Maureen Girard vividly remembers the night her family was driving across the Mission Bridge when an oncoming vehicle crossed the centre line, hitting them straight on.
The horrific crash killed both drivers -- including Girard's husband -- and as she lay bleeding with broken bones she could only think of one thing: her children.
"I go through the whole accident over and over, and I can feel the rain, I can hear the kids screaming, I can hear the saws cutting the roof off my car," she told CTV News.
"Pretty much instantly I knew my husband was dead, so I was pretty concerned about what was going on in the back seat," she said.
But when emergency workers pulled her two children from the wreck, they were baffled.
Not only did little Mitchell live, he and his sister Jordan were released from hospital that same night, without much more than a scratch.
After the accident on March 26, 2005, police credited the child seats the children were in for saving their lives. They were the car seats their father had installed.
"For me, there is no alternative. Those two kids are the most important thing in my life and I want to do whatever is in my control to keep them safe," said Girard.
For her, the new child seat laws that began this month are potential life savers for other B.C. families.
The new provincial law states children under nine years who are shorter than 4'9 must ride in a booster seat while in a vehicle.
If violated, the driver faces a fine of $109, regardless of which province they have driven from.
As for Mitchell, he's now four years old -- small enough that he still has to sit in a booster.
"If I can keep them in (car seats) until they're 15 years old I'll try," said Girard.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan
