Booster Seats Receive Poor Safety Ratings

October 2008

A review conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute found that 13 booster seats fail to properly position children in their seat belts. The IIHS says that as a result of this, the booster seats do not put children in the best position to be protected in the event of a car accident.

The IIHS evaluated 41 seats that made up the majority of the market in 2007, when the review was conducted, and cited the following boosters as inadequate: Compass B505, Compass B510, Cosco/Dorel Traveler, Evenflo Big Kid Confidence, Safety Angel Ride Ryte, 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, and Safety 1st/Dorel Intera.

Manufacturers of the seats disagreed with the Institute's assessment, saying that their products meet and exceed federal standards and called the results of the review "misleading." Booster seats are normally used for children between the ages of 4 and 8 to make sure that lap and shoulder seat belts are well-positioned. The seat should route seat belts across a child's lower hips and mid-shoulders instead of the abdomen, where the liver and spleen are more vulnerable to injuries.