Diagnosing Errors

For many car seats, parents have had two options: Using the seat belt in the car to attach the seat, or using the LATCH system – Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children – which most parents consider easier to use for installing the seat.

However, with a new federal rule that will take affect in early 2014, child safety-seat manufacturers will be required to tell parents not to use the LATCH system if their child and the car seat have a combined weight of 65 pounds or more.

Many car seats weigh as much as 15 to 33 pounds, so children as light as 32 pounds or as young as 3 may be affected by this new rule. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children remain in car seats with harnesses until they are 8.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers petitioned for the new rule because the strength of the lower tethers was not enough to assure the safety of heavier children. Other safety advocates say that seat belts need to be strengthened to reduce the risk of njuries to children.

Other problems have been noted with the LATCH system.

Last summer, a study by Safe Kids Worldwide found that community checkpoint technicians were only using lower anchors to attach child safety seats about 30 percent of the time, and parents were only using the top tethers about 30 percent of the time.

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One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from clients is regarding how they should handle damage to their vehicle when they have been involved in a car accident. Typically, the at-fault insurance company should accept responsibility for paying for repairs for your vehicle or for paying the fair-market value of your car if it was totaled. See : Durham lawyers There are times, however, when the at-fault insurance company does not accept liability, leaving you to wonder how your vehicle will be repaired or replaced.

Collision coverage offers you a way to protect your vehicle when the at-fault insurance company has not accepted liability. While there are certain exclusions from coverage, collision insurance usually provides that when your vehicle is involved in an accident, your insurance company will pay the lesser of actual cash value of the damaged property or the amount necessary to repair or replace the property. The actual cash value of the vehicle is not the amount it would cost to replace it, but rather the car’s value after taking into consideration the depreciation and physical condition of the car at the time of the accident. Any payment made by your insurance company will be reduced by any deductible on the policy.

In the event that the damage to your vehicle was caused by the wrongful act of another person, your insurance company may be subrogated to the claim for relief against that at-fault party. Simply put, this means that your insurance company who paid for the property damage may be reimbursed by the at-fault insurance company to the extent of its payment to you for your vehicle. Likewise, you may also be reimbursed by the at-fault party for any deductible you paid.

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