Independent Experts Warn Against 13 Booster Seats || The Tranquil Parent

Independent experts warn against 13 booster seats

By Jeremiah safer

October 01, 2008

Independent experts warn against 13 booster seats

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute have tested 41 booster seats and in a press release today identified 13 - many of them current boosters by leading manufacturers - as not providing "the full benefit of improved lap belt fit. These boosters may increase restraint use by making children more comfortable, but they don't position belts for optimal protection."

"We evaluated the safety belt fit boosters provide, not crash protection," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "This is because unlike child restraints, boosters don't restrain children in crashes. They simply position children so lap and shoulder belts are in the right place to restrain them." Good boosters route belts across a child's bony parts, not soft parts like the abdomen, which is more vulnerable to injury."

The "worst bets"

Below, the thirteen booster seats recommended against by the research bodies.

Highback boosters

Compass B505

Compass B510

Cosco/Dorel Traveler

Evenflo Big Kid Confidence

Backless boosters

Safety Angel Ride Ryte

Combination seats

Cosco/Dorel Alpha Omega

Cosco/Dorel (Eddie Bauer) Summit

Cosco Highback Booster

Dorel/Safety 1st (Eddie Bauer) Prospect

Evenflo Chase Comfort Touch

Evenflo Generations

Graco CarGo Zephyr

Safety 1st/Dorel Intera

You can read the IIHS report here, and access their research findings in PDF form here.

Better boosters

The researchers also identified fifteen "best" or "good" bets, which do a better job of positioning the safety belt. From the report (any links are ours):

Best bets include 3 backless seats: Combi Kobuk, Fisher-Price Safe Voyage, and Graco TurboBooster. These may require plastic clips to correctly position shoulder belts. Six highbacks are best bets: Britax Monarch, Britax Parkway, Fisher-Price Safe Voyage, LaRoche Bros. Teddy Bear, Recaro Young Style, and Volvo booster cushion. Another best bet is the combination seat Safeguard Go when it's used as a backless booster. Combination seats convert to boosters by removing their built-in harnesses. At least 5 of the best-bet boosters have been discontinued but still are sold.

The 5 good bets provide acceptable belt fit in almost as many vehicle belt configurations. They are highbacks Combi Kobuk, Graco TurboBooster, and Safety Angel Ride Ryte, and combinations Recaro Young Sport and Safety 1st/Dorel Apex 65, when used as highbacks.

Our view

ZRecs has long advised that parents keep children in 5-point harnesses and car seats as long as possible, much longer than the minimum legal ages and weights at which many booster seat manufacturers encourage parents to make the switch. Remember, height and weight minimums for making any change in protection for your child are just that - minimums - and are often much lower than the maximum allowable, and every move "up" in seating arrangements is a move down in terms of the level of protection provided to your child. This goes for going from rear- to front-facing, as well as switching to a booster.

For alternatives to booster seat use for young children, see our in-depth review of the Britax Frontier. We also recommend the Radian 80, which is narrower and so is better suited for some smaller vehicles. You can purchase these on Amazon.com using the links in this paragraph, or purchase them from Hipmonkey, a car seat retailer established to raise funds for the Kyle David Miller Foundation, a charity that donates extended-harness car seats to impoverished families.

You can also read our interview with a Britax technician, which covers a lot of ground regarding booster seats, and why Britax is getting out of the business of making them altogether.

Categories: car seats

1. Katrina [10/01/08]

I wish I had the guts to keep copies of articles like this in my car to hand out to people I know (or don’t) when I see them put kids into ill-fitting boosters much too soon for even the manufacturers’ guidelines.

My son will stay rear-facing much longer than his older sister because I know more now. They will both stay in 5-point harnesses as long as I can safely keep them there.

2. Laura Bower [10/02/08]

Thank you once again Jeremiah from the Kyle David Miller Foundation. Whilst we encourage parents and caregivers to keep their children in a 5 point harness restraint, at some point a child will have to graduate to a booster seat.

Most children need to use a booster seat until they are 10 or 12 years of age. This is until they can pass the 5 step test -

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?
If you answer ‘no’ to any of the above questions, then your child still needs to sit in a booster seat. Also note, that a child can pass the test is one family vehicle, yet fail it in the other.

Some states have laws of 8 years and 80lbs - but again these are minimums and the 5 step test above should be your only guide as to whether your child can ride without a booster seat.

Now, that being said, booster seats are not one size fits all. You need to test your booster in your vehicle WITH your child. This report merely proves that the boosters are not compatible with all vehicles and all children, just as 5 point harnessing seats are not compatible with all vehicles and all children. The report’s message rather should have been that you need to perform a test to ensure that the booster positions the seatbelt correctly on your child - if not, try another....and another until you find the booster that works for your child and vehicle.

High back boosters do provide better protection for children due to the side impact protection from the head wings.

One final note - the report mentioned it being safer to use a booster in conjunction with a lap belt only seating position - this information is inaccurate and there will be calls to the report producer to correct this information. Lap belt only locations should be used to install harnessing restraints only. If a human being must use that seating position, do NOT use a booster seat.

3. Jeremiah [10/02/08]

Thanks as always for your insights, Laura! Maximizing child safety in car seats or boosters is always a tightrope act between what is convenient enough to ensure widespread adoption and proper use and what is perfectly customized to the individual use case. In the case of this report, I think researchers highlighted boosters that functioned well in a wide variety of vehicles, and discouraged use of ones that provided adequate protection in few, because of the difficulty of performing the kind of personal testing you mentioned.

Can you offer any insights into return policies for things like boosters? My assumption with car seats was, if it’s out of the box, it’s non-returnable, because there is no way the retailer can know if it has been in an accident. But I’ve never tried, so it was always just an assumption. Is that true, and if so, does the same apply to boosters, or can a parent buy/return, buy/return as needed until they are able to find a good match for their vehicle and child?

As for your other main point - that children WILL need a booster during the preteen years - I have taken out the phrase that probably set you off ("if ever"). Thanks for bringing that up.

4. Laura Bower [10/03/08]

Most retailers will accept the return of a car seat so long as it is in its original packaging. With some online retailers, you can pay extra insurance incase you need to return the seat. Some charge a restocking fee.

Best option is to go somewhere like Babies R Us and ask to try out the seats. They will let you do that in the parking lot. You can then either buy there, or take the knowledge you now have and buy the seat online.

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