Every year the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (HIS) comes out with a rating of children’s car seats. Thursday, they released the Booster Seat Evaluations for 2014. There was a pleasant surprise, there are a lot of booster seats on their “Best Bet” list. Another good deed was the additional new warning on booster seats, which will warn parents about how to use the booster. Booster seats should always be used with children from approximately 4 years old until they are 8 years old. Here are the basics:
- First, make sure the booster will lift your child up enough to provide a good seatbelt fit. Remember this is about making the car’s own seatbelt work properly. The seat is just the elevation device used to do that.
- Further, use a booster with a back for smaller children. The boosters that include the back often help guide the shoulder harness portion of the seat belt into a safer position across your child’s chest and over the middle of the shoulder.
- Do NOT allow the belt to rest against the neck. If that is happening the seat is not boosting high enough! Do not allow your child to put the lap belt around their stomach. The lap belt goes across the lap! That means the high portion of their thighs.
Make sure you use one of the following models that were judged best bets by the IIHS:
- Baby Trend Hybrid 3 in 1 & the Trend Hybrid No Back Booster
- Britax Frontier 90, Parkway SG, Parkway SGL, Pinnacle 90, Pioneer 70
- BubbleBum and BubbleBum Neon
- Clek Oobr (Highback model Only!)
- Cosco Pronto
- Cybex Solution X-Fin
- Diono Monterey, RadianR100, RadianR120, RadianRXT, Solana
- Dream On Me Turbo Booster
- Eddie Bauer Deluxe Belt-Positioning Booster and Deluxe Highback 65
- Evenflo Amp, Big Kid Amp, Big Kid Amp Highback, Big Kid LX, Big Kid Sport, Chase, Maestro, Right Fit, Secure Kid 300 and 400, Symphony 65, Symphony 65 e3, Symphony DLX
- Ferrari Beline SP, Dreamway SP
- Graco 4Ever All-in-1 Car Seat, Affix, Argos 80 Elite 3 in 1, Backless TurboBooster, Milestone All in One, Nautilus, Nautilus 3 in 1 with Safety Surround, Nautilus Elite, Nautilus Plus
- Harmony Carpooler, Dreamtime, Olympian, Transit Deluxe, V6 Highback, Youth Booster Seat,
- Kiddy Cruiserfix Pro, World Plus
- Kids Embrace Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
- Maxi-Cosi Rodi AP, Rodi XR, RodiFix
- Peg Perego Viaggio HBB 120
- Recaro Performance Booster, Performance Sport
- Safety 1st Boost Air Protect, BoostAPak, Store’n GO, Store’n Go No-Back, Summit 65
Good bets also listed include the following:
- Baby Trend Hybrid 3-in-1
- Combi Kobuk Air Thru
- Cybex Solution Q-Fix
- Diono Rainier
- Evenflo Symphony 65 and LX
- Ferrari Beline SP
- Maxi-Cosi Rodi
Dreaded MODELS TO AVOID:
- Diono Olympia
- Diono Pacifica
- Kids Embrace Batman
- Safety 1st All-In-One
- Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite
We see no reason to use anything but boosters on the Best Bet List. You can find most of the Best Bet Boosters at any children’s toy store or department store. They are easy to find on the internet as well. The Insurance Institute believes that proper use of a booster in 4-year-old to 8-year-old children along with proper use of the seatbelt will reduce the risk of car crash injuries by 45%!
We handle literally hundreds of car accident cases, and we see the direct benefit of car seats and properly-used booster seats. Children are saved every day from serious injury. No matter how safely you drive there are others who can cause an accident and hurt you or your child. NO ONE is 100% free of risk on Florida’s roadways, so take all measures you can to keep you and your family as safe as possible.
