Even though I spent 18 years of my life taking care of the aftermath of car crashes as a firefighter and paramedic, spending a few days at a crash test facility really drives home how sudden and violent car crashes are. There is just a ton of energy that needs to be managed.
A car seat is there to as best we can pre crash position a child for the best possible outcome.
There is no guarantee that we can eliminate or mitigate or prevent all injuries in car crashes. The best we can do is try to put the odds in our favor.
We do that by using car seats designed to distribute the crash energy over as much of the body as possible and contact the strongest parts of the body. And for first time, pregnant women can pre crash position the seat belt in a way that redirects the crash energy away from their unborn child with the Tummy Shield.
It is so important to realize that there is massive amounts of energy to manage and we (nor any car safety product manufacturer) cannot claim we are able to prevent all injuries but we are putting the odds in mom’s and baby’s favor.
Using the Tummy Shield to redirect the crash energy away from the abdomen also is helpful in other situations in addition to pregnancy like after a c-section or other abdominal surgery.
We’re so happy to be able to offer these products to help save lives. The sad reality is the existing seat belt system was never designed for the pregnant mother and her unborn baby. There is nothing in the federal standards that test for that. In fact there have been tests done since the 1960s and 70s that demonstrated there is concern for the fetus but until the Tummy Shield there hasn’t been a better way.
While car manufacturers have come a long way over the years with features to increase survivability and prevent injuries, we still have to take responsibility of further increasing our safety.
We want to know, have you ever watched a crash test and been in awe of the power of crash energy involved? Share your comments below.
By Greg Durocher, CEO at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Technician Instructor since 2002
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