• 21
  • November
    2011

A new report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an insurance industry safety group, says that the safety of children's booster seats has improved in recent years, but half still do not ensure that a child is properly placed when wearing a seat belt.

The IIHS evaluated booster seats on how well they fit four- to eight-year-old children who outgrew forward-facing child-safety seats but who must be raised up to fit behind a seat belt properly, reported USA Today.

Proper positioning of seat belts is vitally important because of the risk of serious personal injury to children from the seat belts themselves during car accidents. If a seat belt does not cross the child's lap and shoulder correctly, the belt can cut into internal organs in a crash.

In the IIHS report, 41 of the 83 booster seats tested received a "check fit" rating that instructs parents to double-check the fit of a seat belt because the seat did not reliably place children in the proper position. In contrast, 36 of the booster seats tested received "best bets" or "good bets" ratings because they consistently put children in safe positions.

Six booster seats were so ineffective that the IIHS recommended that parents and caretakers avoid them:

  • Dorel Safety 1st All-in-One
  • Dorel Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite
  • Evenflo Chase
  • Evenflo Express
  • Evenflo Generations 65
  • Evenflo Sightseer

Importantly, children four- to eight-years-old using booster seats are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a car accident than those wearing seat belts without a booster seat, according to USA Today. Therefore, parents and caretakers should ensure they always use booster seats with young children to properly place them behind seat belts.

Source: USA Today, "Many Car Booster Seats Fail Fit Check," Jayne O'Donnell, Oct. 13, 2011.