Mom's 'Nagging' Text Before Crash Likely Kept Son Safe

MEMPHIS, TN — A Tennessee mom who sent a “nagging” text message to her husband about their child’s car seat not being tightened fast enough may have ultimately kept their son safe just moments later, she believes.

Rebecca Tafaro Boyer, a Memphis resident, shared what happened in a Facebook post last month that has since been shared thousands of times. Tafaro Boyer wrote that on her first day back from maternity leave, she asked her husband, David Boyer, to send her hourly updates about their son because it was his first day away from her.

Around 2:15, her husband texted her from Walgreens.

“Little man is out,” Boyer wrote in the text and attached a photo of their son in his car seat, according to a screenshot posted by Tafaro Boyer. “We are running errands today.”

Tafaro Boyer wrote back.

“My nagging wife reply was to correct William’s position in the car seat – the straps were too loose and the chest clip was way too low,” she explained on Facebook. “And because I know my husband, I’m sure that he laughed at me and rolled his eyes before tightening the car seat and fixing the chest clip.”

Boyer told a local news outlet in Memphis that he fixed the straps and chest clip.

Just 15 minutes later, Boyer called his wife to say they had been in a car crash. The car was totaled but both he and his son were okay.

According to Tafaro Boyer, a woman pulled into oncoming traffic to try and make a quick left turn and her husband didn’t have enough time to stop. He ended up slamming the brakes at nearly 50 miles per hour, she wrote.

Boyer broke his foot in three places and has three dislocated toes but her son didn’t even wake up during the crash.

“My precious little bundle of joy was so well restrained in his car seat, THAT HE DIDN’T EVEN WAKE UP,” Tafaro Boyer wrote.

She wrote how grateful she was that her husband to took the extra one minute to put their child in the seat safely. She says she can’t even begin to imagine how different the outcome could have been.

In her post, Tafaro Boyer also took the time to explain proper child car safety features and what to do with a car seat after a crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has information on choosing the right type of car seat for your child. For newborns, the NHTSA recommends a rear-facing car seat till at least age 1. Once you find the right car seat, the NHTSA says parents should understand parts and tips used for installation, follow their detailed car seat installation instructions and get the car seat inspected. The NHTSA also says car seats should be registered.

In her post, Tafaro Boyer wrote that after the crash, they discarded the car seat per the NHTSA’s recommendations.

“NHTSA recommends that car seats be replaced following a moderate or severe crash in order to ensure a continued high level of crash protection for child passengers,” the agency says. “Car seats do not automatically need to be replaced following a minor crash.”

You can read more about car seats and car seat safety here.

You can read Tafaro-Boyer’s full post here.

Image via Shutterstock