Replacing Car Seats After An Accident
Replacing Car Seats After An Accident
If you have been in an accident, you might be asking yourself: “Do I need to replace my child’s car seat after a car accident?” In short, YES, even if your child was not in it at the time of the car accident as a serious injury lawyer will share in order to protect your child from future accidents. It should also be noted that the car seat should be replaced if the car seat was ever thrown out of the car or thrown on the ground.
Lawyers get asked quite often whether a parent should replace a child’s car seat after an accident, even if the car seat looks undamaged and/or if the accident was a minor accident. It is always best to err on the side of safety, and there are several reasons why which our friends at Kiefer & Kiefer have shared below:
- There could be hidden damage that is not visible to the naked eye. Your child’s car seat was specifically designed to protect your child and absorb the impact during a car accident. When the car seat absorbs the impact in a car accident, it could have some internal damage that is not visible, which compromises its safety and ability to protect your child in a future accident.
- The car seat could have a reduced effectiveness in a future accident. Child car seats have to meet strict safety standards and are engineered and designed to meet those standards. If the structure of the car seat is compromised in any way, no matter how minor, it could affect the ability of that car seat to protect your child adequately in a future car accident, putting your child at risk for more severe injury.
- Your car seat manufacturer likely recommends that you replace the car seat after a car accident. Many car seat manufacturers state in their owner’s manuals and/or on their websites that the car seat should be replaced after a car accident, regardless of the severity of the accident. Following the manufacturer’s guidelines is crucial for ensuring your child’s safety, because the manufacturer is most familiar with its product and the risks associated with the car seat’s continued use after a car accident.
- Insurance will likely cover the cost of replacing the car seat after an accident. Insurance companies will likely pay to replace the car seat with either the same or similar car seat, as this is part of the property damage coverage offered in the policy.
- You should replace the car seat to err on the side of safety and to have peace of mind. By replacing your child’s car seat, you know that you did all you could to ensure your child’s safety should there be another car accident, and took every precaution to protect your child.
For these reasons, it is highly recommended that you replace your child’s car seat as soon as possible after any car accident, no matter how minor. This helps to ensure your child’s safety and to offer you, as a parent, the peace of mind that you took every precaution to protect your child.
As a side note, when you do replace your child’s car seat after an accident, please be sure to remove all padding and cut the straps so that the compromised car seat cannot continue to be used. If you and your child have been involved in an accident, contact an attorney near you for help.
