Car seat accident question

[Oregonmother]

We were in an accident yesterday Other car blew through a yield sign. We T-boned him. Everyone walked away fine thank God.
I know I need to replace our Regent and Marathon that my 2 kids were in, but I also had a spare Graco Turbobooster in our third row that was unoccupied. Do I need to replace that as well?

[KrisM]

You could post in the Car Seat forum for better traffic, but I'm pretty sure that Graco would say yes to replacing it. Britax says that if the crash is minor you don't have to replace it, but they're the only ones.

But, post over in Car Seats and someone more knowledgeable will answer, I am sure!

I'm glad everyone is okay!

[Oregonmother]

Sorry...inadvertantly posted this here..oops.

[bubbaray]

Graco will say you need to replace it. Graco's policy is that all seats must be replaced after a crash, occupied or not. In fact, I believe most manufacturers are saying that, with the exception of Britax.

I would try to get your ins. to replace all the seats. If they balk at the unoccupied one, personally *I* would keep it as a spare (which it sounds like it was anyway). I wouldn't tell a person at a check to keep using it, but *I* would as a spare.

Having said that, I was rearended last fall -- the accident was in the grand scheme of things pretty minor. I was mildly injured (had a few physio treatments) & my van had some minor bumper damage (around $1K, only to the bumper and the cover). My ins. wasn't going to pay to replace the unoccupied seats (1 Britax MA, 1 Monterey booster). Well, I went "tech" on them, and within minutes of me firing off a fax listing all sorts of Transport Canada info on replacing ALL seats (regardless of brand) after a crash of any magnitude, they cut me a check and had it waiting for me on my way home from work that night. Did it help that I was a tech? And a lawyer? Probably.

FWIW, the cost of the seats they replaced was almost as much as the cost to repair my vehicle (seats are expensive here). Oh, and a fellow tech & instructor here told me that she would use the seats if it were her given the limited damage.

That is my long-winded way of saying *I* would fight with your ins. to get all the seats replaced. If they still refuse on the unoccupied one, *I* would probably still use it as a spare.

[Sopamanda]

check with the insurance. They covered ours without any questions.

[Mommy2Abby]

Here's the NHTSA stance on replacements:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/c...raintReUse.htm

Glad to hear that everyone is OK.

I was rear-ended a year ago and told insurance I needed to have the seat replaced, and they did so, no questions asked - I just had to send a receipt for the cost of the replacement seat.

[Oregonmother]

Thanks all!!