Recently, a member of Car-Seat.org was involved in a serious multi-vehicle pile-up outside of Houston TX.
An 18-wheel truck struck the rear of her Toyota mini-van with a family including three small children from Louisiana in the rear. The force crushed the rear of the van and pushed it into a new motor home that was stopped for traffic. The three children, ages 1, 2 and 3, were in child safety seats in the rear of the van. The van basically crushed around them.
But no one in her vehicle was seriously injured. No one. Not even the children.
Was this a miracle? Maybe a little bit. But this mother increased her kids' chances of surviving by rear-facing their car seats. When that truck slammed into the back of their van (within inches of her 2 year old's head), the force of impact pushed their bodies into the shells of the seats, cradling them and distributing crash forces safely. If they had been facing forward, the outcomes would have been significantly different.
Miracles do happen. But decisions we make beforehand help them happen when we need them.
