5 point harness vs. booster seat crash test

View the difference between a child secured in a 5 point harness car seat and a booster seat using an adult seat belt. It's easy to see what the safer choice is. Keep children in a 5 point harness car seat for as long as possible.

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[tbirdlew]

Are you sure it wouldn't have made the child in the seatbelt only look a little worse? I have been reading about "submarining", where a small child slips under the seatbelt. I too would like to see the same size kids. I wonder why they didn't use them.

[Julie Abel-Gregory]

It's a Britax Prince, it has a foam shield and a seat the child sits in :)

[tjmj9801]

If nothing else, this should be a PSA against el cheapo boosters such as this one. There are much better boosters that will actually keep the strap properly positioned across the body instead of slipping off of the shoulder like that.

[treqi]

whats the speed on this?

[thislittlepiggy1986]

oh no i misunderstood, we don't really have tethers in the UK, ignore me

[thislittlepiggy1986]

I don't understand what you mean by tether....you mean the child seat would just sit on the normal car seat without running the adult seatbelt through to secure it?

[Leea Smyth]

My son is 2 years old and in a carseat designed for his age with a 5 point harness but now he has learnt how to unclip himself as we r driving. This is a very big safety issue for us as the buckle is supposed to be child proof I don't know how he managed it but somehow he did. Any suggestions what to use to prevent him getting to the buckle to unclip it!!!

[zoomo67]

Ouch.

[Golden Carter]

The harnessed seat is the safest seat for a 3 year old. He would submarine in a booster seat.

[lenats31]

What are the loads on the head, neck and spinal cord 5 point harness vs booster?

[boneheaders]

I wanted to say that in the recall it said that the harness will come off in a crash. It said that in booster mode, the seat would function fine. I would use it in booster mode or penny pinch and buy a $40 car seat- after all, your son is worth $40- use your gut instinct. You are his parent and you have to make sure he remains safe. He should be 40 pounds AND 4 years old before switching to a plain booster.

[boneheaders]

If you do get a ride, all you have to do is run the seat belt through the hole in the seat and then pull the shoulder belt out so it locks and tightens. It takes about 3 minutes to get a correct installation. I would say that the safest would be to tether the 5 point harness- I would stop getting rides from people if they cannot wait 3 minutes to tether it. I did some research about the evenflo maestro and it was recalled.