat while a replacement seat is being acquired, and the number of children who will have to ride without a child seat if a seat were discarded and not replaced. The clarification will also reduce the financial burden of unnecessary replacement.

Lastly, I found this website with information on NHTSA’s  5-Star Ratings on purchasing a car seat.