The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has come out with its yearly report on child booster seat safety, and more booster seats are making the cut.
Of more than 80 booster seats examined by the IIHS, 31 correctly position a seat belt across a child in any type of passenger vehicle. This number is up from just 21 in 2010.
The safest booster seats position the seat belt so that it fits across the child’s upper thigh and so that the shoulder strap fits across the middle of the child’s shoulder. When used properly, booster seats can reduce the likelihood of a child suffering injuries in a Texas car accident by as much as 45 percent.
The IIHS gives booster seats one of four different ratings:
- Best bets – seats rated in this category work well in almost any passenger vehicle.
- Good bets – these seats provide a good level of safety for children.
- Check fit – the majority of booster seats fall into this category, which tells parents that the seat may provide a good fit for some children, in some vehicles. The parents will have to determine whether the seat works for their child’s needs.
- Not recommended – these seats do not provide a proper belt fit, so parents are urged to avoid using them.
This year, six seats made the not recommended list. They are as follows:
- Evenflo Chase
- Evenflo Express
- Evenflo Generations 65
- Evenflo Sightseer
- Safety 1st All-in-One
- Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite
Some of the seats that were categorized as best bets include:
- Harmony Dreamtime – backless and highback mode
- Brita Frontier 85
- Recaro ProBOOSTER
Parents should take note that some dual-use booster seats are rated differently based on their use, i.e., highback mode or backless mode.
The complete list of rated seats can be found on the IIHS website.
