Do I need to replace car seat?

[09Mom]

Our nanny was in a 3 car accident WITHOUT dd in the car. She was the front car. She said the back car has severe front end damage and air bags deployed. Middle car has rear damage and front bumper is hanging. Her back end got pushed in and she said her bumper has a hole.

[ckso]

Yes, you needs to replace it even if it wasn't occupied at the time. Insurance should cover it


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[09Mom]

So, even if she had slight rear damage we still need to replace? Officer said no, but thought I'd confirm with bbb.

[maestramommy]

I thought you had to replace if the air bags deployed, but without any kids in the seats I'm unsure on this one.....

[o_mom]

Look at the manufacturer's guidelines. Many say to replace after any accident. The insurance of the at-fault party should pay.

[indigo99]

If the insurance covers it then I'd get a new seat. If not then I probably wouldn't personally. I don't see how it could have damaged the seat in that sort of accident if there wasn't a child in it.

[wellyes]

Fender bender no, but if her back end was pushed in, probably yes.

[american_mama]

These are the recommendations of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for replacing car seats after accidents. They distinguish between minor, moderate and severe accidents. It seems like your accident would qualify as NOT needing replacement.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/childrestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

The background is interesting, but the basic points are summarized as:

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.

[MSWR0319]

These are the recommendations of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for replacing car seats after accidents. They distinguish between minor, moderate and severe accidents. It seems like your accident would qualify as NOT needing replacement.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/childrestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

The background is interesting, but the basic points are summarized as:

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.

Yes it needs replaced because the air bags deployed. It does not meet the requirements of a "minor" crash according to what was listed above because of the air bag deployment. You could also call the manufacturer and see what they say. I know Evenflo recommends to replace no matter what. Most others go by the minor, moderate, etc so would need replaced away. Insurance of the party at fault should cover it as long as your nanny mentions it was in the car.

[KrisM]

Yes it needs replaced because the air bags deployed. It does not meet the requirements of a "minor" crash according to what was listed above because of the air bag deployment. You could also call the manufacturer and see what they say. I know Evenflo recommends to replace no matter what. Most others go by the minor, moderate, etc so would need replaced away. Insurance of the party at fault should cover it as long as your nanny mentions it was in the car.

Even though it wasn't her car's airbag?

I'm not a tech, but I've always read those to mean the car with the carseat, not all the cars involved in the crash.

[wendibird22]

DH had a fender bender with minor damage to his rear bumper. DD2 was in the car but DD1 wasn't. True Fit replaced DD2's seat for us because she was in it. Didn't need to go through our insurance they just overnight shipped us a brand new seat. DD1's seat at the time was a Frontier 85. I called Britax and they said it didn't need to be replaced. They asked me a series of questions about the accident and based on that said it was fine to continue to use.

[MSWR0319]

Even though it wasn't her car's airbag?

I'm not a tech, but I've always read those to mean the car with the carseat, not all the cars involved in the crash.

Sorry! I misunderstood. I thought it was her car that the air bag deployed. In that case, I'd call the manufacturer of the seat and see what they recommend. I had a minor hit and Britax said they were fine, but my Evenflo had to be replaced according to them. I think they say that for everything. But our insurance company told us they HAD to replace them. So I didn't argue :)