Best Booster Seats? Insurance Industry Reveals Rankings

Researchers from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety have named 21 child booster seats as “Best Bets” while listing 8 seats as “Not Recommended,” according to the results released today. The tests were aimed at how successful the seats would be to restrain 4-to-8 year-old children in a crash.

Brands that made the Best Bets list include models from Britax, Cybex, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Harmony, Recaro, Safety 1st, and The First Years. Harmony had 5 models listed in the Best Bets category this time, more than any other manufacturer. But one Harmony model made the “Not Recommended” list, along with other models from Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, and Safety 1st.

Harmony Baby Armor - IIHS Best Bet

IIHS engineers evaluated 72 booster seats, measuring how well shoulder and 3-point lap belts fit across a crash-test dummy simulating an average-size 6-year old under four conditions, representing different types of vehicles. An actual crash test with each booster seat was not conducted, however, because the safety belts restrain a child, not the booster seat.

“A good booster routes the lap belt across a child’s upper thighs and positions the shoulder belt at mid-shoulder,” according to the IIHS press release. “Obvious red flags are lap belts that ride up on the tummy and shoulder belts that either fall off the shoulder or rub against a child’s neck.”

Here’s the list from the IIHS:

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)

Thirty-six other boosters fell in the middle range, neither highly recommended nor not recommended. Some models tested well in certain vehicles and poorly in others.

This was the third test the IIHS conducted since it began evaluating booster seats in 2008.

Click here to see images and model numbers of each seat tested.

• Tags for this Article: best booster seats, booster seats, Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Cosco, CYBEX, Eddie Bauer, Evenflo, Graco, Harmony, IIHS, Maxi-Cosi, Recaro, Safety 1st, The First Years