Britax Multi Tech saves a life!

A large number of parents daily send emails to www.CarSeat.se with all sorts of great questions about rear facing and the Swedish car seats.  The  email below is a little different (and scary) since it involves a terrible crash. Many thanks to A-L in Finland for the actual photo of the crashed car and for getting the story from the mother:

The accident took place in Finland November 2008, on Fathers Day.  Mother and daughter were on their way to grandma in their Nissan Primera Hatchback -05.  Daughter was 9 months old and sat rear facing in the back seat in her Britax Multi Tech which was only a month or two old.

Mother was in the early stages of a pregnancy and constantly felt exhausted.  After a while she was so tired she had to stop and walk around for a while before continuing to drive.  Mother then continued driving but unfortunately fell asleep at the wheel shortly thereafter……

Her car crossed the middle lane at 50 MPH (80 km/h), continued across lane going in opposite direction, hit a ditch on side of road and then hit a large pile of timber.  Her car then flipped four times.

All windows shattered and there was glass everywhere.  Trunk of the car popped open, the stroller was found in the woods.  Airbag deployed which meant mother remained protected by airbag and seat belt.  Injuries to the mother consisted  luckily only of scrapes from all the broken glass.

Daughter, who had been asleep in her Multi Tech was perfectly fine except for a few scrapes from all the broken glass.  Mother made it out of the car by herself but could not reach her daughter since doors were impossible to open.  Daughters car seat looked like nothing happened.  It hadn’t moved an inch and support leg was just were it was supposed to be.  Everything was working perfectly when she was lifted out of the car.

Firemen and ambulance staff  scene were impressed: “If she hadn’t had such a great car seat she never would have made it. It’s one of the best car seats we’ve seen, we especially like the wings on the head support”.

The mother had purchased her Britax Multi Tech on “gut feeling”.  Salesperson had recommended a far cheaper car seat but she felt strongly about having a safe rear facing car eat with nice head support. Her new replacement seat after the accident was not surprisingly another Multi Tech.

Daughter in the accident has now become a big sister and everything is going well.  Mother is planning on an additional Multi Tech when her youngest daughter is old enough.

Terrible accident with a great ending.  Is Britax Multi Tech that much safer than other Swedish rear facing car seats?  The answer is no.  Multi Tech is a great seat with nice head support which keeps children rear facing longer than any other seat in the world but safety is equally great in other seats such as DuoLogic, Britax Hi-Way, Britax Two-Way, Maxi Cosi Mobi, and Izikid Isofix.

The important thing is for children to remain rear facing as long as possible, preferably to age 4or longer.  The child above was 9 months old and sitting rear facing.  What would have happened if she was sitting forward facing at this age?  It’s very likely this terrible crash would have ended very badly for the daughter with death or serious injury as a result.