The Insurance Institute For Highway Safety Names Best & Worst Car Booster Seats

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Parents who are looking to move their child into a booster, but aren't sure which one to buy will appreciate that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has released its latest crash test results for car booster seats for kids.

The fact that there are more highly-rated seats than ever before indicates that many companies are making strides to offer a product that will keep your child safer. 

For their test, the institute tested the safety belt fit of 72 different booster seats using crash test dummy representing an average-sized six year old.

The worst performers are ones the Institute doesn't recommend because they do a poor job of fitting belts. A good booster routes the lap belt across a child's upper thighs and positions the shoulder belt at midshoulder.

The Institute doesn't conduct vehicle crash tests to evaluate boosters because boosters don't do the restraining in a crash. It's the fit of the belt that's important. 

"For the first time top-rated boosters outnumber ones the Institute doesn't recommend," says Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research. "Now more than ever manufacturers are paying attention to belt fit, and it's showing up in our ratings."

Here's the list

BEST BETS:

• Britax Frontier 85 (combination highback)
• Chicco Keyfit Strada (dual highback)
• Clek Oobr (dual highback)
• Cosco Juvenile Pronto (dual highback)
• Cybex Solution X-Fix (highback)
• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster (dual highback)
• Evenflo Big Kid Amp (backless)
• Evenflo Maestro (combination highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Crawford (dual highback)
• Harmony Baby Armor (dual highback)
• Harmony Dreamtime (dual backless)
• Harmony Dreamtime (dual highback)
• Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe (backless)
• Harmony Youth Booster Seat (backless)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR (dual highback)
• Recaro ProBOOSTER (highback)
• Recaro ProSPORT (combination highback)
• Recaro Vivo (highback)
• Recaro Young Sport (combination highback)
• Safety 1st Boost Air Protect (dual highback)
• The First Years Pathway B570 (highback)

GOOD BETS:

• Britax Parkway SG (dual highback)
• Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual backless)
• Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual highback)
• Evenflo Symphony 65 (3-in-1 highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Sachi (dual highback)
• Graco TurboBooster Wander (dual highback)
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi (dual highback)

NOT RECOMMENDED:

• Eddie Bauer Deluxe (combination highback)
• Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 (highback)
• Evenflo Express (combination highback)
• Evenflo Generations 65 (combination highback)
• Evenflo Sightseer (highback)
• Harmony Baby Armor (dual backless)
• Safety 1st All-in-One (3-in-1 highback)
• Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite (3-in-1 highback)

Seats that were weren't rated BEST, GOOD or NOT Recommended fell in the middle because they don't consistently fit belts well on most kids in most cars, minivans, and SUVs. Most of these are backless boosters with good lap belt scores but not good shoulder belt scores.   

*They may provide adequate belt fit for some kids in some vehicles.*

They are (in alphabetical order): 

Britax Parkway SG, Dual mode, Backless	E9LA869
Chicco Keyfit Strada, Dual mode, Backless	00071999430070
Clek Olli, Backless only	OLM1U
Clek Oobr, Dual mode, Backless	OBM1U
Clek Ozzi, Backless only	OZM1U
Cosco Ambassador, Backless only	22293
Cosco Highback Booster, Highback only	22253
Cosco Juvenile Pronto, Dual mode, Backless	22491
Eddie Bauer Auto Booster, Dual mode, Backless	22888
Evenflo Big Kid LX, Dual mode, Highback	3091969A
Evenflo Big Kid LX w/clip, Dual mode, Backless	3091969A
Evenflo Big Kid No Back Booster w/clip, Backless only	2794198
Graco Nautilus Elite Monti, Dual mode, Backless	1754692
Graco Nautilus Elite Monti, Dual mode, Highback	1754692
Graco Nautilus Matrix, Dual mode, Highback	8J00MTX
Graco Nautilus Matrix w/clip, Dual mode, Backless	8J00MTX
Graco No Back TurboBooster Cameo w/clip, Backless only	8628CME
Graco TurboBooster Baker w/clip, Backless only	1749734
Graco TurboBooster Crawford, Dual mode, Backless	1770587
Graco TurboBooster Safeseat Sachi, Dual mode, Backless	1751523
Graco TurboBooster Safeseat Wander w/clip, Dual mode, Backless	1751952
Maxi-Cosi Rodi, Dual mode, Backless	22575
Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR, Dual mode, Backless	22223-CIP
Safeguard Go Hybrid w/clip, Backless only	F101861
Safety 1st Boost Air Protect, Dual mode, Backless	BC027
Safety 1st Summit, Highback only	22566
Safety 1st Vantage, Highback only	22564
Safety 1st Ventura, Highback only	22248
Sunshine Kids Monterey, Dual mode, Backless	15000
Sunshine Kids Monterey, Dual mode, Highback	15000
The First Years Compass B505, Highback only	B505-PLT
The First Years Compass B510, Highback only	B510-ASP
The First Years Compass B530, Highback only	B530-AMB
The First Years Compass B540, Highback only	B540-CBY
Volvo Booster, Dual mode, Backless	8639632
Volvo Booster, Dual mode, Highback	8639632/8639635

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