After a Crash: Can I Re-Use the Car Seat? (probably not)

Click HERE for an easy-to-print PDF copy of the table below.

Was your child’s car seat in a vehicle that was involved in a crash?  Did you know that most car seats need to be replaced – even if the child was NOT in the seat during the crash.  Forces are extreme in a crash – they are enough to bend the steel in your car’s frame – and enough to damage the plastic in your child’s car seat (even if you can’t see the damage with the naked eye).  

See the table below to learn what each car seat manufacturer recommends be done with their car seats after a crash.

Note: Most insurance companies (especially when you gently remind them and show them the instruction manual to the car seat stipulating that the car seat must be replaced) will reimburse you for the cost of the new car seat.  You are NOT required to replace the car seat with the identical model that you had; for example, if your infant seat was in a crash and your baby was just about to outgrow it, you can replace the infant seat with a convertible car seat.

Click HERE for an easy-to-print PDF copy of the table below.