Consumer Reports: When to replace car seats after a crash

CHARLOTTE — After a car crash, most people know to check for injuries and damage to our vehicles, but Consumer Reports says you should also check your child’s car seat.

Emily Thomas is a car seat safety expert for Consumer Reports. She was recently rear-ended on the highway.

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Thankfully, she’s okay, and her kids weren’t in the car, but their car seats were. That raised a big question: Should you replace a car seat after a crash?

“If you’ve been in a crash, you may not always need to replace your car seat, particularly if it’s a minor crash,” Thomas said. “But if it’s a moderate to severe crash, then you should definitely replace your car seats.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to constitute a minor crash, it must check all of the following boxes:

The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site.
The vehicle door nearest the car seat was not damaged.
None of the passengers in the vehicle sustained any injuries in the crash.
If the vehicle has air bags, the air bags did not deploy during the crash; and
There is no visible damage to the car seat.

“In my case, the car seats looked fine — there was no visible damage. There were also no injuries sustained in the crash,“ she said. ”The impact was at the rear of the vehicle, so the doors closest to the car seats were not damaged. However, both vehicles were towed and there was airbag deployment, so this counts as a moderate-to-severe crash, and the seats have to be replaced."

Some manufacturers recommend replacing their car seats after any crash. Consumer Reports says to follow your manufacturer’s instructions.

“Even if there isn’t visible damage to your car seat, there may be structural issues that you can’t see,” Thomas said. “I’ll also need to properly dispose of the old car seats, so no one else uses them. Remove all covers, cut the harness straps, and mark the shell with ‘Do Not Use.’”

Consumer Reports also recommends avoiding used car seats if possible. If you need to purchase one secondhand, there’s an interactive decision chart to determine whether to seat is safe to use.

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