WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Wednesday named several child booster seats -- currently available on the U.S. market -- as potentially dangerous for young children in the event of a car crash.
In its first-ever review of child booster seats, the agency tested nearly 50 different child booster seats to see their effectiveness in protecting children in crashes.
The booster seats were placed inside late model vehicles, as instructed by the manufacturers, and then crash-tested to see the potential impact on the child dummies. (
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The institute cooperated with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to conduct the tests -- some of which performed so poorly that safety officials could'nt recommend the booster seats at all.
"Boosters don't restrain children in crashes. They simply positionchildren so lap and shoulder belts are in the right place to restrainthem," said Adrian Lund, the president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
"We'd expect the 10 best to improve belt fit for children inalmost any car, minivan, or SUV," Lund said. "It's clear thatkids in the 13 boosters we
don't recommend aren't getting the fullbenefit of improved lap belt fit."
"These boosters may increase restraintuse by making children more comfortable, but they don't position beltsfor optimal protection," he added.
One of the booster manufacturers that performed poorly is
EvenFlo, which is highly popular in the U.S.
Graco is another manufacturer that the institute does not recommend.
The 13 child booster seats not recommended by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are as follows:
- Highback Compass B505
- Compass B510
- Cosco/Dorel Traveler
- Evenflo Big Kid Confidence
- Backless Safety Angel Ride Ryte
- Cosco/Dorel Alpha Omega
- Cosco/Dorel (Eddie Bauer) Summit
- Cosco Highback Booster
- Dorel/Safety1st (Eddie Bauer) Prospect
- Evenflo Chase Comfort Touch
- EvenfloGenerations
- Graco CarGo Zephyr
- Safety 1st/Dorel Intera.At least two of these models have since been discontinued, and perhaps been replaced by betterdesigns. Booster-makers sometimes reuse names and even model numbers for new seats, so manufacture dates and model numbers are important.
The institute also identified several booster seats that it does recommend, because they performed well during the tests. Those models can be found at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's website, linked below.
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