Say Route 1 accident underscores the potential dangers
By: Lacey Korevec
Police say an accident that injured two young children is a perfect example of what can happen when children are not properly secured with seat belts and car seats.
According to police, a brother and sister were admitted to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick with injuries suffered in an accident on Route 1 on Saturday morning when their parents’ car hit a utility pole south of Beekman Road. Police said both the children have since been released from the hospital.
The 8-year-old girl suffered head injuries and a broken arm, according to police. Her 3-year-old brother was treated for a contusion.
Their father, Mohmedhus Mansuri, 41, who was driving, was uninjured. Their mother, Kaufer Mansuri, 38, complained of head and back pain and was taken to the hospital along with her children, according to the press release.
The mother and two children were later released, but police could not say when.
Police said that their 2005 Honda Element swerved off the road into the telephone after Ms. Mansuri, who was in the passenger seat, accidentally knocked her husband’s arm when she reached to get something in the vehicle. The accident was still under investigation and no charges had been filed by the South Brunswick Post’s Wednesday deadline.
The 8-year-old, who was not secured by a seat belt, struck her head on the gearshift after being tossed forward between the two front seats. The 3-year-old’s car seat chest straps were not properly secured and he struck his head on the back of the driver’s seat.
"If they were seat-belted in, there probably would have been a great reduction of injuries to all of the occupants in the vehicle," Officer Drost said.
Parents should make sure children are riding in the back seat and buckled, he said.
"It’s only required for front seat passengers to be restrained and then children up to 8 years old or under 80 pounds have to be in some sort of safety seat," Officer Drost said. "The young boy, they had him in a car seat but it wasn’t applied properly, which caused him to come out of his seat."
A car seat that is not secured properly doesn’t protect a child from being injured in a crash, he said.
"It’s the obligation of the parents, starting from day one coming home from the hospital, to teach kids that you need to wear your seat belt and you need to be in your car seat."
Not all car seats work for every car, but parents need to take the extra step and make sure they buy what works for their children and their car, Officer Drost said. Many stores now allow customers to bring the seat outside to see if it can be properly secured in their vehicle before purchasing it, he said.
"The most expensive seat is not always the one that’s right for your child or for your vehicle," he said, adding that many parents buy car seats based on whether or not they match the interior of the car and not on how safe they are.
He recommends that parents who have children who do not like to wear seat belts or who fuss when getting into car seats, not to drive anywhere until the children are secured.
"You have to follow through on what you say," he said. "’The car doesn’t move until you’re seat-belted.’"
Investigators are faced with so many more injuries because of people who do not wear seat belts, he said.
"There’s been plenty of cases of accidents where, if the person was wearing a seat belt, they would have been standing outside the car waiting for us to arrive instead of in the car, injured," he said.
Car seats that have already been involved in an accident should be replaced right away, he said.
"People have to understand, there’s three collisions in every crash," he said. "There’s the vehicle hitting whatever the other object is. The second collision is the occupant within the vehicle making contact with the dashboard, the windshield or making contact with their seat belt, and then the third collision is your internal organs or your brain also makes a collision within your body. That’s what causes internal injuries."