County Rescue Squads Promote Child Passenger Safety Week

Prince William County's Department of Fire and Rescue is promoting the appropriate usage of child booster seats in observance of Child Passenger Safety Week, which is Sept. 19 - 25.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, booster seats are better than they used to be for restraining 4 to 8-year-olds in the case of a crash.

The institute said that researchers assessed the safety belt fit of 72 booster seats and assigned them the ratings of "good bet" or "best bet" for fit across the lap and shoulder. 

Out of the 72 seats assessed, 21 were deemed "best bet" while seven earned the "good bet" title. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also said that a good booster seat guides the lap belt across a child's upper thighs and positions the belt at the mid-shoulder.

In light of these assessments, what does this mean for Woodbridge residents that use booster seats for their children?

"Keep using your booster seats," said Robert Wall, Public Education Coordinator of the Prince William County Department of Fire & Rescue. "Just like any other car seat, there are some that are better for certain kids and some aren't."

Apparently there are no federal standards that dictate how a booster seat should position the seat belt.

"Unfortunately, misuse is still prevalent in all the seats to some extent -- even booster seats," said Wall."The problem is, some seats still don't fit kids."

The institute also said, "The government's dynamic tests of crash performance don't measure what boosters are meant to do, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration only ranks boosters by how easy they are to use."

Despite car seat manfucaturer's crash tests, these tests do not tell parents how their children will fit in these seats.

Wall noted that all seats are good, but the belts may be too high or fit children incorrectly.

According to Wall, if a parent is concerned with a properly fitting booster or car seat they can go to any local firehouses and police station where all firemen and officers are trained to properly install seats.

Booster evaluations are as follows:

Best Bets:
Britax Frontier 85 (combination highback)
Chicco Keyfit Strada (dual highback)
Clek Oobr (dual highback)
Cosco Juvenile Pronto (dual highback)
Cybex Solution X-Fix (highback)
Eddie Bauer Auto Booster (dual highback)
Evenflo Big Kid Amp (backless)
Evenflo Maestro (combination highback)
Graco TurboBooster Crawford (dual highback)
Harmony Baby Armor (dual highback)
Harmony Dreamtime (dual backless)
Harmony Dreamtime (dual highback)
Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe (backless)
Harmony Youth Booster Seat (backless)
Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR (dual highback)
Recaro ProBOOSTER (highback)
Recaro ProSPORT (combination highback)
Recaro Vivo (highback)
Recaro Young Sport (combination highback)
Safety 1st Boost Air Protect (dual highback)
The First Years Pathway B570 (highback)

Good Bets:
Britax Parkway SG (dual highback)
Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual backless)
Combi Kobuk Air Thru (dual highback)
Evenflo Symphony 65 (3-in-1 highback)
Graco TurboBooster Sachi (dual highback)
Graco TurboBooster Wander (dual highback)
Maxi-Cosi Rodi (dual highback)

Not Recommended:
Eddie Bauer Deluxe (combination highback)
Eddie Bauer Deluxe 3-in-1 (highback)
Evenflo Express (combination highback)
Evenflo Generations 65 (combination highback)
Evenflo Sightseer (highback)
Harmony Baby Armor (dual backless)
Safety 1st All-in-One (3-in-1 highback)
Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite (3-in-1 highback)