Bump. Crash. Boom.
You have been involved in a car accident and your children are in the car. It’s terrifying and traumatic, what next, what do you do? It is important that after a car accident you do not continue to use the same car seats, there are many resources to getting your car seats replaced free of charge. Many times, insurance companies will include the cost of car seats in the damages of a car accident, taking care of the cost of replacement.
Safety of our children is of the upmost importance, especially in the car. The first thing you need to ensure is that your car seat is always installed safely and correctly. This can make the difference between life or death in an accident. Never buy a used car seat, as you are unable to verify the history. Car seats are not to be used again after an accident, so buying them used is not a safe option to ensuring the safety of your child or children. Though these things are widely known, less talked about is what you should do after a car accident.
The first thing to do would be to check with your insurance company, or that of the driver responsible for the accident, they should replace the car seats at no cost to you. If your company does not offer that there are other options. Many car seats manufacture companies ask that instead of throwing out a car seat that has been involved in an accident that you contact them. Companies like Graco and Safety 1st will replace your car seats at absolutely no cost, only asking that you send in the affected car seat for research and quality improvement purposes.
Contact their customer services representatives in order to see if that is something that your car seat brand offers. Though car accidents are scary, without actual car seats that have been involved in accidents it is hard for companies to improve and study the uncontrolled effects that the impact has. Sending in your car seat to be studied after an accident helps companies change the things that can be better about car seats and keep those things that are working effectively. While it is hard to think about, your accident may present an issue to the developers that they have never noticed before helping them come up with a safer and more effective version.
Doing your research about safety factors when it comes to safety is important where your children are involved. Accidents happen and are many times out of our control, we do what we can to keep our kids safe no matter what happens. Contact your car seat company today to see if this is a program they offer, they will send you boxes to ship the damaged content back to them and then replace your car seats at no cost to you. Making every effort to improve quality of their safety equipment while keeping your family safe always.
While it is hard to think of these things and know what to do after an accident happens, it is best to research and be prepared so you know what to do in the worst-case scenario. Asking the hard questions before will give you peace of mind if an emergency like this ever does occur. Do not hesitate to call your insurance and car seat companies today to have a plan in action.