Record number of booster seats earn highest rating from IIHS

Filed under: Safety

Ah, booster seats, the last removable throne before children earn the privilege of sitting their butts directly on a car's seat, which they'll then refuse to do until the day they turn 16 and start driving themselves. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety began testing booster seats back in 2008, and this year's lot has produced a record number of BEST BETS designations, the highest rating the IIHS bestows upon a booster seat.

A booster seat is used when a child has outgrown a typical car seat, usually between the ages of four and eight, until reaching a height of 4 foot, 9 inches tall. Unlike car seats, they are not anchored down, not meant to provide crash protection, and only elevate a child so that a vehicle's lap and shoulder belts, which are meant for adults, lay flat across the upper thighs and cross snuggly over the middle of the shoulder. There are also two kinds of booster seats: highback and backless.

The IIHS tested 62 booster seats in its latest evaluation, or 83 total if you count the dual mode seats that can be converted from highback to backless. A record 31 seats were given the highest BEST BETS designation, which means they're able to correctly position a vehicle's safety belt on a child in almost any car, minivan or SUV. Another five received a GOOD BETS designation, meaning they provide an acceptable fit, and six were not recommended at all for providing an improper fit. The biggest group of the bunch, however, fall into a fourth category called "check fit," which means they may provide good belt positioning on some children in some vehicles, but parents are warned to check first with their own child and vehicle to make sure first.

IIHS reports that Canadian-based Harmony Juvenile Products is the lone standout company of the bunch, with all five of its products being named BEST BETS and the Harmany Dreamtime, which can be had for about $50 at Walmart, being the only seat tested to earn the highest rating in both highback and backless mode.

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Record number of booster seats earn highest rating from IIHS originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nicola Larini Jamie McMurray J.R Smith David Ragan Martin Lee Truex Jr Kenyon Martin