Car seats are one of the most important safety investments you’ll make for your child — but knowing when to replace one after an accident isn’t always straightforward.
While babyark car seats are built to last (and have no expiration date), any seat, regardless of brand, will need to be retired if it’s been compromised in a crash. And while you’d think there’d be an easy consensus as to what constitutes a crash, even that sometimes comes up for debate, and may impact recommendations by different manufacturers.
Let’s break down when it’s time to say goodbye to your car seat — and how babyark helps make that decision easier.
🚗 When Does a Car Seat Need to Be Replaced?
The general rule across all car seat manufacturers and safety organizations: if your seat was involved in more than a “minor” accident, it must be replaced immediately.
Even if it looks fine to the eye, hidden damage could affect how it protects your child in a future crash.
However, this is pretty much just the baseline, and even this varies based on manufacturer. Some recommend ditching your car seat even if it’s been involved in a minor incident. That is another reason why, as always, we recommend reading your car seat manual, especially when facing any fateful questions.
🛠 What Is a "Minor" Accident?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an accident is considered minor if all of the following are true:
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The vehicle can be driven away from the crash site.
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There was no damage to the door closest to the child seat.
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No injuries were sustained by anyone in the vehicle.
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No airbags were deployed.
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There is no visible damage to the car seat itself.
If even one of these isn’t true? It is not considered a minor accident.
Replace the seat. It's that simple.
And, for some manufacturers, even if all of these are true?
Replace the car seat.
The beauty of it is that you don’t even have to trust your (surely-wonderful) judgement, because your car seat manufacturer will have clear guidance in the manual. Which you should check.
Sounding a bit like a broken record right now with our “check your manual?”
Better a broken record than a broken car seat!
🔍 How Can I Tell If My Car Seat Was Damaged?
Damage to a car seat isn’t always obvious, and may vary from model to model or maker to maker, and will vary based on type of crash. We know that safety is paramount, but we also know life is exhausting, so whenever we can, we try to make things easier, and remove guesswork or propensity for human error.
That’s why we’ve built advanced crash detection into both our Classic and Smart babyark seats to make it easier to know when it’s wise to switch it out, even if the damage was suffered when no one was in the car!
For Classic Seats:
Look for physical signs of structural stress:
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Has the SafeCoil™ (the steel coil that absorbs energy during impact) visibly elongated?
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Are the top and bottom shells of the base misaligned?
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Was the side impact wing open on the side adjacent to the car door, and it shows signs of having “retreated” back into the structure of the car seat?
These signs mean it’s time to retire the seat.
For Smart Seats:
We've taken safety a step further with automated crash detection. If the crash is severe enough, you’ll know immediately through:
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The LED indicator on the base (with which you became familiar during the step-by-step installation guidance) is lit up in red.
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An alert from the babyark app, letting you know replacement is needed and directing you to support.
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A locked screen in the babyark app which will not allow use, leaving no room for confusion.
Even if another caregiver or family member was driving, or if the car was parked — babyark removes the guesswork.
🔁 When You Know You Know - the babyark Benefit
Choosing when to replace a car seat after a crash shouldn’t require a complex equation. And while the new generation of car seats come equipped with phenomenal safety features and are built sturdy, they must be replaced after a collision. The severity of the collision that requires replacement will vary by manufacturer so (yes, here it comes) make sure to check your manual!
We built babyark with high-strength, premium materials like aviation-grade steel, and state-of-the-art technology, so you know it’s built sturdy. But accidents (and collisions) happen, and when it comes to our precious treasures, it’s better to be safe than sorry. That means taking out as much of the guesswork as possible out of decisions of when it’s time for new.
With our engineering and smart technology, we’ve designed babyark seats to simplify post-crash safety decisions so you can focus on what matters most: your child’s wellbeing.
💬 Because Knowing Shouldn’t be a Luxury
Being involved in a collision is stressful enough, whether as driver or passenger. Knowing whether your child’s car seat is still safe shouldn't be another burden on the long list of what needs to be done post-crash.
When you choose babyark, you can rest assured that we’ll be here to guide you every step of the way. Because clarity should not be a luxury when it comes to child passenger safety.
Want to know more about how babyark protects your child in real-world conditions?
Read about our engineering for crash protection.
