Car Seats Save Lives If You Let Them

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If you’ve been reading a while, you may know that Grace and I were involved in a serious car crash in May.

Recovering from the crash has been harder than I ever imagined.

This is the car seat that saved Grace's life.

Both Grace and I suffered emotional wounds that were agonizingly slow to heal. At the moment, they are out of sight. I’m not sure if that means they’re healed or just concealed. I suspect the latter.

I suffered physical injuries that have also been agonizingly slow to heal. The concussion was the first to stop bothering me, and then the whiplash injuries in my neck. My back troubles linger.

I have always been thankful that Grace escaped harm. She was scared but safe, and I give the makers of her child safety seat the full credit. Her seat saved her life, without a doubt.

I was meticulous about our car seat.

I researched and researched and talked to experts before buying Grace’s seat. After I bought it, I had it installed at our local Saturn dealership by a certified car seat technician. She also showed me how to check the seat every couple of weeks to make sure that it’s always safe.

The law says that children must be both twenty pounds and one year old before they sit facing forward in the back seat, but experts agree that it’s much safer for small children to be rear facing. I was convinced after watching this YouTube video.

We kept Grace facing backward until she reached the weight limit for her particular car seat model, which was around 20 months.

So when Amy from Resourceful Mommy asked me to help her spread the word about National Highway Traffic Safety Association’s National Child Passenger Safety Week, I enthusiastically agreed.

Car seats save lives, but only if they are properly installed.

NHTSA reports that 75% of child safety seats are installed incorrectly. 3 out of 4!?

There’s no reason to leave your children unprotected. Most cities have free inspection stations where you can have your child’s seat checked to make sure it’s installed correctly?

The NHSTA maintains a website where you can read fact sheets, see instructional videos, find inspection stations, and even find NHSTA experts on Twitter and Facebook. There is a wealth of information there.

Another website you should take a look at is the ODI recalls listing. You can search for product recalls related to your child’s seat,and you can subscribe so that you’re notified of any future recalls.

A crash can happen any time.

I speak from personal experience. A crash can happen on a road you’ve driven nearly every day of your life. It can happen close to home or far away. Whether you’re driving safely (or sitting still!) is irrelevant if someone else hits you.

Make sure your child’s car seat is safe and installed properly.

You never know when you’ll need it to protect your baby.

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