More booster seats to choose from: IIHS

A record 31 children’s booster seats have been designated ‘Best Bets’ by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), marking an increase from the 10 seats that earned the designation in 2008.This designation means the booster correctly positions a safety belt on a typical four- to eight-year-old in almost any car, minivan or SUV. Booster seats are for children who have outgrown forward-facing child restraints. A booster should elevate a child and route the lap and shoulder belts, which are designed for adults, in the correct position to restrain a child during a crash, the IIHS notes. In addition to the 31 ‘Best Bets’, another five are ‘Good Bets’, which means they provide acceptable belt fit in most vehicles. A further six are not recommended because they don’t provide proper belt fit. Engineers evaluated 62 booster models in the latest round. Twenty-one models appeared twice on the list, because they are dual-use seats, which can work as highback or backless boosters. In the ratings, each dual-use model is considered to be 2 separate boosters for a total of 83 seats evaluated. The focus of the IIHS’s ratings is belt fit, not crash performance; no crash tests are conducted as part of the evaluation. To assess belt fit, engineers use a test dummy representing an average-size six-year-old. They measure how lap and shoulder belts fit the dummy in each booster under four conditions representing the range of belt configurations in real-world vehicles, according to the IIHS.