What Are The Safest Car Seats?
April 4, 2008 – 8:09 amIn the United States, car seat companies’ products must pass certain crash test and safety ratings in order to be sold on the market.
Despite these regulations, not all car seats are created equal, and there is no way we can find out which are the safest car seats based on these tests; manufacturers aren’t legally required to release this information. But at the very least, we can be assured that each car seat sold in the United States meets or exceeds the regulations.
That’s why we have Consumer Reports, which tests car seats and their effectiveness in car crashes. However, it’s worth noting that scientists have often discounted these tests for reasons such as past mistakes, and also for what they see as poor parameters and poor reporting. However, Consumer Reports is still a good place to start.
Consumer Reports has written about its top picks over the years. Do remember, however, that even the safest car seat in the world is only as safe as the user. If you don’t install it properly or use it properly each time your child rides in the car, then of course it’s not safe.
Recently Consumer Reports conducted a test involving rear-facing infant car seats. This was an effort to make up for the previous year’s test, which had errors. All the seats they used (eleven in total) passed crash test standards as defined by the government when secured with a seatbelt and when using the LATCH.
(LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children.) Again, we find the United States’ pass/fail system fails to provide us a “best” and “worst” model.
Consumer Reports addresses this problem by trying to identify the safest car seats. They do it by rating the car seats on Ease of Use and Fit to Vehicle. These two things will have an enormous impact on the safety of car seats.
If the car seat doesn’t fit inside the car properly, you won’t be able to install it safely. The harder it is to install the car seat, the more likely you will not fasten the car seat safely and properly.
Using these guidelines, Consumer Reports rated the Chicco Key Fit as the safest car seat. The second safest car seat was the Britax Companion.
At the same time, Consumer Reports rated Baby Trend Flex-Loc and Graco SnugRide as the Best Buys. This accounts for the features you get for the price.
Tags: Babies Toddler
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