On August 30, 2008, Joel and his mother were involved in a front car crash. Joel, at 18 mos & 33lbs, was in his front facing car seat. And still..broke his neck Why?
 
   Click here
      to view
  Joel's video

This website will
touch on what
happened during
that accident. But more importantly, what was learned from this tragic event, and what other parents may want to know to prevent it!!  The benefits of extended rear facing your child.

A few days following the crash, "grandpa" posted the story on a few car seat safety blogs, with hundreds of replies to his story. That response inspired this website & video
to be created.
The original blogs can be found at:
               (click on either to view the story)
Car-Seat.org   and  Carseatdata.org
 




Visitors since 12/7/08
Add this page to your favorites.
This website discusses
rear facing vs front facing * car seat safety * extended rear facing beyond 12 mos / 20 lbs * children in car seats and crash tests
Turning a child front facing
is not "mandatory" at
12 mos / 20 lbs!!

Contrary to popular belief....
it is not recommended by NHTSA or AAP!!
5
** AAP News  April 2009 **      Keep your toddler in a rear-facing car seat until age 2 (not 1)

** American Academy
of Pediatrics News 4/6/09 **

Keep your toddler
in a rear-facing car seat
until age 2 (not 1)
(read it here)


MSN REPORTS
NEW STUDY

REAR FACING OLDER CHILDREN IS SAFER
( CLICK HERE)

" A review of US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data on crashes between 1998 and 2003 involving 870 children concluded that rear-facing seats were better at protecting kids up to 23 months across all types of accidents."   source: MSN.COM   6/11/2009


Hello?? When will NHTSA truly educate the public of the increased risks of front facing??
Updated : 7/18/2010
Questions ?
"What about my child's legs?"
"My child is miserable rear-facing."
( click here)

**NEW 2010** ERF CAR SEAT
Rear-Facing Weight Limits
up to 45 Lbs.
(P.S....search the internet for discount coupons)

( read it here)
October 13, 2009 ** Joel's surgery..
                   
13 months after the accident, Joel had shoulder surgery today to repair damaged nerves in his right shoulder (brachial plexus injury). After a 4 hour surgery the doctors "poked" his arm, while still sedated, and it flinched........which is a great sign!! More updates will follow . Be sure to check back on    "Joels Progress" page.

Thanks to everyone for the emails of concern,
and the prayers!!
8 weeks after the accident
10/13/2009
Rear-facing
child
in a "rear end" collision?
(read it here)

10/25/2009
Dear Grandpa.....
We recieve emails from all over the world.  These are our motivation.........

info@joelsjourney.org
Sent: Monday, March 1, 2010 11:17:12 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: Thank you!

I watched the video about Joel’s story a little over a year ago when my son was about to turn 1. More than any other piece of information, those images convinced me to keep my son rear-facing. A lot of friends and family questioned me, even my husband at first, but I still have him rear-facing.

We were in a car accident yesterday, and my son was unharmed. My husband and I sustained neck and back injuries but Javier didn’t have a scratch on him. Thank you so much for educating parents about this!

About the accident, it was definitely not as serious as Joel's and his mom's. It was a 3 car crash and we were right in the middle. The strongest impact was from behind. The car in front of us braked suddenly for a another car, we managed to stop just short of that car, but the car behind us didn't. It seems the driver was not looking to the front and she was also not keeping her distance, she never even touched the brakes and slammed into us at about 40 mph. We were thrown several yards forward and hit the car in front of us. The car behind us was a small car (Mazda 3), we were driving a Ford Escape, so the Mazda looked much more damaged, but our car has a lot of hidden damage, more than we thought at first. The Mazda sort of wedged itself under our SUV on impact, even lifting our car a few inches, so the floor of our trunk is practically destroyed. The damage almost reached the backseat, the stroller and spare tire were thrown upwards.

Javier, who is 25 months old, was sitting in his Britax Boulevard in the middle seat, rear-facing of course! My husband and I have neck sprains. Fortunately our injuries are not serious. Javier was pretty shaken up, but he was not hurt. I just think what whiplash could've done to his little neck if he'd been facing forward and it sends chills down my spine. 

I hope our story is helpful, feel free to use it for the website.

God bless you..
UPDATE - March 3, 2010

Joel's movement of his right arm is greatly improved!  Follow up nerve conduction tests scheduled for next week.
Details to follow..
Tell a friend about this page
           Did you know....
Although NHTSA "rates" carseats on their website, they don't run "crash" tests with  "dummies" in the carseats to see the effects on a babys neck/body in a crash ?
        (seems pretty basic to me...)