IIHS rates children’s booster seats, 11 fail to pass muster

Of the 60 booster seat models rated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 11 failed to gain a recommendation.
Booster seats are for children who have outgrown a child car seat but are too small for a regular seat belt.
A good booster seat routes the lap belt flat across a child’s upper thighs and positions the shoulder belt at mid-shoulder, the IIHS says in a release.
In Ontario, booster seats are required for children under the age of eight, weighing 18 kg or more but less than 36 kg and who stand less than 145 cm tall.
Half of the boosters that aren’t recommended are 3-in-1s (seats that can be used as either a backless or highback booster or for rear-facing infants) that leave the lap belt too high on the abdomen and the shoulder belt too far out on the shoulder.
Another seat (the Harmony Secure) has armrests that push the lap belt away from the hips, way out on a child’s thighs.
Shoulder fit is the main problem for the rest — the Combi, two Evenflos and the Eddie Bauer Deluxe.
The IIHS doesn’t recommend backless over highback boosters, nor does it say highback boosters are better than backless.
“Backless ones generally provide better lap belt fit, and highbacks generally do a better job of positioning shoulder belts correctly in all vehicle configurations,” it adds.