Front facing or Rear facing? Car seat safety TRUE STORY crash test videos

The many benefits of rear facing car seats, narrated by a grandfather, of a true accident involving his 18 mo old grandson who suffered a broken neck while in a front facing car seat.

• Category

  Autos & Vehicles

[Sarah Mathews]

I have a 13 month old daughter and I plan to keep her RF until at least 24 months (probably until her seats limit which is 40lbs) After seeing your grandson's video I went on a research rampage. I refer MANY mothers to your video .. your grandsons accident may have saved many baby's lives. I'm terribly sorry about this accident but I'm so happy he lived through it, he really is a miracle! He was put here to save baby's. Thank you so much for sharing your guys' story. <3

[luv2bfishin]

I appreciate the comment. As for research mania, I too was obsessed with finding out more. Some of the powerful info I dug up is posted on the website JoelsJourney(dot)org, under the "research tab. One document titled " Actual Crash Data" was very powerful. Documents real crash cases, and the injuries of children. Its a long read, but worth it. Several C-1 & C-2 injuries, and some discovered during autopsies. Good info, but very sad.

[luv2bfishin]

Children rarely sit with their legs straight out. They're very flexible. And car rides are often not that long. There are RF seats that hold children up to 45lbs, which may be 3-4 yrs old. You have to way the unforseen events, in the case of a severe accident, a child's whose legs are bent a bit at worse may suffer a broken leg. Question is, FF they have a 5x greater chance of a serious thoracic injury, and the head whiplash could cause a broken neck. The AAP's NEW recommendation is RF till 2.

[gac6gac]

Thank you for posting this. A a former Safety Restraints Engineer I would like to apologize for our failure. I won't get into all the politics that surrounds this issue but know that for us in the industry we have been trying for decades to get Congress to understand this.

[luv2bfishin]

Your comment, given your expertise, has made my day!! For 2 yrs I battled NHTSA, asking them to validate the 12 mo/20 lb rule, and if they actually "crash tested" this rule, including FOIL of any testing records. Bottom line: no crash tests were done. Two mos after I threated to sue, the "rule" was revised. Ironic? The new statement now says RF to 24 mos, and states "Forward facing children 12 to 23 mos were over 5 times as likely to be injured compared to rear facing children of same age."

[luv2bfishin]

I would enjoy talking with you. If you could email me through Joels website (JoelsJourney) I can respond with my phone number.

[luv2bfishin]

Thank you for your comment. To all others, here is the english translation of previous comment:

Congratulations on your beautiful attitude. Share your pain to prevent others from experiencing the same story. I'm a grown man with two daughters, but I cried with history. PS: I'm a brazilian spine surgeon

[Aubree Roper]

This is the video that led me to rear face my babies, my little's will be safe in their car because of you!!! Thank you so much for putting your story out there for all of us to learn from your tragedy!!!

[gambitlizard]

Glad there was a good outcome to this. Hugs to the family.

[jessicamiller00]

My son is almost 3 and in the 90th-95th percentile for height, and still rear-facing. He criss-crosses his legs, hangs them over the sides of the seat, or bends his knees up, and seems perfectly comfortable. Some seats do have more legroom than others, and you might need to get a different seat if your current one is too cramped. The Diono Radian car seats are particularly good for legroom. It would be an expense but the safety benefits of rear-facing are so important!

[edkimstark]

I want to thank you for sharing this story... I first watched this end of 2008 and it has since changed me totally... I am not a CPST and I love to help people learn about car seat safety.... I just wanted to Thank you from the bottom of my heart... with out you I may have forward faced my son at 1 year and when I totaled out our car when he was 17 months the accident could have been horrific for him if he had been forward facing..

[Michelle Thornhill]

Good question. To have the same impact of a head-on crash, you would have to be driving very quickly in reverse for inertia to do any damage. Since that is much more unlikely than driving quickly forward, your child is much safer in the rear facing position.

[Michelle Thornhill]

I turned my two year old's seat forward facing today because the manual said to. But after watching this, I'm definitely going to put it back rear facing. Thanks for making this!

[Andrew Wallis]

Thank you for the video I have too little girls 3 and 2 both under 55lbs thank you for all the info ,

[Sarah Leach]

I'm a huge advocate for Car Seat Safety and refer many parents to this video. Thank you for creating it and sharing your grandson's story. I cried at the end when I saw you guys were from Rochester. I went to college there and for some reason seeing the name of a familiar hospital made the story hit even harder. Blessings!

[listenmonica90]

Glory to God

[listenmonica90]

Omg my husband his 2 year old and i were in a roll over we all came out with nothing but scratches thanks to our mighty God. Jesus Christ is amazing. I see this and i know for sure it was God who saved our lives!!