The First Look at Booster Seats Shows - Unlucky 13 Fail

JeanneSager — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:35:00 GMT

That's it. I'm putting my daughter in a bubble. No, really. I bought a gas guzzler because I wanted the most steel I could put between her and everyone else on the road. I kept that little booty facing backward for as long as the law allowed. I went through one of those car seat inspections to make sure I got it right.

I waited until she was exactly 38 inches (by the pediatrician's measurements, not my writer's math) before putting her in a booster seat. And now this: the first ever review of child's booster seats finds a list of dangers lurking in our backseats. Excuse me, did that say FIRST EVER?

What has the Institute for Highway Safety been doing since, oh, I don't know . . . I was a little kid? Because I had one of those protective mothers (and you wonder where I get it from?) who bought a booster seat for her kid decades before they became a mandate in all but 12 states. These days, 21 states require kids be in a booster seat up until age 6. Another 17 (plus DC) require them until kids are 8. That's a lot of booster seat use. And yet this month the Institute issued its first report on booster seats, put together with the cooperation of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

I guess we could say better late than never. And they did come up with a list of winners - 10 in all (and my daughter's is on there, phewww) - and a list of losers (the unlucky number 13). Here's a look at them all. Let's just hope it doesn't take this long for the next go-round.

Image: Amazon - Graco's TurboBooster, one of the winners

Take Your Kid to Work, But Don't Let them Take Control of a City Train

Keep all Hands and Feet Inside the Vehicle

When is Too Young to Teach Them 911?

Strollerderby : highway

The First Look at Booster Seats Shows - Unlucky 13 Fail