For more information, see our Car Seat Buyer's Guide.
In order to 'educate parents and caregivers about child safety seat features and which are easy to use as well as to assist you in narrowing your choices by selecting the appropriate child safety seat for your needs,' the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released ease of use ratings for child car seats. Under the new rating system, child restraints are given an overall ease-of-use rating at the 'A', 'B' or 'C' levels.
Remember that an 'A' rating doesn't mean that a car seat is safer than one with a 'B' or 'C' rating, but only that it is easier to use. A car seat that is easy to use may be less likely to be used incorrectly though, and so might be safer than a seat that is hard to use and is used improperly.
Here are the list of Infant Car Seats that were rated, with their overall ease of use rating.
Infant Car Seat Ratings
|
| Manufacturer and Model Name |
Model Number and
Date of Manufacture |
Harness Type |
Weight/Height Range |
Overall Ease of Use Rating |
|
Cosco/Dorel Arriva
|
22010P (09-18-2002) |
3-pt |
5- 22 lbs |
B
|
|
Cosco/Dorel Eddie Bauer w/base
|
22-685-CBT (11-04-2002) |
5pt |
5-35 lbs |
A
|
|
Dorel Safety First Designer 22 w/base
|
22-300-AZY (none on base) (01-29-2003) |
3pt |
5-22lbs |
A
|
|
Dorel Safety First Designer 22 w/base
|
22-325-NVP (01-10-2003) |
5pt |
5-22lbs |
B
|
|
Evenflo Discovery w/base
|
3161291P1 (same on base)5-20 lbs (09-17-2002) |
3 pt |
5-20 lbs/19"-26" |
A
|
|
Evenflo PortAbout 5 w/base
|
3861352P1 (same for base) (02-13-2003) |
5pt |
5-22lbs/19"-26" |
A
|
|
Evenflo PortAbout w/base
|
3741388P1 (same for base)5-22 lbs (11-06-2002) |
3 pt |
5-22 lbs/19"-26" |
A
|
|
Evenflo Tot Taxi
|
3814198P1 (02-21-2003) |
3pt |
5-22 lbs/19"-26" |
B
|
|
Graco Assura
|
41104FOF (02-02-2003) |
3 pt |
22 lbs or less/up to 29" |
B
|
|
Graco Snug Ride w/base
|
8442LMAD (same on base) (09-10-2002) |
3 pt |
less than 20lbs/up to 26" |
A
|
|
Graco Snug Ride w/base
|
8447LNGS (01-28-2003) |
5pt |
less than 20lbs/up to 26" |
A
|
|
Peg-Perego Primo Viaggio
|
MCNOOUSO1BP41TI4 (12-16-2002) |
5 pt |
less than 20lbs/up to 26" |
A
|
