Car Booster Seat Comparison

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ranks booster seats according to best bets, good bets and those that are not recommended.

Booster seats are used to elevate a child, allowing the vehicle's seat belt to fit him properly. A September 2010 report from The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety studied 72 booster seats and divided them into categories: best bets and good bets, those in the middle and those not recommended based on the seat belt's fit on children ages 4 to 8.

Best Bets and Good Bets

Best bets are most likely to position a child so that the seat belt fits properly in most vehicles.

According to institute report, the best 21 booster seats had a proper-fitting seat belt for children in most cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles. A proper fit means the lower part of the seat belt -- the lap belt -- crosses over the child's upper thighs, and the upper part -- the shoulder strap -- goes over the child's midshoulder. The seven booster seats considered good bets also had a proper seat belt fit, but not in all vehicles.

In the Middle

Thirty-six booster seats evaluated in 2010 by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety did not consistently score well in the majority of vehicles.

The 36 booster seats the institute scored in the middle has some good points in terms of proper fit, but the fit didn't apply in a majority of vehicles. Some of these booster seats scored well on the lap belt fit but poorly on the shoulder strap fit. Many of these booster seats were backless, only raising a child but not bringing him forward.

Not Recommended

Those booster seats not recommended in the institute's report did not score well according to evaluator's standards, which looked at the booster seat's positioning of a child in many vehicles and with different seat belt variations. The booster seats created a bad fit, meaning the shoulder strap brushed a child's neck or the lap belt fit across a child's belly among other unsafe restraint positions.

References

• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: New Booster Ratings

Resources

• National Highway Traffic Safety Association: 4 Steps for Kids: Booster Seats
• BabyCenter: Booster Seat Safety: How to Choose and Use a Booster Seat
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: New Booster Ratings