subject: When Car Seats Fail To Protect [print this page] Most Charlotte parents are careful to make sure that their children are properly fastened into appropriately sized safety seats when traveling in a car. They also trust that the safety seats will protect their children in the event of an accident. However, when an injury is intensified because a safety seat failed to function as it was intended, parents should contact an attorney on behalf of the child as soon as possible.
Three-year-old Gavyn Wilkens serves as a sad example of the safety of a car seat gone awry. Gavyn was properly buckled into a child-safety car seat that had been properly installed into the backseat of his familys vehicle. However, a year before, he had already figured out how to unlatch the clip that fastened the arm straps of the car seat. The day of the accident, Gavyn had once again unlatched the harness as his mother drove towards their home. Police think that his mother took her attention from the road in front of her for just a moment to try to get Gavyn re-buckled. In those few seconds, she rear-ended a bus. Both she and Gavyn were badly injured, with Gavin being paralyzed from the neck down.
According to a safety expert at Childrens Hospital Colorado, unbuckling the chest clip harness is incredibly common, and it is a developmentally appropriate behavior for a three-year-old. That fact, of course, begs the question as to why car seat manufacturers would continue to design and market a car seat for three-year-olds that they are capable of unbuckling on their own. The parents of a child who has been injured in an accident as a result of having successfully unbuckling the harness should consult with an attorney regarding their legal options.
Car-seat manufacturers argue that most injuries from safety seats are the result of the seat not being properly installed. However, Gavyns parents say that they had their seat inspected and were told that it was installed correctly. According to Gavyns mother, the problem lay entirely in the fact that Gavyn was able to unlatch the restraint. Obviously, every accident is different and carries with it its own set of circumstances. Only by meeting with an attorney will parents be able to determine if they are entitled to compensation from the car seat manufacturer if an accident has occurred.
If a Charlotte car accident has resulted in injury to your child and you think that your safety-seat may have been to blame or may have exacerbated the injuries, contact a Charlotte care accident attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney will help you to obtain justice for your child and will pursue compensation on your childs behalf.
