Booster Seat Safety

I was going in to work early, and my daughter was 5 at the time. I needed to take her to a baby sitter that lives about 20 minutes away. As we got into the car, she asked, "Mom, can I sit in the front seat, please?" I almost relented, but then I remembered the two lane highway we had to go up. I told her no, and put her in her booster seat, in the back middle position.

It was one of those days where I almost gave in to her. As we were headed up the road at 55 mph, I noticed another car coming the opposite direction start to drift over into my lane. The driver continued to go over off the road and came back up in my lane of travel and hit us almost head on at 60 mph. She hit us on the passenger front side, right where my daughter would have been sitting.

I was an EMT for 6 years and know first hand, people don't walk away from these kinds of accidents. But, my daughter did!

All airbags deployed, including front and side airbags, and the suv I was driving was a total loss.
I look back on that day, and think if I had just given in, she could have been severely injured. Such a small decision had a huge impact on not only my life, but my daughters as well.
As it was, she had minor brusing from the seat belt. That day I got to watch my daughter walk away from a horrific accident.

I still get nervous driving up that road, but I know that I made the right choice that day.
My daughter now advocates for every child to sit in the back. She has gotten the importance of it, and she's only 7. She often asks me about her friends when they ride in front, and why they do it.