Car Seat Injuries: Do you need a lawyer?

Experts agree that keeping your baby in a properly-sized seat is essential for safety and out of arm’s way for car seat injuries such as ejection, striking the seat in front, struck by an airbag, and/or having a belt or chest guard cause neck injury.

You can do everything right but the car seat manufacturer could be liable for car seat injuries caused by unsafe and faulty car seat products. Do you need a car seat lawyer to file a car seat lawsuit?

“I want to sit in the front seat.” Even though this is a constant whine from the kids, don’t let their please away your position on safety. A study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) showed that children under 13 are up to 36 percent less likely to die if they are seated in the rear seat. Unfortunately, an estimated one-third of children still ride improperly restrained in the front seat. Since the most common type of crash is frontal, the rear seat is the safest place for children to ride and less likely to be struck by an airbag (or killed by an airbag) or ejection through the front window. Front airbags don’t protect children.

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Struck by an airbag
All new cars have air bags. When used with seat belts, air bags work very well to protect older children and adults. Air bags can be very dangerous to children riding in rear-facing car safety seats and to child passengers who are not properly positioned. If your car has a passenger air bag, infants in rear-facing seats must ride in the back seat. Even in a low speed crash, the air bag can inflate, strike the car safety seat, and cause serious brain and neck injury and death.

Toddlers who ride in forward-facing car safety seats also are at risk from being struck by an airbag or air bag injuries. All children up to 13 years old are safest in the back seat. If you must put an older child in the front seat, slide the vehicle seat back as far as it will go. Make sure your child is properly restrained for her age and size and stays in the proper position at all times. This will help prevent the child from being struck by airbag.

According to NHTSA, most injuries sustained in accidents involving car seats stem from improper use and installation. Parents should follow weight guidelines, even if it means buying three different car seats as your child grows. If your infant is under 1 year old, but has exceeded the maximum rear-facing infant seat weight of 20 to 22 pounds, a convertible car seat should be used.

A study showed that children under 13 are up to 36-percent less likely to die if they are seated in the rear seat. Despite this, an estimated one-third or more of children ride improperly in the front seat. Front airbags don't protect children because they were designed for adults. According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, 141 children have been killed by passenger airbags as of January 1, 2004. The federal government now requires auto manufacturers to begin phasing in advanced or third-generation airbags that deactivate if the front passenger is too light. But this is intended more to protect smaller adults.

Contact Our Car Seat Failure Lawyers Today »

Has your child had a car seat injury or death caused by car seat failure? Contact Anapol Schwartz law firm for your free legal car seat consultation. We have experience fighting and winning unsafe product lawsuits.

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