North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

An interesting study was recently conducted regarding air bags and seat belt usage. Spine fractures occur very often after a motor vehicle crash and can lead to paralysis or death.

According to a new study, the combination of air bags and seat belts seem to lower the tendency of suffering a spine fracture during a motor vehicle crash.

The use of both seat belt and air bag was associated with decreased odds of a spine fracture. Use of an air bag alone was associated with increased odds of a severe thoracic, but not cervical spine fracture. Read the study here

 

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With 70,000 students riding school buses on 2,100 routes in Wake County, there are bound to be mishaps.

But the parents of one local kindergartener said even one accident was too many when their son’s first bus ride landed him in the emergency room.  Read More

First off, it is extremely unnerving that this child's stop was missed not once but twice in the same day, even after his parents brought it to the  attention of the school.  But moreover, it makes one wonder about the safety of the students on the bus.  As we here at the firm, are constantly evaluating car seats, safety belts, crashworthiness of automobiles, and more, a story like this makes us wonder about the safety of the children on those  buses.  It appears this little boy stood up when he noticed the driver missing his stop, and therefore fell, causing an injury to his head.  As we have learned through many cases, what may appear as a slight contusion to the head at first sometimes is just the  beginning.  Should there be seat belts or something on the buses to help keep children from standing and consequently falling while on the  bus?  Something to think about....

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Ever wondered if you have installed your child's car seat correctly?    This site provides many details and  graphics that may be useful when installing a car seat.  It also has many safety tips, general usage information, and things  to  remember. A couple of  important  notes, make sure that the seat belt is securely around your child, not twisted, or  loose, or too high and certainly not under  his or her arm. In addition, if your car seat is involved in a car accident, you should not reuse it.

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Booster seat versus car seat...what a dilemma. I had bought a  booster seat for our  daughter...one of the seats that utilizes the car's seat buckle.  We figured she is  five years old, most of the children in her class were using booster seats, and she meets the height  and  weight requirements for the seat.  But every time I would look in my rear view mirror, and the car was making even the  slightest of turns...there she  was moving  around...the seat essentially not doing  anything to protect her.  Then I saw this video, and realized that my worries were not unfounded.
  Seat belts first off do not always work, they do come unlatched, and they also fail. Secondly, seat belts are made for an average sized person of at least 80-100 pounds...certainly not made for a child who is between 30 and 40 pounds. We started researching more, and learned the number of children who fall victim to this every day.We quickly replaced our booster seat with a five point, tethered booster seat.  The one  we chose can be found here. At least now when I look back at her in my rear view mirror I see her in her seat, staying in one place.

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