Hi Trina...you once said you showed your son videos of crash tests to help show him why he needed to be in his booster. Can you link me to those? My DD is about 50 inches tall and weighs 45 pounds and is turning seven this month. She wants to take the back off her Graco turbo booster. What do you think? Thanks!

By Trina~moderator on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 08:01 pm:

My DD(9) is about the same height and 50 lbs.. Although I do allow her to ride in a backless booster when car pooling with other people, she mainly rides in a high back booster. High back boosters are safer because they offer side impact protection and sleep support.

I need to get my kids to bed, but will try to find the crash test videos and post back later.

By Trina~moderator on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 09:09 pm:

Here is what I found in a saved e-mail. Not all of them worked for me. Either they have been deleted or my PC needs updates. LOL! Nothing specifically with boosters or high back vs. backless, but hopefully will get the point across.


There is a crash test video clip of a forward facing child on this site toward the bottom of the page.

http://www.cpsafety.org/articles/stayrearfacing.aspx

Lots of info and videos here:
http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=77971

More here in the "CPS Week 2002" section

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/real/index.html

By Kate on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 11:09 pm:

Wow, Trina...I can't believe how much that car seat in the first video MOVED! Was it installed correctly?? Is that really how far correctly installed car seats move?? Would an adult's body move that much with the seat belt directly over the body?

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 08:15 am:

Yes, that car seat is correctly installed. That's why it's so very important to correctly install car seats. If not, they move around MUCH more than that. Scary, isn't it?! I can't find any at the moment, but I have seen crash test videos of adult dummies in seat belts, and it is nerve racking to see the body movement. Everyone would actually be much safer in a 5 pt harness. LOL!

By Kate on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 08:39 am:

Wow, I'm really in shock!!! So does a car seat move more than a human body that is just belted in without a seat? Apparently someone needs to invent some sort of head/neck harness, too!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 09:23 am:

Actually, a head/neck harness may cause more harm. This is why safety experts strongly encourage extended rear facing for infants/toddlers and top tethering forward facing car seats. Rear facing better protects the head/neck/spine during a crash, and top tethering a car seat significantly reduces head excursion.

So does a car seat move more than a human body that is just belted in without a seat?

I'm not sure how to answer this question, but as I mentioned above, everyone would be safer in a 5 pt. harness. That's why we (CPS Techs) recommend kids stay in a harnessed car seat for as long as possible. Each transition (from harnessed car seat, to booster, to vehicle seat belt) loses a little bit of crash protection.