It seems that car-seat manufacturers are paying attention to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's yearly booster seat evaluations. For the first time, all the new boosters tested earned the top ratings.
Related: Car Seat Checks
IIHS tested 23 new booster seat models for 2015; of the 23, 20 boosters earned the top rating of Best Bet and three were evaluated as Good Bets. No booster seats were given the Check Fit, which alerts parents to try the seat with their child before they buy it, or Not Recommended ratings this year.
"Our ratings have succeeded in getting child seat manufacturers to prioritize belt fit when they design boosters," said Jessica Jermakian, IIHS senior research scientist. "The large number of Best Bets on the market now makes it easier for parents to shop for a seat that will work for their child in virtually any vehicle."
Booster seats are used by kids ages 4 and older who no longer fit in a forward-facing child-safety seat. All seat belts are made for adults, so a booster raises a child, making the lap section of the seat belt sit flat on a child's upper thighs and the shoulder belt snug over the child's shoulder across their chest.
To earn a Best Bet nod, a booster seat must correctly position a seat belt on an average-size 4- to 8-year-old in most cars, SUVs or minivans. Boosters with a Good Bet rating provide adequate fit in most vehicles.
This year's list of IIHS-rated booster seats covers a wide price range, running as low as $13 for the Little Tikes Backless Booster to as high as $170 for the Evenflo Platinum Evolve, a 3-in-1 car seat, or the Safety 1st Grow and Go, which can be used in both rear- and forward-facing mode as well as a booster.
The 2015 booster seat evaluations join previous IIHS evaluations to total 82 Best Bets and eight Good Bets. Six boosters are Not Recommended and 31 land in the Check Fit category. See previous booster evaluations here.
The full list of 2015 evaluations is below. Dual-use booster seat ratings (those that can be used in high-back or backless modes) vary for each position.
Best Bet
- BubbleBum (backless)
- Chicco KidFit (backless mode)
- Chicco KidFit (high-back mode)
- Diono Cambria (backless mode)
- Diono Cambria (high-back mode)
- Eddie Bauer Storage Booster (backless)
- Evenflo Advanced Transitions (backless mode)
- Evenflo Advanced Transitions (high-back mode)
- Evenflo Platinum Evolve (backless mode)
- Evenflo Platinum Evolve (high-back mode)
- Graco Atlas 65 (high back)
- Graco Tranzitions (backless mode)
- Graco Tranzitions (high-back mode)
- Harmony Defender 360 (backless mode)
- Harmony Defender 360 (high-back mode)
- JanÇ Montecarlo R1 (high-back)
- Lil Fan Box Seat (backless)
- Little Tikes Highback Booster (backless mode)
- Little Tikes Highback Booster (high-back mode)
- Little Tikes Backless Booster (backless)
Good Bet
- Cybex Solution M-Fix (high back)
- Cybex Solution Q2-Fix (high back)
- Safety 1st Grow and Go (high back)
from Cars.com News http://ift.tt/1Qf8KOn
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