Joolsplus2
03-27-2011, 10:47 AM
Just wanted to share a few recent tragic crashes that had happy endings, thanks to proper restraint use...
You guys here are all doing such a good job of keeping your kids and yourselves restrained, and trying to get the word out, too (despite all the usual obstacles we all face, of people arguing 'we never used a seatbelt and were fine', or, 'my doctor said I had to turn my 10 month old FF because he was too big to RF', etc).
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=157601
"When the highway patrolwoman arrived, she asked my dh how many casualties were in the car, when he said none, she told him she'd never seen an accident this severe without casualties"
And Ketchupqueen, a very popular poster at c-s.o was on her way to Lifesavers with her family yesterday, and was in a severe one-car rollover..
"Seat belts and car seats just saved my family's lives.
(As did proper car maintainance, and cargo storage.)
On our way to Phoenix, just a few miles away, my husband (driving our 2002 Odyssey) hit an obstacle in the road. We don't know what it is, but we all felt the bump, then were airborne, and onto a gravel shoulder. We skidded on the gravel. The van hit a barrier (right at the rear driver's side, where my 4 year old daughter was seated.) It then flipped across the highway. My husband was braking the whole way. (He had just had the tires rotated and pressure checked, and the brakes replaced.) It slowed us considerably. We went into a ditch at an angle and became airborne. We went down on the passenger side of the vehicle, nose first, and then flipped over upside down.
My daughters (the 4 year old, almost 5, and her 2 sisters, 6 almost 7 and 2 almost 3) were screaming. This meant they were alive and I was glad. My husband and I were suspended by our (properly worn) seatbelts. I had significant neck pain. My husband was able to exit the vehicle fairly easily, but I was trapped; I had to be extracted with the Jaws of Life (after fending off a bystander who wanted to cut my belt with a pen knife and pull me out, yelling at him, "Do not cut my seatbelt! Wait until the EMTs arrive to hold c-spine! If you want to do something, get me a jacket and treat me for shock!")
My 4 and 6 year olds were harnessed properly in properly installed and used, tethered seats. (The 6 year old is usually boostered, but because it was a late night trip I didn't want to risk her falling asleep and falling out of position.) My 2 year old was rear-facing. The heavy cargo in the van was all packed tightly down in the bottom of the trunk, compartmentalized behind and under the seat as much as possible before we left. My husband and I had our seatbelts and headrests properly fastened and adjusted and were seated in proper position.
My husband has a mild lung contusion and abrasions from his seatbelt and "road burn." I have a lot of stitches in my arm (which dragged along the ground outside the car-- the trauma surgeon says that the braking slowed us enough to save me from having it ripped off) and on my face and bruising all over. My 6 year old has minor abrasions (more road burn) and bruises. My 4 year old, with the most severe injuries, suffered a severe cut to her foot (aptly and completely repaired by great surgeons) and a broken leg (remember, she was AT the first point of impact, a side impact.) My 2 year old, who was in the rear-facing seat, was completely unharmed. Not a mark on her. Nothing. Despite the fact that we landed on the side of the car she was on (she was behind me, I was in the second row passenger seat, and the forward-facers were second and third row driver's side.)
Please know that your passion, all of you, pulled me into the wonderful world of occupant safety. It saved my children from severe injury, and quite possibly saved their lives. I know that luck played a big part in our survival (I was not in my usual seat in the front passenger compartment, which was completely destroyed.) But I also know that that same luck, if I hadn't been motivated by all of you, every one of you, to learn how to maximize our safety on the tiny off chance we got in a crash THAT trip, saved us.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much! KEEP DOING THIS WORK."
There's another blog with more description... http://carseatnanny.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-i-do-what-i-do.html
And an extremely graphic series of photos...don't click if you are squeamish... http://s1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/ketchupqueencrash/MSKs%20pics/
And here's another blog comparing this crash to one with almost no damage to the car, but the toddler in the back seat was improperly restrained and died... http://zollyzoo.com/jennblog/?p=3891
You guys here are all doing such a good job of keeping your kids and yourselves restrained, and trying to get the word out, too (despite all the usual obstacles we all face, of people arguing 'we never used a seatbelt and were fine', or, 'my doctor said I had to turn my 10 month old FF because he was too big to RF', etc).
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=157601
"When the highway patrolwoman arrived, she asked my dh how many casualties were in the car, when he said none, she told him she'd never seen an accident this severe without casualties"
And Ketchupqueen, a very popular poster at c-s.o was on her way to Lifesavers with her family yesterday, and was in a severe one-car rollover..
"Seat belts and car seats just saved my family's lives.
(As did proper car maintainance, and cargo storage.)
On our way to Phoenix, just a few miles away, my husband (driving our 2002 Odyssey) hit an obstacle in the road. We don't know what it is, but we all felt the bump, then were airborne, and onto a gravel shoulder. We skidded on the gravel. The van hit a barrier (right at the rear driver's side, where my 4 year old daughter was seated.) It then flipped across the highway. My husband was braking the whole way. (He had just had the tires rotated and pressure checked, and the brakes replaced.) It slowed us considerably. We went into a ditch at an angle and became airborne. We went down on the passenger side of the vehicle, nose first, and then flipped over upside down.
My daughters (the 4 year old, almost 5, and her 2 sisters, 6 almost 7 and 2 almost 3) were screaming. This meant they were alive and I was glad. My husband and I were suspended by our (properly worn) seatbelts. I had significant neck pain. My husband was able to exit the vehicle fairly easily, but I was trapped; I had to be extracted with the Jaws of Life (after fending off a bystander who wanted to cut my belt with a pen knife and pull me out, yelling at him, "Do not cut my seatbelt! Wait until the EMTs arrive to hold c-spine! If you want to do something, get me a jacket and treat me for shock!")
My 4 and 6 year olds were harnessed properly in properly installed and used, tethered seats. (The 6 year old is usually boostered, but because it was a late night trip I didn't want to risk her falling asleep and falling out of position.) My 2 year old was rear-facing. The heavy cargo in the van was all packed tightly down in the bottom of the trunk, compartmentalized behind and under the seat as much as possible before we left. My husband and I had our seatbelts and headrests properly fastened and adjusted and were seated in proper position.
My husband has a mild lung contusion and abrasions from his seatbelt and "road burn." I have a lot of stitches in my arm (which dragged along the ground outside the car-- the trauma surgeon says that the braking slowed us enough to save me from having it ripped off) and on my face and bruising all over. My 6 year old has minor abrasions (more road burn) and bruises. My 4 year old, with the most severe injuries, suffered a severe cut to her foot (aptly and completely repaired by great surgeons) and a broken leg (remember, she was AT the first point of impact, a side impact.) My 2 year old, who was in the rear-facing seat, was completely unharmed. Not a mark on her. Nothing. Despite the fact that we landed on the side of the car she was on (she was behind me, I was in the second row passenger seat, and the forward-facers were second and third row driver's side.)
Please know that your passion, all of you, pulled me into the wonderful world of occupant safety. It saved my children from severe injury, and quite possibly saved their lives. I know that luck played a big part in our survival (I was not in my usual seat in the front passenger compartment, which was completely destroyed.) But I also know that that same luck, if I hadn't been motivated by all of you, every one of you, to learn how to maximize our safety on the tiny off chance we got in a crash THAT trip, saved us.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much! KEEP DOING THIS WORK."
There's another blog with more description... http://carseatnanny.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-i-do-what-i-do.html
And an extremely graphic series of photos...don't click if you are squeamish... http://s1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd516/ketchupqueencrash/MSKs%20pics/
And here's another blog comparing this crash to one with almost no damage to the car, but the toddler in the back seat was improperly restrained and died... http://zollyzoo.com/jennblog/?p=3891