Latchable booster safer?.....

[emandbri]

I thought I saw a post that said that it could be safer to use a booster that is latched but of course now can't find the post.

Thanks!

[crunchierthanthou]

It came up a bit in one of the early frontier spoiler threads (or was it GN?). Dave from SSK (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=40794) also inferred that there was a slight benefit in side impacts- which we know are the most dangerous.

skipspin -> Does it provide better protection when LATCHed, or is the LATCH primarly providing a protection that prevents it from becoming a projectile when not in use?

Carseatengr -> The lower anchors provide little difference in occupant protection

...

wendytthomas -> If the LATCH is there simply to hold the seat in when unoccupied, it won't affect the seat's performance in a lateral collision?

Carseatengr -> It will change the test results slightly in side impact

wendytthomas -> For the better?

...

Carseatengr -> Re Wendy on side impact - Yes


edit: here's the one I was thinking of (specifically jool's post). guess it wasn't in a spoiler thread afterall. :o

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=40320

[codex57]

The thing is, doesn't LATCH only go up to 40 or 45 pounds? And don't we want a kid fully harnessed for as long as possible, and thus out of a booster.

So, from a safety standpoint, the time of use with LATCH and a booster is quite minimal isn't it? Or are a lot of kids outgrowing full harness seats by height but well before weight?

[murphydog77]

The thing is, doesn't LATCH only go up to 40 or 45 pounds? And don't we want a kid fully harnessed for as long as possible, and thus out of a booster.

So, from a safety standpoint, the time of use with LATCH and a booster is quite minimal isn't it? Or are a lot of kids outgrowing full harness seats by height but well before weight?

Yes, LATCH anchors typically do only go up to 40 or 48 lbs. when they are used with harnessed seats. But we're talking boosters where the seat belt is weight bearing, not the booster seat. LATCH on a booster seat is used simply to keep the booster seat in place in a crash or while driving around when the child isn't in the car. That's why we can use LATCH on boosters up to their full weight limits of 80 or 120 lbs. like the current boosters on the market with it.

The benefits from LATCHing a booster in a crash would be from having a stable seat that the child is in--it would keep the child contained better and might keep that child from submarining under the lap belt.

[LISmama810]

And of course the other safety feature of a LATCHed booster is that it won't become a projectile if unoccupied during a crash. We always recommend that people buckle their boosters in even when not in use, but I'm not sure how many people actually do that. So the seat has a benefit to the other passengers in the car, too.

[sarsah]

A LATCH booster would be safer than an non-LATCH booster when the child is NOT in the seat because the seat would not fly around in a crash.

You are supposed to buckle the booster in even when the child is not in it, but how many of us actually remember to do it every time.