The vast majority of new booster seats introduced to the market last year — 47 out of 54 — earned the highest safety rating possible from the car insurance industry’s major safety watchdog.
About the IIHS
A group of car insurance companies fund its own safety lab — the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The institute conducts a range of crash tests on most vehicles sold in the U.S.; however, it does not put booster seats through actual crash testing.
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About the Ratings
Instead, the IIHS says, it “assesses boosters using a special dummy representing an average-size 6-year-old. Engineers measure how three-point lap and shoulder belts fit the dummy in each of the tested boosters under four conditions that span the range of safety belt configurations in vehicle models.”
Seats earn one of four ratings, the IIHS explains:
- Best Bets are seats that provide good belt fit for typical 4- to 8-year-olds in almost any car, minivan, or SUV.
- Good Bets provide acceptable belt fit in most cars, minivans, or SUVs.
- Not Recommended don’t provide good belt fit and should be avoided. There are currently no boosters on the market with this designation.
- Check Fit applies to booster seats IIHS has tested that have varied results depending on child size and vehicle model.
The institute emphasizes fit, says IIHS Vice President of Vehicle Research Jessica Jermakian, because booster “seats are simple, low-tech devices that don’t have to cost a lot to be effective. All a booster needs to do is raise the child up a bit and guide the seat belt so it is positioned correctly.”
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They haven’t always performed that task well.
“In the Institute’s first booster ratings, only a quarter of the seats evaluated earned the Best Bet designation,” the institute says.
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This year, “the vast majority of boosters tested meet that high standard.”
Best Bet winners range in price from $25 to $450. See the list here.
