All posts by Mike

Timothy Lee, 27, in Baton Rouge, LA, Killed in Car Crash

unsplash-spratt-flowers3Who:

Timothy Lee, 27, from Baton Rouge, was killed on 3/2/14 around 5:30 PM at the intersection of Thomas Rd and Scenic Highway in Baton Rouge, LA, in a 2003 Toyota Corolla, by a driver of a white 2013 Jeep Wrangler 4-door.

How:

Lee was at the Thomas / Scenic intersection stopped. He pulled west into the intersection trying to cross the highway and was impacted in the driver’s side by the northbound Wrangler. He died at the scene. Per police reports, neither speed nor alcohol factored in the crash. The Jeep driver had a passenger; neither were injured. All occupants were wearing seat belts.

Why:

It’s unclear why Lee pulled into the intersection; it’s possible he was distracted or likely that he simply didn’t see the Wrangler. Perhaps he thought he had time to pull out. Whatever the reason, here are the physics:

Given these dynamics, the 2003 Corolla weighs ~2584 lbs and is classified as a small car. It has a “poor” side score, since it did not come with side airbags standard. Had it, it would have had an “acceptable” rating, as evidenced by the Corollas of that era that came with optional side airbags. The 2013 Wrangler 4-door weighs ~4370 lbs as a midsize SUV. It had a “good” frontal crash score.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (~50 mph, which was the PSL), the collision likely imparted at least 495KJ of energy into the Corolla / Wrangler. The standard side impact test simulates 143KJ of energy (a 3300-lb sled impacting a vehicle at 31 mph). In other words, the Corolla occupant faced 346% of the force he’d have experienced in the types of crashes cars are side rated for. On top of this, his car already failed the side test due to imparting a life-ending amount of energy to the head of the crash test dummy.

Meanwhile, the Wrangler was designed to perform well in a frontal impact test simulating 284KJ of energy (i.e., a Wrangler impacting its twin at 40 mph). The Wrangler’s occupants faced 174% of these forces. Their survival was expected, despite the significantly higher forces, and is a testament to the “good” frontal score, the presence of front airbags, and the occupants’ use of seat belts.

I cannot recommend the Corolla, or any other vehicle that does not come standard with head/torso side airbags. The stakes are just too high.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

Evenflo Maestro Review: Why Buy the Evenflo Maestro?

When it comes to car safety, you can focus on driving safely and you can focus on choosing a safe car. However, if you have children, you also need to focus on choosing a safe car seat. This is one of a series of reviews I’ll write on what I consider to be the best car seats currently available in the United States.

Evenflo Maestro – What’s the big deal?

The Evenflo Maestro is one of Evenflo’s latest attempts to make the safe transportation of children more affordable for parents, regardless of income. It’s a combination car seat, which means it can be used in two configurations: as a forward-facing seat and as a booster. It’s not a super-stylish seat and it won’t let you forward-face forever, but it’ll keep kindergarteners strapped in safely, which makes is a combination car seat that should be on every parent’s budget shopping list.

Evenflo Maestro Limits for Weight and Height

Forward-facing: 22-50 pounds, and between 28 and 50″ in height.  The tops of your child’s ears must also be below the top of the headrest. The seated shoulder height of the child can extend to 18.” Your child should be at least 1-year-old. Of course, research into car safety indicates children should remain rear-facing for as long as possible (the average is 4 years in Sweden, which posts the lowest child fatality rate on Earth), and after rear-facing, the child should remain forward-facing as long as possible.

Booster mode: 40-110 pounds, and between 43″ and 57″ in height. Again, the tops of your child’s ears must also remain below the top of the headrest. The maximum seated shoulder height of the child is 19.”  Remember that children should remain in booster seats until their seat belts fit them over the shoulder, across the chest, and flat on the upper thighs.

Buy the Evenflo Maestro on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Dimensions of the Evenflo Maestro

The seat is 19″ wide at its widest point. The seat weighs 11 pounds and is 27″ tall.

Using the Evenflo Maestro

The installation is rather simple when using it as a forward-facing harnessed seat, and I love, love, love that it only weighs 11 pounds. This makes it a great seat to take along as a backup or to use when on the go. The fact that it’s also well under $100 also helps lighten the load.

There are some slight annoyances about the Maestro. For example, while the Maestro can also be used as a booster, which is great, the shoulder belt guide cannot be adjusted and is stuck at 19.” This means that once your child outgrows the Maestro in harnessed mode, which has a maximum shoulder height of 18″, it won’t be long before s/he outgrows the Maestro in booster mode.

I do like that LATCH anchors can be used to secure the Maestro when it’s being used as a booster. This keeps it from turning into a projectile in a collision when it’s not being used. Of course, you can also just buckle the booster every time it’s in the car, which is my preferred method for dealing with this issue.

Buy the Evenflo Maestro on Sale with Free Shipping at Amazon here.

Why Buy the Evenflo Maestro?

This is the meat and potatoes of this car seat. I’d consider the Evenflo Maestro simply because it’s a budget minded seat that will allow parents with tighter financial situations to keep their children harnessed longer. It’s easy to skip out on child safety when dealing with other challenges in the home, but this is not an issue to pass over lightly. A 3, 4, or even 5-year-old has no business being in a booster seat, and a seat like the Maestro can help keep such a child in a forward-facing harnessed seat, which has a significant safety advantage. This is why I’d buy the Maestro.

It’s not a seat that will allow you to keep a child forward-facing until 8, which is the age I’d recommend for a transition to a booster. The booster mode in the seat is not one that will last most children until they no longer need a booster, due to the inability to adjust the shoulder belt guide. To get these kinds of features, you’ll either need a combination seat like the Britax Frontier 90 or Pinnacle 90 or be willing to pick up a separate booster later on such as the Clek Oobr or Britax Parkway SGL.

However, if you’re looking for a cheap seat to keep a kindergartener harnessed, especially as a backup or travel seat, the Evenflo Maestro is hard to beat.

Finally, the Evenflo Maestro is also simply an easier seat to install than most, due to its narrow width of 19 inches. That means it’s actually possible to install 3 across in a number of midsized vehicles. I do wish that it had more than a 6-year usable life (remember, car seats do expire eventually).

The Evenflo Maestro is a nice budget car seat and, in my opinion, one of the best budget combination car seats currently available in the United States for children above the age of 4.  However, it’s highly unlikely that it will be the last seat your child needs before s/he is ready for a regular adult seat belt. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll want to consider a seat like the Britax Frontier 90 or Pinnacle 90. You can buy the Evenflo Maestro in a range of colors here. Canadians can buy it here.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

The Best Car Seats for Extended Rear Facing in the United States (by Weight Limit)

If you’ve read this blog, you’ll know that I’m an advocate for extended rear-facing when it comes to keeping our children safe. Extended rear-facing is simply an easy-to-remember term for keeping children rear-facing in their car seats longer than the typical amount of time, which, according to current US law is 1 year. But 1 year just isn’t enough.

The AAP recommends 2 years, which is better, but we can still do so much better. Best practices dictates rear-facing as long as possible, and in the country where children rear-face until 4, Sweden, they lose almost no children to car collisions every year. If you’d like to learn more about Swedish driving practices, here is some additional reading on why Swedish roads are so safe.

Our population is several times larger than Sweden’s, which means that even if every child between 0 and 4 here were rear-facing, we’d still unfortunately have some fatalities. However, the truth is that the number of fatalities would be much, much lower than it currently is. This is precisely why I believe it’s worth spending a little extra to keep your children rear-facing a lot longer. The body is simply protected more efficiently through rear-facing compared to through forward-facing in a crash. Extended rear-facing works, and it’s worth doing with every child, every time. The seats below have the highest weight limits available today in the United States at 50 pounds.

50 Pounds

fooThe Clek Foonf – Full review here, buy here. The Clek Foonf is the current flagship seat of Canadian car seat maker Clek. Rear-facing: 14-50 pounds, and 25-43″ in height. Your child should be able to sit upright without assistance, which typically isn’t reached by most infants until after 6 months, and his or her head should not reach past 1″ below the top of the headrest.

The Foonf is one of the best seats for making sure kids actually reach the useful limits of the seat, as it measures around 26.5″ in shell height when the headrest is extended to its fullest position. Most seats top out at 23″ or 24″ in shoulder height, which means a lot of children will outgrow them by weight before doing so by height. Clek took note of this and made sure to provide a usable height range throughout the weight range of the seat.

purplerainierThe Diono Rainier – Full review here, buy here. The Diono Rainier is US car seat maker Diono’s current flagship. It can be used rear-facing from 5-50 pounds, and up to 44″ in height. Your child’s head should not reach past 1.5″ below the top of the headrest.

I measure the shell height at 25″ again, which is consistent with previous Dionos and which makes sense since the general height limit by Diono remains unchanged from that of previous models. This is slightly shorter than the highest headrest position achievable in the Clek Foonf, but is still excellent and is likely to enable children to rear-face for several years, and for several to reach the weight limit for the seat.

pacificaThe Diono Pacifica – Full review here, buy here. The Diono Pacifica is essentially the same seat as the Diono Rainier, with the exception of the headwings that are present in the Rainier. It can be used rear-facing between 5-50 pounds, and up to 44″ in height. Your child’s head should not reach past 1.5″ below the top of the headrest.

I measure the shell height at 25″ again, which is consistent with previous Dionos and which makes sense since the general height limit by Diono remains unchanged from that of previous models. This is slightly shorter than the highest headrest position achievable in the Clek Foonf, but is still excellent and is likely to enable children to rear-face for several years, and for several to reach the weight limit for the seat.

fllopThe Clek Fllo – Full review here, buy here. The Clek Fllo is the newest member on the list of honor in extended rear-facing as only the 4th seat on the market to allow 50 pounds of rear-facing. Its weight limits span 14 to 50 pounds, just as those in the Foonf, while its height limits span 25 to 43 inches, just as those in the Foonf.

The Fllo, however, weighs significantly less than the Foonf, at 25 pounds compared to 38 pounds. The seat width remains almost exactly the same at 16.9 inches in the Fllo vs 17 inches in the Foonf. The front-to-back length is 29 inches without the anti-rebound bar and 32.5 in with; both are smaller than the fixed 33 inches in the Foonf. The seat height at 23.5 inches is several inches shorter than the 25.75 inches in the Foonf.

Keep in mind that each of these seats also offers a forward-facing option, but the key point is that none of these forward-facing options should be used until they absolutely have to. Each change in a seating position, whether from rear-facing to forward-facing, or from forward-facing to boostering, or from boostering to the use of a seat belt, represents a reduction in safety. The longer a child stays in an earlier phase of seat, as long as it still fits and is installed correctly, the safer the child is, whether that child is a newborn or a 10-year-old.

I look forward to updating this list in the coming years as more manufacturers of car seats in the United States realize that there is a growing, ready, and willing market of parents and child safety advocates who are eager to protect their children by keeping them rear-facing long beyond the official recommendations or barebones laws currently in the United States. There are seats that rear-face past 50 pounds available in Sweden, of course, but those are not legally available in the United States, which is why we need to continue to spread the word that rear-facing is the way to go.

At the same time, don’t forget that there are also seats available that allow for extended rear-facing even when they don’t have the highest weight limits. The Graco Size4Me is a great example of a seat with a 40 pound weight limit but height limits that exceed those of the seats with higher weight limits. It’s also significantly cheaper, which makes it more affordable for families with smaller budgets. In fact, there are great options for extended rear-facing and harnessing at virtually every budget. What matters is that you use whatever seat you have as long as you can, and don’t shift to a less protective configuration until you have to.

Remember, when you know better, you do better. Please rear-face to the limits, and encourage everyone you know to do so as well.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

13 month old girl near Wadesboro, NC, Killed in Car Crash

unsplash-filonenko-flowersWho:

Alexis Hooper, 13 months, was killed on 12/25/13, from injuries sustained in a crash between the 2007 Volkswagen Jetta in which she was riding and a 2001 Dodge Intrepid on U.S. 74 West close to Morven Freight Line Rd near Wadesboro, NC. Hooper was riding with her father, Alexander, 24, mom, Kelsey, and younger brother, Caleb, all of whom were injured but survived. In the Intrepid were Thomas Clay Davis, 49, the driver, and his wife, Saundra, who were also injured. Saundra required extrication.

How:

Per reports, the Hoopers were westbound on US 74 when they collided with the eastbound Intrepid at around 4:01 PM. The Jetta crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. The engine compartments of both vehicles burst into flames after the impact; however, the flames were extinguished before they could reach the passenger compartments. Both drivers were cleared of speeding, driving while impaired, or while fatigued. Alexis was also reportedly fastened in a child seat that had been installed properly. Her father was later charged with crossing the center line. His mother-in-law stated that he was a truck driver and that she believes he nodded off.

Why:

It’s unclear why Alex crossed the center line, but it almost certainly was due to distraction or a similar lapse of concentration. Reports showed he received a text four minutes before the crash, but it is unknown whether he read it before crash. Whatever the reason, it was a tragic turn of events that led to the death of a child.

The 2007 Jetta is a safe car, as measured by driver death rates and by its features and crash scores. It weighs ~3214 lbs and comes with a “good” IIHS frontal score. It was impacted by a 2001 Intrepid that weighs approximately 3505 lbs. As a result, the Jetta occupants faced 9% more force than they’d have faced colliding with another Jetta, placing them at a slight disadvantage. The Intrepid occupants experienced 9% less force.

Given the likely speeds of the collision (55 mph), the collision likely imparted at least 481KJ of energy into the Jetta. The Jetta frontal impact test simulates 233KJ of energy (a Jetta impacting another at 40 mph). In other words, the Jetta occupants faced 205% of the force they’d have experienced in the type of crash their car was rated for. Given the speed of the collision, their odds of survival were very possible, reflected in the survival of all but one passenger, Alexis. We’ll return to this in a moment.

The Intrepid frontal test simulated 254KJ of energy (a Intrepid impacting another at 40 mph), indicating that its occupants would have faced 174% of the forces it was rated to safely withstand, given that the Jetta imparted 441KJ of energy into the Intrepid. While these were still tremendous forces, these were again survivable forces, reflected in the survival of both occupants. The need for extrication is likely because the Intrepid only had an “acceptable” structural score and had two “marginal” scores for leg protection, giving it an overall “acceptable” frontal score.

The child should not have died in this crash, and it is a horrific tragedy that she passed away from her injuries. The fact that every individual in both vehicle, including another child, survived, indicates that the survival spaces of both vehicles were sufficiently maintained and that survival was indeed possible. So why did she pass away?

We don’t know for sure, but I have to wonder if she was seated in a forward facing child seat, as in the United States, children are rarely rear faced once they either outgrow infant seats or reach age 1. This is despite the fact that the NHTSA and other safety organizations recommend rear facing children as long as possible, due to the great safety advantage it provides. Had Alexis been in a rear-facing car seat, perhaps she might have survived the collision–just as everyone else in both vehicles did. Had they known better, I believe with every fiber they would have done better, as would have any parent.

Extended rear-facing saves lives. Please don’t stop at the law; follow best practices. When you know better, you’ve got to do better.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

What the Mazda 5’s Safety Scores Mean for Your Family

From reading this blog, you’ll know that when it comes to best practices in car safety, I advocate both driving safely and choosing your vehicles thoughtfully (which also extends to choosing a safe vehicle for your teenager, if you have one). Driving is one of the most dangerous things people do on a daily basis, and it makes sense to take it seriously and do everything possible to drive safely. With that said, sometimes the vehicle end of driver safety brings unwelcome surprises, and that was recently the case with the Mazda 5.

The IIHS finally got around to testing the Mazda 5, and the results were less than stellar.

Poor small overlap performance in the Mazda 5

Injury measures taken from the dummy indicate a high risk of injuries to the left thigh and left lower leg in a real-world crash this severe. The steering wheel moved to the right, and the dummy’s head barely contacted the front airbag before sliding off the left side. The safety belt allowed the dummy’s head and torso to move too far forward, so the head made contact with the left side of the dashboard. The side curtain airbag didn’t deploy at all, exposing the head to contacts with side structure and outside objects. Plus, the driver door unlatched during the test, something that shouldn’t happen and puts occupants at risk of being ejected from the vehicle.

In other words, in the small overlap collision, the Mazda 5 performed poorly. The most significant issues I see in the “poor” small overlap score are in the load levels placed on the left femur (11 kN); this points to a high likelihood of a broken thigh-bone, which is an extremely painful and limiting injury. Beyond that, the door opening means it would be easy to be flung out of the vehicle if any issues whatsoever occurred with the seat belt. Being ejected in a collision severely increases your odds of dying, whether by the trauma of contacting the ground, a tree, etc, or by the trauma of being run over by a passing vehicle. Doors shouldn’t open in any collisions.

Poor side impact performance in the Mazda 5



The second issue with the Mazda 5 involved its side impact scores:

The Mazda 5 earns a marginal rating in the side impact test. That also makes it the only 2014-model car the Institute has evaluated to earn anything less than acceptable in the side test. Most models earn a good rating. Measures taken from the driver dummy indicate a likely pelvis fracture, and measures taken from the dummy seated in the rear passenger seat indicate that rib fractures and/or other internal organ injuries would be possible in a crash of this severity.

The wording here makes it sound as if the Mazda 5 was the only new vehicle to score less than well on the side test, which isn’t true; when the IIHS says “car”, they mean “car”, and not “minivan” or “SUV” of any kind, which means that vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler 4-Door, which also scored a “marginal” side impact score, don’t count here, as they classify the Wrangler as a “mid-sized SUV.” That said, the score is still unacceptable.

What does this mean for my family and child’s safety?

It means that the Mazda 5 isn’t as safe of an option for transport as its fellow minivans, such as the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a safe vehicle. It has a good moderate overlap front score and a good roof score. It has side airbags and ESC. The small overlap score is poor, yes, but you can generally assume that the score would have been poor for every other vehicle without a small overlap score except for Volvo, which has been testing for the small overlap collision since the 1980s. The side score should be much better, but it’s still better than what you can expect from just about any vehicle that doesn’t have side curtain airbags, and the majority of vehicles did not have those until a few years ago.

In other words, this doesn’t mean you need to sell your Mazda 5. It just means that there are areas in need of significant improvement. To minimize your risks of death or injury in the Mazda 5, follow safe driving practices; they make much, much more of a difference than whether the small overlap and side scores are good or not.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.