If money is tight in your household currently, you are far from alone. Still, to maximize your paycheck, you undoubtedly use the items you purchase as long as possible. One of these is your child’s car seat. After all, according to Consumer Reports, a safety-rated car seat for your son or daughter can set you back $500 or more.
While there is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to get full usage out of your child’s car seat, you obviously do not want to rely on a car seat that does not provide sufficient protection. If the car seat has been through a motor vehicle accident, you may wonder whether you can continue to trust it.
Replacement guidelines
Luckily, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued replacement guidelines for parents to follow. Specifically, the NHTSA says to replace the car seat immediately if any of the following applies to your accident:
- Your car was no longer driveable
- Your vehicle’s airbags deployed during the accident
- Someone in your vehicle suffered an injury in the crash
- There was damage to the side of your vehicle that was closest to the car seat
A closer inspection
If your car accident was comparatively minor, your child’s car seat is likely to be trustworthy. Nevertheless, before relying on the seat, you should take a close look at it. Put simply, if the car seat has cracks, breaks, tears, bends or any other type of damage, it should probably go to the landfill.
As a parent, it can be difficult to achieve peace of mind, especially when transporting your child. Ultimately, even though doing so can be expensive, replacing your child’s car seat after any motor vehicle crash may put your mind at ease.
