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NHTSA Rolls Out Child Safety Seat Ratings
Feb 04 2008 by Courtney Messenbaugh
2/04/08
Easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3!
My 16-month old son has finally reached passed 20 pounds, which means that he can finally ride in a forward-facing car seat. Hooray for him! And, since the stork is due to visit my house again sometime later this summer, I am now — hooray for me — in need of a couple of new car seats. Why am I not going to recycle my son’s rear-facing seat for the new baby? The answer, in short, is that Harry’s seat is infested with every disgusting substance you could possibly imagine.
With this task at hand, I am left overwhelmed by the choices that greet me every time I hop online or visit my local big-box store. How do you know which seat to get? I pick my friends’ brains and they’re helpful, but everyone has a different opinion. Now, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has a new rating system for car seats called “Ease of Use” ratings. This is a bit more intel — from a reliable source — that could help busy parents everywhere pick out new safety seats.
As the name suggests, the “Ease of Use” ratings provide insight into whether it’s going to take you days or hours to figure out how to use your seat safely. The ratings are broken down by mode (rear-facing, forward-facing, convertible and booster) and then the different brands and models are rated in the following categories: labels, instructions, installation, and how well they secure the child. Ratings are given in stars, with five stars being the best and one the worst. There is also an overall rating for each seat.
This new rating system helped me discover that the rear-facing seat we’ve been using didn’t receive a five in any category and only got three stars overall. While that’s not terrible, I’m thinking that I can do better for my child and myself this time around.
You can check it out at http://www.nhtsa.gov/. It’s pretty useful and there are other valuable resources about finding checking stations and safety recalls on the site as well.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the “Ease of Use” ratings tell you how safe each seat is compared with another. All safety seats have to stand up to the same rigorous federal guidelines, which makes it difficult to differentiate safety between them. We’d still like to see some crash-test ratings for children’s safety seats. It would make a big difference and ensure that your kiddos are all as safe as they can possibly be in the car. That’s not asking too much, is it?
User Comments
Yes that’s right. Courtney is in fact pregnant with a new car seat! Can’t wait to find out if it’s pink or blue (or I just saw a really cool zebra print one).
On another note, I think cars should also come along with a LATCH connector ease of use rating. No matter how easy a child seat claims to be to install, there are still many cars out there that make the process nearly impossible…
Courtney, congratulations with a couple of caveats. Please consider leaving Harry rear facing as long as you can, he will be much safer. Most convertible seats will allow him to be rear facing until he reaches 30 pounds and some as high as 50. Secondily, if you pass on his seat, please make sure the recipent knows the history of the seat, and if you dispose of it, make it non-usable by cutting away the straps, padding and buckles. Thanks and good luck.
Courtney! Congratulations! I had no idea you were getting new car seats! Good for you.