IMPORTANT QUESTION please respond

[AlbrightRC]

Ok so my husband was in an accident on his way to work this morning. He is fine but he rear ended someone and apparently the car is not so fine. My son's carseat was in the car but my son was not. Do we need to be concerned about the car seat at all? I guess the insurance company told him that since the child wasn't in the seat at the time there should be nothing to worry about.

[TwoBees]

I believe it depends on the car seat and manufacturer. Some manufacturers state that the carseat should be replaced in the event of ANY crash, occupied or not. Others say it depends on the speed/severity of the crash. Can you check your manual for specifics?

[Joolsplus2]

Which seat? Maybe we can help you google the manual to figure it out.

[AlbrightRC]

Britax frontier 85..not sure of manufactur date

[Joolsplus2]

http://www.britaxusa.com/support/faq/after-a-crash

A. BRITAX recommends that the use of a child seat be discontinued if it has been in a moderate to severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child seat after a minor crash.

A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:
The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site; AND
The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged; AND
There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants; AND
The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
There is no visible damage to the child seat.

[TwoBees]

Britax frontier 85..not sure of manufactur date


http://www.britaxusa.com/support/faq/after-a-crash


Q. Can I continue to use my child seat after it has been involved in a crash?
A. BRITAX recommends that the use of a child seat be discontinued if it has been in a moderate to severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child seat after a minor crash.

A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:

The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site; AND
The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged; AND
There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants; AND
The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
There is no visible damage to the child seat.

[AlbrightRC]

Thanks everyone the manual is with the seat I should have thought to check online. So if i'm understanding this right if it was a minor crash it shouldn't have to be replaced? He rearended someone so no damage to any doors (carseat is in middle of seats anyway) no body was injured the rest of the things I would have to check further with my husband about.

http://www.britaxusa.com/support/faq/after-a-crash


Q. Can I continue to use my child seat after it has been involved in a crash?
A. BRITAX recommends that the use of a child seat be discontinued if it has been in a moderate to severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child seat after a minor crash.

A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:

The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site; AND
The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged; AND
There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants; AND
The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
There is no visible damage to the child seat.

[Joolsplus2]

That's funny two of us posted the same thing at the same time. I'd think you are ok not replacing, call Britax if you want reassurance (1-888-4BRITAX was the number last time I looked).

[AlbrightRC]

Thanks everyone. The only questionable thing on that list is the car being driveable and my husband said that is only due to the fact that the radiator was damaged so I think the seat is ok..When he gets home tonight we will bring it inside and look it over good to make sure that everything on it looks ok.

[Snow mom]

Honestly, I would ask the insurance to replace the seat. The extra $300 won't really change the cost to the insurance (or the increase to your premium) and it will give you piece of mind that your seat is safe. I'd say the radiator damage bumps the collision up into the moderate camp. They don't specify why the car can't be driven from the accident so I'd say anything that prevents the car from driving away from the accident makes it not a minor accident. Our car was hit totally unoccupied and technically everything on the britax list was okay but the insurance replaced the seat no questions asked.

[AlbrightRC]

The radiator was only damaged because he hit a jeep with the spare tire on the back. They drove the car onto the tow truck. Insurance company had already said that if there was no child in the seat that the seat was fine so we probable would have been paying out of pocket.


Honestly, I would ask the insurance to replace the seat. The extra $300 won't really change the cost to the insurance (or the increase to your premium) and it will give you piece of mind that your seat is safe. I'd say the radiator damage bumps the collision up into the moderate camp. They don't specify why the car can't be driven from the accident so I'd say anything that prevents the car from driving away from the accident makes it not a minor accident. Our car was hit totally unoccupied and technically everything on the britax list was okay but the insurance replaced the seat no questions asked.

[MSWR0319]

The radiator was only damaged because he hit a jeep with the spare tire on the back. They drove the car onto the tow truck. Insurance company had already said that if there was no child in the seat that the seat was fine so we probable would have been paying out of pocket.

You could always talk to insurance one more time and give them the criteria the Britax has in their manual, stressing that it can't be driven away, this does not qualify as minor. If they say no, then you don't have to get a new seat. I'd try to get a new seat out of them though, can't hurt to try.

[Joolsplus2]

I wouldn't stress it, if it were me (and I'm pretty nervous...). The rules Britax follows are based on seats not failing after repeated, extreme crash tests. Like, dozens and dozens of them, the same seat, with no degradation of performance. A fender bender is no more stress on the seat than it would endure being installed properly.