We were rear-ended today :( .....please tether rf

[sivan]

thank you so much for this! words to remember.

i'm so glad you and your family are okay. we were in a bad crash 2 months ago, and still healing. everyday i thank god that my children weren't in the car with us.

[gatorsmom]

Wow, that's really scary. I'm so happy to hear that you are all ok. I have so many friends with old/used/expired/poorly installed carseats who just don't make that a priority. I just don't understand it. It sounds like you are all safe because you had their seats installed correctly- even if the one wasn't tethered (btw, I don't have one friend IRL who tethers their carseats. They all think I'm nuts).

I'm no expert but i thought I read that something like 80% of car wrecks are from front end collisions. So, carseat makers take that into consideration when designing the seats. A front end collision can cause whiplash. Whiplash on a child is serious because their neck can bend so far that their spinal cord snaps. When they are rearfacing, that can't happen because the back of the seat absorbs the motion. On a FF seat, their is nothing to prevent their head from being thrown forward. If I remember correctly, a rearend collision isn't usually as serious, but of course your carseat is designed to protect against that too. And it sound like your 2 yr old is fine so I guess it did it's job.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself- you are right- it could have been a lot worse. You could have had both children in the wrong size seats, ff, and not well secured. Like my friends do. :(

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!

[MacBump]

Yes, if you are rear-ended it is safer to be FFing. I'd say even more so for a tiny baby than for a bigger child with more solid neck ligaments etc.

HOWEVER...you can't plan your life around all crash scenarios since the "best position" for one is the worst for another. Since almost 50% of crashes are frontal, and it is safer to be RFing for those, and another 20-some odd or more are lateral, and again, it is safer to be RFing for those...I'd rather take my chances and have a child RFing even if it is more dangerous for a rear-end collision. MOST of the time rear-end collisions are at low speeds compared to frontal and lateral ones too.

DH was rear-ended last night actually and I'M glad no kids were with him even if they are both FFing now. :-)

Fio

[katiesmommy]

To answer your number two. Yes and no. You would think that because everything moves toward the point of impact that they would be safer ffing in a rear collision. However, that's not always the case. Case and point, read the story in the link:

http://myangelsaliandpeanut.tripod.com/id5.html

[denna]

I am so glad your family is okay.

Have you found a anywhere to tether the seat to, yet? Im asking b/c we are entertaining the idea of getting a Volvo XC90 for our next vehicle and carseats fit and proper use are our number 1 concern.

I hope you are able to find a point for both carseats; if you are still unable to is there a way to have anchor points installed under the front seats?

We have a Volvo S60 R and found it very difficult to find a good anchor point as well but finally we did find one far, far under the passenger front seat.

Thank you for sharing your story.

[Joolsplus2]

"Intuitively" FF is safer in a rearender, but as yet there's no data proving it. I know your DC looked horrible after the crash, but your dd would have been totally fine in it.
Carseats are designed VERY well for frontal crashes, and a rear ender is LIKE a frontal crash if you are RF, so despite the movement of the seat, it's really still incredibly safe to be RF. Whiplash comes from rearenders, not frontal crashes...ask any adult who's been FF in a rearender crash how much their neck hurts? This is not a good testament to FF being safer in a rearender (I'm sure YOUR neck is fine, your Volvo has an advanced WHIPS system... not true for most of us in most cars :P )

I'm SO glad you are here to tell us your story! I hope you aren't in too much pain :(. And Volvos have big square brackets on the bottoms of the backs of the front seats that are your RF tether points (the one thing they keep from the Swedish design, I guess, where kids are RF to age 4+)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[beckych]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I can't even BELIEVE the way that one car looked in that collision. It's seriously a miracle that that family was okay. What a blessing!

Thanks too for all of the information about kinds of crashes and the different statistics. Wouldn't you know that I have been rear-ended twice (once in college, way before kids)? So, for me the statistics are a little off, but thank goodness, obviously, since I have been in the least fatal kinds of crashes.

I guess that Volvo really is pretty darn safe because I was sore yesterday but feel okay today.

Julie, I am so embarrassed to admit that I didn't know about the big square brackets! I swear I looked everywhere, but all I could figure out was to attach the tether to the part on the floor where the front seats move back and forth, and I thought you weren't supposed to do that. As soon as our Volvo is fixed, I will be searching for those brackets!

Also, the insurance company covers a rental car until our car is fixed. I just called, and they're brining a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Is there a good spot to tether in those? Also, is it fairly easy to install carseats in those?

I thought I would attach a picture of the carseat. Let's see if this works.



Here's one of the damage to our car. I saw the person coming, could tell that they weren't going to stop, and tried to swerve to the left a little to get out of the way (no cars were coming in the other direction, of course). So, the majority of the damage was to the rear passenger side. That may have also been why my DD's Decathlon seemed to be affected more than the Keyfit (which was behind the driver's seat).

[o_mom]

How scary!

To echos the PPs, most likely your DD would have been fine in the DC, even untethered. While it theoretically may be slightly safer to be FF in a rear-ender, there is no data that shows this. There is, however, tons of data which shows that rear-facing is much safer overall and that the majority of severe crashes are frontal or side impact.

[Joolsplus2]

Oh wow! Scary!!!!! (maybe the 90 doesn't have those brackets... darn, I forget!)
Yay, Volvo!

(and just note that the suction cup rollershade is half popped off...try going with something lighter...a little faster or at a different angle, and that would be a missile aimed right at someone's head or eye)

A Jeep should be fine, just LATCH it all in as usual (I know you have to replace them, but if you don't have another seat today, just take the base out and install the seat with the belt, and put the MA FF with the seatbelt... that would be a whole new way of installing and would still be safe for a trip to BRU to get new seats)...and you can keep the covers!

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[beckych]

You know, I wondered about those dumb roller shades that really don't even work anyway. Yikes! I am getting rid of those now. Volvo even makes some kind of sun protection that covers the whole window, and I believe it's not a shade of any kind (more like a sticker or something?). I am going to ask them to put those on our windows.

I already ordered a new seat for my 2 year old. It won't arrive until Monday, though.

I have a brand new Boulevard for my almost 9 month old dd. I didn't realize that the Chicco would still be okay without the base, though. I thought it was the harness straps that were potentially ruined from pulling during impact.

Could I put my older dd in the Boulevard for the weekend and my baby in the Chicco without the base then?

Thank you so much, Julie, for all of your help!!

[pastrygirl]

Wow! I'm glad you're all OK! My son's MA is tethered well in my car, but I don't love how it's tethered in my husband's car. I might have to revisit that!

Regarding sun shades, I read about these shades in a blog and got them for myself. They are very light so hopefully wouldn't do any damage on impact. Hopefully they're tech-approved! Edited to add that each shade only has two suction cups, not four like the description says...

Cristina
mom to Toby, 6/10/06

[Joolsplus2]

If you see any major pulling or bending or damage, I would definitely not use the Chicco... but if you, like *need* go somewhere and it appears undamaged, I would personally feel ok with it for one trip (lol, maybe to target where they are clearancing out britaxes this week...?). (gosh, I hope no one is getting the idea that I'm saying to lah di dah, use a crashed seat...but you know what I mean? Better to use a seat that's been in a minor crash than nothing at all, basically!). I sort of doubt you'll see any damage to the harness system from the crash you were in, I was a tad more worried about the connectors between the seat and the base, really... but you're the mama, you get to choose :)

Yeah, go with the sticky-on sunshades, or the light mesh kind with suction cups... none of them really work well, but they satisfy our need to shop (says she, who's owned every sunshade thingie on the market <whistle>)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[beckych]

My two girls and I were in a pretty bad accident today where we were rear-ended. Luckily, no one was hurt. We're just shaken up. My girls are almost 2 and almost 9 months, and they're both rear-facing. I plan on keeping them rear-facing until they're 33 pounds.

However, I feel like the WORST mom in the whole world. I did not have my dd's Britax Decathlon tethered down. I had even asked on here one time where to tether it in our Volvo SUV, and I still couldn't figure out a great spot (even after someone's explanation), so I just kept putting it off. I thought, "Well, she's at least still rear-facing, so she's automatically that much safer, blah, blah." I wish I could show the picture that I took of her seat after the accident. The base of her seat came up off the seat of the car, and the whole seat is leaning toward the back seat (if my dd was in her seat, she would be at a perfect right angle). Does that make sense? Obviously that wouldn't have happened had it been tethered down. She is okay, and I learned my lesson the hard way. As soon as our new seats get here, they will be tethered immediately.

My other dd was in her Chicco Keyfit, and it was in the EXACT same spot as it was before the accident. Both seats are attached by LATCH, and both seats were in there very tightly. Did the Keyfit not go forward since it's much smaller (not as tall)? Or it may have gone forward (and when I say forward I mean towards the back of the car) and bounced back down. I am not sure. It obviously can't be tethered, so there would have been nothing I could do about that. All I know is the Decathlon didn't come back down.

SO, all that said to say:

1.) Please don't be dumb like me and wait to tether your rear-facing Britax.

2.) If you are rear-ended, is rear-facing the safest way to be sitting? My DH, although he's not saying we should turn them around, pointed out that in this particular accident, our almost 2 year old would have been better off forward-facing. He said, even tethered down, that would've been true. Is he right?

I already ordered one new seat, and luckily I hadn't switched our 8 month old to her new Boulevard. I was going to do it next week, and so she already has her new seat.

Accidents are SO scary. I keep replaying it over and over. It really could have been so much worse. A semi had to go into the ditch to avoid hitting the car that hit me and also me. I can't even let myself think what would've happened if he hadn't swerved out of the way. Okay, enough about that........moral of the story: PLEASE tether your rf seats!!!! (Or maybe I am the only moron that hadn't yet!)

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, those are great, exactly what I meant :)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[DrSally]

I'm so glad you're all OK!!! We did the same thing, had the britax in for months before rear tethering it. I came here for advice on how to do it and talked to DH about it, saying we pd this extra $$ for the safety features and are not even using them. Thank you for sharing your story so everyone can learn from your experience!

[chays]

Volvo XC90 does have the brackets and they are not on the seat itself. They are under the front seats on the metal rail that the front seat moves on when you adjust it. The rail is stationary and the metal brackets are on the inside of each rail near the back. If you don't see them, you must be tall. Just adjust the front seats forward and you'll see them. There should be 4 brackets total, one on each rail of each front seat. I chose the bracket closest to the center so that I can more easily access the area beneath the seat for all my stuff!

I am SO glad that you and your girls are OK!!!!!! Good luck with the tether but I assure you that they are there. I have a 2004 XC70 with them and have used RF tether in 2006 & 2007 XC90s. I would be SHOCKED if they didn't all have them.

[beckych]

Thank you SO much for this information!! I did not see those brackets, but I will definitely be looking more carefully once our Volvo gets repaired. (It's going to take a month! :( )

I have tethered our girls' new seats in the rental car that we have to use until the Volvo is fixed and in my parents' car this weekend, and I am so shocked (in a good way) how much more secure their seats are. The Decathlon seemed so secure in our Volvo, but I now see how it could have even been so much better.

Thank you, everyone, for your replies!