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minor accident...new carseat?

906 views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  runes 
#1 ·
just wanted to check in to see what we should do. we were waiting for our garage door to open (so our car was stationary) and our neighbor backed out of her garage without looking, and completely dented the passenger door. it was at an angle and pretty slow so it didn't 'jar' our car much at all, but the door does need to be replaced.


we have a britax roundabout. i think we need to get a new one but dh is not convinced. any advice would be appreciated!

thanks!
 
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#3 ·
thanks for that link!

Quote:

  • 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
according to them, we meet all of the criteria except for one, because it was the rear passenger door that was damaged. we went to the body shop yesterday for an estimate and they actually have to replace the entire door, and it no longer closes properly.


what to do, what to do?
 
#4 ·
Was the seat in the middle or right next to the door? Honestly, from what you're describing I don't think I'd necessarily get a new seat, and I'm one to be pretty paranoid about things like that. But if you can afford it and it will give you some peace of mind, maybe that's the way to go.
 
#5 ·
the seat was in the middle. i was actually sitting right next to the door that was damaged, and there was very little 'impact', she was going slow enough that the cars touched and then she kept going in reverse a bit (thus the damage) before she realized that she had hit us.
 
#8 ·
better safe than sorry... the plastic and everything can have wear that is invisible to the eye. I would also contact the insurance company of your neighbor, because they definitely don't want to be the ones reponsible if the car seat would fail in a subsequent accident. Her insurance company should pay for it. You have to think about if you are going to worry about this every time you drive DC in the car...

We had a very simiar situtation, I was rear-ended while stopped at a red light, the car seat was in the car but DS wasn't, and the insurance company of the other person simply asked me to submit a receipt for a new car seat and a letter of proof that the accident-involved car seat had been destroyed (local health dept).

good luck!
 
#10 ·
I say better safe than sorry. I would submit a claim to your neighbor's insurance company, and they should have no issues replacing it. If they do, design an agreement for them to sign that makes them 100% responsible for your child's life if another accident should occur while in that seat -- this will probably force them to reimburse you for another one.

Maybe you and your neighbor are working things out without getting the insurance companies involved... Then it's gets a little sticky, but I'm sure if your neighbor knew the risks with using a car seat after an accident, even a minor, she would only want the best for your child.

I got rear-ended last October with DD (still rear-facing, thank goodness) while I was stopped at a red light. The force of the collision pushed us at least 10 feet into the intersection, knocked my glasses off my face and the bun out of my hair, and all the change was jarred out of the little change drawer in the dash. I was able to drive the car away (very disappointed that the EMS didn't stop me from driving with DD **** in the car seat, but we made it home safely), and neither of us had any visible problems. The next day I started having neck pain, and my chiropractor said my neck was sprained. I'm still having issues with neck pain! The car was totaled and it was estimated that we were hit at least 35 miles an hour!

My point with all of this is that our accident met the criteria listed above from the NHTSA website except for one -- and I opted to get the seat.
 
#13 ·
woo hoo, the boulevard arrived today and dh just installed it.

we decided to switch cars, he drives so much more than i do so he will be driving our much more efficient civic. i've now got the volvo s40, and dh just found the integrated rf tether on the floor of the car when he was installing it. it's solid as a rock.

woo hooo!!


we will be submitting the receipt along with a copy of california law which states that insurances companies are to reimburse for carseat replacement after an accident. keeping our fingers crossed on that one, hopefully they'll send us a check.
 
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