In short, if you have been in an car accident with a child seat in the vehicle at the time the insurance company is required to replace it. If they don’t call our law firm and we will secure you a new seat if you were insured.
If you’ve been in a car accident while you had children’s car seats strapped into your vehicle, you may wonder whether or not they are still safe to use after the accident. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast answers to this very important question. While America’s leading governing body for road safety, The National Highway Traffic and Safety Association, used to advocate replacing all car seats after mishaps on the roadways, this organization has changed its tune a little bit.
The current viewpoint of this organization is that the severity of a crash should dictate whether or not car seats are replaced. Since buying these children’s car seats gets really expensive, it’s important to consider the association’s new guidelines, as they may save you some money if you don’t actually need to replace your car seats. However, safety is obviously always the top priority. Safety is always worth the money that it costs.
In other words, if your gut feeling is that your car seats may no longer be safe (regardless of insurance coverage), replace them in order to enjoy greater peace of mind, as doing so will be well worth the financial investment that you will need to make. You will know that your beloved infant or toddler is safe and secure, which is so important.
Now, let’s talk about the new guidelines of the NHTSA…
Consider the Severity of the Accident
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Association provides advice which is designed to help people make smart decisions about whether or not they should buy new car seats after motor vehicle accidents.
To help you learn the facts, we’ve created a practical guide which offers some important facts.
According to the NHTSA, you should consider how serious your car accident was before you decide whether or not to replace your car seats. In other words, if your accident is classified as moderate to severe in terms of scope, you should buy new car seats, as there is a likelihood that you existing car seats have been damaged in some way and therefore no longer provide the optimal level of protection which is needed in order to keep babies and small children safe and sound while they ride in cars, SUVs and minivans.
If your accident is classified as mild in scope, you should be able to safely utilize your existing car seats. However, before you make a final decision, this governing body recommends that you ask yourself some things, such as whether or not air bags were activated, whether or not you could drive away from the scene of the mishap and whether the door closest to the children’s car seat suffered damage.
These common-sense questions will help you to assess the condition of your car seat. If a door was damaged, you couldn’t drive away afterwards and air bags went off, it may be wise to think about replacement. After all, better safe than sorry…
Are You Thinking about Suing?
If you’ve been in a car accident and you believe that fault for the accident lies elsewhere, it may be time to file suit against the person who caused the problem. By retaining capable counsel, in the form of a competent and experienced personal injury lawyer, you’ll be one step closer to getting the compensation that you need and deserve. Without a good personal injury attorney at your side, you may not be able to access a settlement or court damages, which may be used to offset expenses from the accident.
You deserve justice when you’ve been hurt in a car accident and it isn’t your fault. So, why not start the process of speaking to an attorney today?
