Remember: Something is better than nothing!

Staying with car seats for one more day, the Charleston Gazette today published a report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on the safety belt fit of 41 booster seats. You can find the report here.

Thirteen of the seats they evaluated did not improve the fit of particularly the lap belt, ten were given "best bets" and five were given "good bets". My concern with this study is that parents will panic again, as they did when Consumer Reports issued bad recommendations for several models of infant seats, though they did eventually "recall" their report.

Its important to note that this study was for seat belt fit, and not performance in a crash. Although, in the world of highway safety, we say the two go hand-in-hand: proper belt fit equals better "ride down" protection in a crash.

Key things to look for regardless of which make/model booster seat you have:
1. proper fit-lap belt on upper thighs, NOT abdomen, and shoulder belt at mid shoulder.
2. adequate head/neck protection-backless boosters are popular, and approved, as long as the vehicle seat that the booster is sitting on has some sort of head restraint-whether adjustable or built into the seat.

Insurance Institute president Adrien Lund offers this final piece of advice, which I wholeheartedly agree with: “No matter how a booster did in our evaluations, parents still need to see how it fits their child in their car,” Lund advises. He urges them “not to rush to buy a new booster if theirs isn’t among the top seats. Check how it fits and remember, it’s better for children to ride restrained in any booster than to let them ride unbuckled.”

Again, something is better than nothing, but we always strive for the best fit for each child on every trip, every time. If you would like to have your seat checked to make sure of proper fit, please don't hesitate to contact the Highway Safety Office at 304-558-6080. Or, to find a certified technician in your area, click here.

Next blog entry, I promise, something other than car seats!