• Booster Seat Safety
• Kids in the Car

9 Booster Seats Get Top Ranking for Safety

Ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) take the guesswork out of selecting the safest booster for children.

Of the 60 booster seats the IIHS rated, nine were rated best bets, six were rated good bets and 11 weren't recommended at all.

"With all the options available, choosing the proper booster seat can be a difficult decision," says Bill Windsor, associate vice president of the Office of Safety at Nationwide. "These new IIHS ratings make it easier for parents to pick a safer booster for their child who has outgrown the infant car seat restraints."

The best boosters according to the IIHS are:

• Combi Dakota backless/clip
  
• Recaro Young Sport
  
• Recaro Vivo
  
• Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR
  
• Evenflo Big Kid Amp backless/clip
  
• Eddie Bauer Auto Booster
  
• Cosco Juvenile Pronto
  
• Britax Frontier
  
• Clek Oobr

Get the full list of top-rated boosters on iihs.org.

General booster seat safety guidelines

Booster seats work by elevating children so seat belts will fit their small frames better to protect them in a crash. A good booster allows the lap belt to fit flat across a child's upper thighs and positions the shoulder belt at mid-shoulder.

All states have child restraint laws, but differ on age and restraint requirements. In some states, children are required to be in booster seats until they're 8 years old.

The institute assessed the boosters using a crash-test dummy representing an average-size 6-year-old child. Engineers measured how the lap and shoulder belts fit the dummy in each of the 60 boosters. Each booster received four scores for lap belt fit and four for shoulder belt fit based on different safety belt configurations in various vehicle models. The overall rating for each booster was based on the range of scores.