The reason people feel compelled to share our stories, and I'm another one who has done so many times, is that our lives have been impacted by a tragedy that has a lesson. In most cases, these things could have been prevented. We share the stories when we hope that our tragedy could prevent another from happening. I have a mom right now in my car seat tech class who wants to become a tech so she can help other parents make better choices and not have to have their child go through these sort of injuries.
It's somewhat irrelevant if it's drowning or crashes that are the leading cause of death in your state. Nation wide, car crashes are the leading cause of death and injury. For every 6 deaths there are 300 injured severely enough to be hospitalized. As Adventuredad said, most of those crashes happen at low speeds, close to home. I'm sure that car crashes are the leading cause of severe injury in your state. Improper use of car seats and belts are a real risk. When parents choose to dismiss this fact, they are exposing their child to greater risk.
Obviously, as a parent, that is your choice to make, but I think the posters are just trying to explain that low-speeds, state statistics, etc. do not change the risk you would be exposing your child to. I'm sorry you have to make these tough choices! It's a hard thing to decide when parents are stuck with these options. FWIW- we will sell our seats at our cost to parents that don't qualify as low-income. For a Maestro, that would bring it down a fair amount off of retail. It's our goal for all children to have access to safer seats, regardless of their parents economic situation. Best of luck!
It doesn't matter how far from home you are or how fast you are going. Accidents can be deadly at any speed, at any time.
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