ACCORDING TO CDC CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY, MOTOR VEHICLE INJURIES ARE A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES. BUT MANY OF THESE DEATHS CAN BE PREVENTED.
In the United States, 663 children ages 12 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes during 2015,4 and more than 121,350 were injured in 2014.
One CDC study found that, in one year, more than 618,000 children ages 0-12 rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat or booster seat or a seat belt at least some of the time.5
Of the children ages 12 years and younger who died in a crash in 2015 (for which restraint use was known), 35% were not buckled up.
If the insurance company has “trouble remembering” that they’re supposed to cover the replacement of the car seats, show them the instruction manual to your child’s car seat where it states that the seat should not be re-used after a crash. If you don’t have the instruction manual, you can usually download one online or call the manufacturer.
It should be noted that most car seat manufactures require child car seats to be replaced after ANY accident, even if the car seat was unoccupied. The pressure on the shell from the latch strap/vehicle seatbelt and the strain on the harness if a child was in the seat can make the seat unable to properly restrain a child in the future.
You can find some great tips by following this link on how to properly install a car seat.