Insurance group says child booster seats don’t fit safety belts

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Updated: November 16, 2011 3:31PM

Half of children’s car booster seats can’t ensure a proper fit with all safety belts, an insurance industry-funded safety group says.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says in a new report that six of them are so bad that it recommended parents avoid them.

Booster seats — recommended for children who have outgrown forward-facing child seats — are designed to raise kids up so adult-size safety belts fit properly.

“Not all boosters are doing that well,” says Anne McCartt, the institute’s research chief.

Four booster seats made by Evenflo and two by Dorel’s Safety 1st brand were rated so poorly that the insurance group is recommending consumers don’t use them. They are the Evenflo Chase, Express, Generations 65 and Sightseer models and Safety 1st’s All-in-One and Alpha Omega Elite.

The insurance group singled out the Canadian company Harmony Juvenile Products as a “standout” in booster-seat design, with all five of its seats “best bets.” The first inflatable booster seat, the BubbleBum, also got the top rating.