# A Good Example of Why a Car Seat Should Be Made Unusable Before Being Thrown Away



## treehugginhippie (Nov 29, 2004)

http://sarasota.craigslist.org/bab/1372023710.html

Quote taken from above listing:

Quote:

YES, I ALSO LIVE IN GULF GATE AREA.
I PUT IT IN THE TRASH AND SOMEONE IN MY AREA PICKED IT UP
AND IS TRYING TO SELL IT
IT ISNT SAFE AT ALL

THIS CAR SEAT HAS BEEN IN A MAJOR ACCIDENT
THE STRAPS ARE WORE AND WILL NOT HOLD A CHILD IN CASE OF ANOTHER ACCIDENT.
THE VECHILE WAS MARKED AS TOTALED
I WAS TOLD BY INSURANCE TO PUT CAR SEAT IN TRASH, I WAITED TILL THAT EVENING BUT SOMEONE CAME BY AND TOOK IT
AND THEN TRYED TO SELL IT STATED IT HAS NEVER HAD AN ACCIDENT
Listing for said car seat







: http://sarasota.craigslist.org/bab/1369829457.html

I'm very glad that the person who was in the accident posted this warning! But I feel ill thinking that the person who picked it up from the trash is selling car seats that have been thrown away! And claiming they've never been in a wreck, could be expired, etc!!!! And he/she states that they have others!! And if someone unknowingly buys one of these to put their child in it...OMG I don't even want to think about what could happen!

I am assuming this person has no idea the risks associated w/ this practice (selling thrown away car seats). But I must make him/her aware ASAP. How should I do this? Gosh, I hope they won't continue to do this.


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## NettleTea (Aug 16, 2007)

I'm confused. One listing is for an "eddie bauer" seat and one is for an "evenflo" seat. Either way, that is disturbing.


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## treehugginhippie (Nov 29, 2004)

The Eddie Bauer one must be one of the "extras" the seller has.


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## Equuskia (Dec 16, 2006)

Why don't you call the police and see if they would be interested in talking to the guy?


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

I kept mine laying in my yard for a long time after the wreck because I feared if I put them in the garbage someone would get them out of the dump. I took them totally apart and was going to throw the straps out then a week later the seat then I thought someone might buy replacement stuff so I just let them lay until one day I was burning the trash and thought hum they prolly wont burn but they may get melty enough that I can then throw them out with no worries about someone taking them.

So I put them by the barrel I burn in and to my surprise they totally burned up. I know bad for the environment. But I didnt think they would burn that way. Totally gone.


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## gillibean (Nov 28, 2006)

That's just awful. When our infant bucket expired our kids had a great time beating it up then I finished it off with an axe before taking it to the dump. I was so concerned about someone trying to use it.


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

When I had to destroy my two MAs, I cut every strap/buckle off the seat, tore out the foam, wrote all over the shell "do not use", put it in a black trashbag, dumped used, nasty cat litter all over it. and threw it in the bottom of my trashcan.


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## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

We live out in the middle of nowhere (last folks on a dead end dirt road; closest neighbors 7/10 of a mile away...), so I just don't generally worry about folks going through our trash... is this really that much of a problem? People taking trashed seats and trying to resell them?? And... isn't it perfectly legal to take anything thats set on the curb/in the trash?? So not sure what calling the cops would do for the op??


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

I think in our city, once you put the trash in the bin and the bin on the curb, the trash legally becomes the property of the Bureau of Sanitation, and it's stealing to take stuff from it. This is at the very least the case for recyclables.

I've been meaning to get a sledgehammer to finish off the Evenflo Portabout shell that's sitting in my back yard.


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## Equuskia (Dec 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamadelbosque* 
We live out in the middle of nowhere (last folks on a dead end dirt road; closest neighbors 7/10 of a mile away...), so I just don't generally worry about folks going through our trash... is this really that much of a problem? People taking trashed seats and trying to resell them?? And... isn't it perfectly legal to take anything thats set on the curb/in the trash?? *So not sure what calling the cops would do for the op??*

Child endangerment?


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## akat (Jun 30, 2009)

I don't understand how the person in the OP knows that that is her carseat in the listing? Couldn't someone else in Sarasota have the same carseat and it's a coincidence?

[although this is a great topic and I'm glad to have been made aware of it - we've kept all our carseats so far for the second baby but when it's time I'll be sure to destroy them. I never would have thought of this.]


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## childsplay (Sep 4, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MCatLvrMom2A&X* 
I kept mine laying in my yard for a long time after the wreck because I feared if I put them in the garbage someone would get them out of the dump. I took them totally apart and was going to throw the straps out then a week later the seat then I thought someone might buy replacement stuff so I just let them lay until one day I was burning the trash and thought hum they prolly wont burn but they may get melty enough that I can then throw them out with no worries about someone taking them.

So I put them by the barrel I burn in and to my surprise they totally burned up. I know bad for the environment. But I didnt think they would burn that way. Totally gone.


I burned one of ours too. ( A Peg infant/bucket seat) It wasn't expired, but I had accidently backed over it (well, backed into it and it got caught under my truck and dragged all over my driveway) and ended up with MAJOR VISABLE stress marks in the shell, a crack in the handle and the whole thing was twisted, including the base which would no longer sit flat, but rather rocked side to side in an uneven kind of way, the fabric, however wasn't too bad, just some wear on one side and a bit of grease/dirt.
I pulled the straps out and took the cover off but thats as far as I got. Two days later DH taked the trash out, carseat included and piles it at the curb. Anywho, I'm coming down my driveway and find a lady trying to reassemle it. When I practically shreiked that had been RUN OVER by the very same MASSIVE TRUCK I was driving !! She looked at me like I had holes in my head and replied, "but it's not expired."







:
I practically had to pry her hands off of it. She seemed pretty annoyed and a bit desperate. I ended up asking her if she NEEDED a seat for a short term LOAN, as I had a few safe, legal seats that were not being used at the time. She was pretty shifty with her replies, timeframe wise, couldn't give me a contact number etc. So that was the end of that, I fired my twisted wreck of a carseat in my truck and off I went.
I would put money on it that I would have seen that very same seat on KIJIJI or Craigslist had she have taken it : (

We had a bonfire the next night. When it got good and roaring, DH, terrified of a lawsuit by some annonymous garbage picker, threw it in, it was gone in minutes. I felt extremely guilty about the greasy smoke though...


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## JacqNS (Feb 19, 2008)

I take a sledge hammer to our old seats and bust them into as many pieces as possible. Then, I slowly dispose of the pieces over the course of a few weeks. So far, so good.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ironica* 
I think in our city, once you put the trash in the bin and the bin on the curb, the trash legally becomes the property of the Bureau of Sanitation, and it's stealing to take stuff from it. This is at the very least the case for recyclables.

That's not the case here, and I'm in the same state. Here it's still private property until it's in the truck. Cops can't even search the cans at the curb without a warrant... but they can look in the scoop of the truck once it's dumped.

But I was also thinking more along the line of child endangerment, false advertising, etc.


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## Fujiko (Nov 11, 2006)

D: I was THISCLOSE to buying an infant seat off cl (againts better judgement) to use until baby fits in the roundabout, thanks for the dose of reality!


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## mamabutterfly (Jun 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Peony* 
When I had to destroy my two MAs, I cut every strap/buckle off the seat, tore out the foam, wrote all over the shell "do not use", put it in a black trashbag, dumped used, nasty cat litter all over it. and threw it in the bottom of my trashcan.
















Oops, I still actually found that seat and used it. My bad - It looked fine to me!


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## NettleTea (Aug 16, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamabutterfly* 
Oops, I still actually found that seat and used it. My bad - It looked fine to me!


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## dubfam (Nov 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *akat* 
I don't understand how the person in the OP knows that that is her carseat in the listing? Couldn't someone else in Sarasota have the same carseat and it's a coincidence?

[although this is a great topic and I'm glad to have been made aware of it - we've kept all our carseats so far for the second baby but when it's time I'll be sure to destroy them. I never would have thought of this.]

That is exactly what I am wondering. It isn't a unique seat...how can she be so sure?


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## MomInCalifornia (Jul 17, 2003)

We were able to take out expired seats to the CHP station for them to dispose of.


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