Child safety seats require post-collision considerations

Jan. 7, 2021
During the estimate, your shop likely inspects seat belts and identifies which seats were in use at the time of the collision so those seat belt systems can be replaced. But do you know the guidelines for when a child safety seat should be replaced?

As part of your estimating process, your shop likely inspects seat belts and identifies which seats were in use at the time of the collision so those seat belt systems can be replaced. But do you know the guidelines for when a child safety seat should be replaced? And for child seats secured by anchorages, are you inspecting those anchorages for damage? 

In fact, the lower anchors and tethers, which form the U.S. standard LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system installed on most vehicles manufactured on or after Sept. 1, 2002, may have also suffered damage in the collision, said Mike Anderson, of Collision Advice. 

“A lot of people don’t realize that in most of your vehicle owner’s manuals, as well as your vehicle OEM repair procedures, it says that if a child safety seat is in use, you need to check the LATCH system,” he said, noting that inertia forces in the collision may have damaged the tether or lower anchor, which is why many OEMs require they be replaced. One quick source for links to OEM owners manuals can be found at the Database Enhancement Gateway, Anderson said. 

GM’s Document ID: 2133164, is an example of an OEM position statement that details which restraint systems must be inspected after a collision. This language is also found in the OEM repair information. 

“Replace any seat belt system that was in use during the collision serious enough to deploy any automatic restraint device such as air bags and seat belt pretensioners,” the statement reads. “This not only includes seat belt systems in use by people of adult size, but seat belt systems used to secure child restraints, infant carriers and booster seats, including LATCH system and top tether anchorages.” 

Severity, child safety seat manufacturer guide replacement 

Whether a child safety seat must be replaced or can be reused varies by the seat manufacturer. Most recommend replacement, regardless of crash-severity. A smaller number use criteria from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to classify what is a minor crash in recommending their reuse. That is the same recommendation used by Consumer Reports, a “nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to unbiased product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy” that has conducted child safety seat crash-testing for more than 30 years. 

“Most seats can be reused after a minor fender bender,” said Emily Thomas, an automotive safety engineer at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center. “But NHTSA recommends replacing a seat if it was in a collision that either involved injuries or required the vehicle to be towed; if the airbags were deployed; or if the seat, or the door nearest the seat, was damaged. Crash forces can stress a car seat’s components in ways that aren’t visible, thereby reducing its ability to protect a child in the future.” 

The child safety seat manufacturer’s requirement can usually be found on the tag of the seat or on the manufacturer’s website. Additionally, for quick reference, a car seat installation-help site, https://thecarseatlady.com/aftercrash/, lists each seat manufacturer’s requirements in a PDF chart. 

Anderson advised that customers find out the manufacturer’s requirements for their car seat and then ask the customer to give that information to their appraiser. He said he’s not seen an insurance company refuse to pay for a seat, including when he owned his Wagonwork Collision shops in Virginia, which he sold in 2010. 

“They would tell the consumer to buy one, submit the invoice, and then they would reimburse the customer. Then the customer would bring us the child safety seat, and we would cut the belt piece on it and throw it in the dumpster.” 

Similarly, Marc Gabbard, owner of GSR Quality Collision in Yakima, Wash., said, “We do encourage our customers to replace all car seats that were in the vehicle at the time of the accident. I stopped fighting that fight directly with insurers. I explain the safety concerns, encourage my customers to purchase new car seats immediately, and contact the responsible insurer to pursue potential reimbursement.” 

ABRN asked the top four insurers in the U.S. to discuss their policies for paying to replace child safety seats. Although those companies did not respond with answers to our requests, shop owners or managers we talked with reported that insurers have always reimbursed for replacement seats, although the process with some has been smoother than with others. 

“When a guest comes in for an initial consultation, one of the very first questions we ask is where was everyone seated in the vehicle, and were any child seats in the vehicle at the time of the accident?” said Robert Grieve, owner of Nylund’s Collision Center, in Englewood, Colo. “If there were, we coach our guest through the process of having the insurance company reimburse them for new ones. I don’t think any of our guests have ever had an issue with an insurance company denying replacement.” 

Kena Dacus, owner of Dacus Auto Body & Collision Repair in McPherson, Kan., said, “We always ask if there were car seats and let them know that many manufacturers require replacement and that their insurance should replace them. We actually just Google the user manual to see what the replacement requirements are. We’ve only had trouble with Farmers Insurance paying for them, but once we got the state commissioner involved, they paid pretty quickly.”  

Destiny Crowther, manager of Central Body Shop in West Valley City, Utah, said, “We ask clients if a car seat was in use at the time of the accident. If yes, we always ask them to call the insurance company to tell them the car seat was in use. I can’t think of a time that an insurance company didn’t pay for one. We also destroy the car seats for the client. We do not want the car seat put in a dumpster for someone else to get a hold of and use.” 

Crowther recommends other shops consider using her shop’s procedure when a technician needs to unbuckle and remove the child safety seat for any reason, such as removing the back seat. 

“We always set the car seat in sideways so the customer knows that it has been removed and they can put it in properly. We would hate to set it in unbuckled and have the customer assume it’s how they left it and they put their child in a car seat that isn’t secured to the car.” 

Certified installation help is available 

Some child safety seats can be difficult to install, and in ABRN’s research, it’s rare that a collision repair shop has someone on staff who’s been trained to properly install a child safety seat. There are various types of child safety seats (forward-facing, rear-facing, and convertible), a number of different vehicle types and methods of securing the child seat, and the proper seat must be selected for the height and weight of the child. Add in the fact that some seats have been recalled and some have an expiration date, and it’s understandable that many shops absolve themselves of liability by instead deferring the installation to area organizations, such as fire departments, hospitals and law enforcement agencies. 

Seat checkup events or inspection stations can be located at www.safekids.org. (During the pandemic, some inspection stations have suspended services or are offering inspections through video conferencing.)  

However, there may be an opportunity for collision repair centers to offer complimentary installations or checks. Shops can incorporate these in their pre-delivery inspection process as a value-added service, or they can use them as a marketing tool, attracting customers to the shop before they need a collision repair. Safe Kids Worldwide provides national certification as a Child Passenger Safety (CPS) technician after completing its course (the fee is $95). 

It’s a service Dacus said she’s looking forward to offering after completing the course next spring. 

“Someone mentioned this program to me last year, and I thought it was such a great idea!” 

About the Author

Jay Sicht | Editor-in-Chief, FenderBender and ABRN

Jay Sicht is editor-in-chief of FenderBender and ABRN. He has worked in the automotive aftermarket for more than 29 years, including in a number of sales and technical support roles in paint/parts distribution and service/repair. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Central Missouri with a minor in aviation, and as a writer and editor, he has covered all segments of the automotive aftermarket for more than 20 of those years, including formerly serving as editor-in-chief of Motor Age and Aftermarket Business World. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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