Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

According to Consumer Reports, car seats for infants (the rear-facing seats for infants up to about one year in age) usually fail in broadside crashes -- 10 of 12 models tested failed, some "disastrously" (the seat often separated completely from its base). One popular model -- the Evenflo Discovery -- failed not just in broadside collisions but also in head-on collisions.

One possible explanation for the failures: the manufacturers are only required to test infant seats in head-on collisions, despite that about 30 infants in the United States die each year in broadside collisions.

Parents are cautioned, however, that holding an infant in your arms during car travel is not a safe alternative.

While it appears that some work is being done to improve these infant seats, we need quick action -- including legislation or regulation requiring that these infant seats withstand side-impact collisions -- if we want to save our precious children from death, brain injury and other unspeakable tragedies .

Traffic deaths in the United States in 2005 -- 43,443 -- reached their highest levels since 1990, according to government statistics cited by the Insurance Journal, The increase was more than 1 percent compared to 2004.

This increase was attributed in part to increased deaths from motorcycle and pedestrian accidents. One possible explanation for the spike in this particular segment of the population is that -- as our urban/suburban populations rise, and our roads and highways become more crowded -- we as drivers focus most on what endangers us -- the bigger, looming objects on the roads like trucks and SUV's -- and we don't look for or just don't see the smaller figures on the roads like motorcyclists and pedestrians.

The lessons to all of us? Driving is not just about protecting ourselves; it's also about looking for and protecting others, especially those who most need our protection -- like the elderly pedestrian who is not alert or the child running mindlessly across a neighborhood street.

On October 5, 2006, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Virginia -- a non-profit organization focused on reducing injuries and deaths on our roadways -- published the results of a new study on the safety benefits of side airbags.

The study's findings included:

1) side airbags substantially reduce the risk of death;

2) side airbags that protect people's heads are especially effective;

3) side airbags that protect only the chest and abdomen (but not the head) reduce risks at a significantly lower rate;

4) side airbags protect at a higher rate against deaths from crashes not only with cars but also with the higher-riding vehicles such as SUVs and pickups (occupants' heads are especially vulnerable in collisions with SUVs or pickups).

5) since 2003 all car models with good ratings in the crash tests have had side airbags, and very few poor performers in the crash tests have had side airbags.

The Institute's VP for research and an author of the study has stated that:

We found lower fatality risks across the board — among older and younger drivers, male and female drivers, and drivers of both small cars and larger passenger vehicles.

Moral of the story: when you choose a new riding machine, it's OK to spend some time on ordering color, horsepower and the like, but don't forget to order air bags "on the side." It's the smart, brainy thing to do, and it may be a death-defying act.