Shannon Rose tells the story of the accident that happened when an 83 year old man ran a red light and broadsided their minivan and her daughter's seatbelt unlatched and son's seatbelt did not tighten.
It was Oct 12, 2005 and I had just picked my oldest son up from school. There was a car in front of me that made a left when the light turned green & I too followed. I saw the car coming to my left & just knew he was going to hit me & tried to speed up.
Due to the fact it was down pouring, I wasn't able to and he hit me on the drivers side. My van spun around & I was now facing the opposite direction I had been, in the middle of a very busy street. Shocked (and without my cell) I didn't know what to do. I turned around to my children crying and my 19 month old daughter's car seat was tipped over.
Her seat belt strap had come undone upon impact.
The lady behind me (a nurse) came to my van and lent me her cell phone to call my grandparents and husband. Four people had called 911 and the police arrived as I was calling my grandparents.
I backed my van off the main highway and the fire dept put a blue tarp over my van so the kids wouldn't get wet while getting into the ambulance.
My grandparents arrived at the hospital before us and the hospital knew we were on our way (which freaked them out because it's a trauma hospital). My son with autism arrived first, then the rest of us got there. My husband had to pass the accident scene only to see my van with a blue tarp covering it (of course thinking the worst.)
Thankfully my daughter was ok and my son with autism was ok, just scared...My oldest hit his head on the seat in front of him (because the seatbelts didn't lock up nor did the side impact airbags deploy.)
To this day he has terrible headaches. I, being pregnant and so early, they had to do an ultrasound and found a small bleed. I had/have terrible back pain and delivered my daughter early who went into respiratory distress and ended up in NICU. She will begin early intervention as she is almost 11 months and not able to crawl; if she falls over isn't able to get herself back up.
The thing that got me was the man blamed me for hitting him which was impossible. I think it's about time they have stronger laws for those that cause such horrible accidents. I'm thankful we all walked away but it breaks my heart to hear of others who have lost their loved ones because of someone being careless..
Thank you for passing along the message to others. It's a very strong message that I hope everyone listens too..
(((hugs & prayers)))
Shannon Rose
Makayla in the NICU
This is how we had to bond with her:
Jeremy - turning 5 years now
Eric Jason
My van: (he had a cavalier that was totaled. My van thankfully wasn't, but had over $10,000 in damage. Because of the rain, the inside got all wet & Megan's seat had to be replaced.
***Please note that to determine if a car seat needs to be replaced after an accident, please follow NHTSA guidelines - Replacement of Child Seats after a Collision
Also note, that your car insurance should cover the replacement cost of your car seats that have to be relaced because of a collision.
