To ask everyone with belted child seats to make sure the seat is secured ^even when they aren't in it?^

[RatOnnaStick]

I crashed my car on Friday. Ds1 was in his seat in the back (off school with a virus), when I lost control on a small country lane on black ice. We ended up in a ditch on the roof. His seat and the seatbelt held him tight and we had no injuries at all beyond being stuck but ds2's empty seat hadn't been buckled up after I dropped him off at school earlier and it swept sideways when we rolled and was only kept off ds because of the side impact protection on his seat.

We are fine. I just feel a bit sick that a different angle would have meant he got hit in the face or stomach all because I didn't take the time to buckle the damn seat up before setting off.

It turns out the amount of people I know who never think about it is really high so I imagine that there must be some on here who also never remember to check is also substantial . Just please will you all take a minute to check everything is all secure won't you?

We had Kiddy Guardian Pro but our car is 10 years old with no iso points. We've got new seats now - a Kiddy Cruiserfix and a Cybex Solution Q3 to replace them. I expect the next car will have iso points.

Very glad you're ok and thanks very much for posting. I have never thought of this.

I remember a driving safety course years back with work and they showed that a box of tissues can become weighted like a brick in a impact crash and flying forward can crush a skull.

I got an iso fixed one for this reason. Not the accident, but I thought it would be annoying having it loose in the back when dd1 wasn't in.

I'm glad you're ok OP and it's very good of you to warn others

I remember one of those road safety adverts from school saying that if your seatbelt isn't done up you could kill everyone else in the car if you crash. I think it said it's how most people died in crashes, might be wrong but it stuck with me.

I always do this. You should do it on isofix seats as well.

Bump for the evening crowd.

I had never thought of this. Not had a hbb for long, will start to buckle it when the big kid isn't in it (umm, and obviously continue to buckle it when she is). Thanks op.

Really mirime? I always assumed the isofix would be enough to keep a seat in place? I’ve always put seat belts on normal seats but have never bothered with the isofix one.

I have high back booster seat and raise my headrest of the seat it's on and then use it to clamp the top of the seat in place, works really well as I can't pull it out without lifting the head rest again. This however wouldn't work with all styles of headrest.
Must however get round to clearing all the crud out of the car.
Can before this one was a zafira (with a higher than average chance of going on fire) and I got one of those safety hammers with a belt cutter on it, well worth the piece of mind.

I've never forgotten a public information film from years ago - it's called 'Julie knew her killer' and is on YouTube - about just this. I showed it to DD to persuade her to get a harness for their dog, as they thought he'd be fine lying on the back seat... They did.
I'm very glad that you and your DS are okay OP. Take care

Thanks for the reminder. If I put a booster seat in incase I give my nephew a lift I buckle it in. Never think to with my daughter's seat when she is not in it though. Will do it up in the morning.

Glad you were all OK.

I always do this. You should do it on isofix seats as well.

The whole point of isofix is that it is secure. There is absolutely no need to secure an isofix seat with a seatbelt when empty!

At a speed awareness course the instructor told us to always have your seat belts fastened in the back whrn they are not in use. He said that stuff in your boot can cause the back of the back seat the fly forward but the seatbelts would stop that. He recommended dog harnesses too. Glad you and your son are ok OP

Thanks ronniescue

Thanks for the reminder. I used to make sure the baby seat was secured but didn’t think about the high backed boosters

It’s so important people remember this. I also always keep the seatbelts buckled when not in use as we often have have bikes or buggies in the boots which could push the back seats down (remember the back seats are only really held in place with a plastic clip if they can be folded down) and fly into the front. Then again I’m a bit ocd about these things, but you just never know.