The Basics

• There are two types of booster seats – a high-back booster and a low-back booster.

  - A high-back booster seat uses the vehicle’s lap/shoulder belt and provides head and neck support for the child if the car does not have a built-in head restraint.

  - A low-back booster seat is for use in vehicles that have a built-in head restraint.  This type of booster seat is also used with the lap/shoulder belt to properly secure the child.

• From birth to at least one year old and at least 20 pounds, children should be secured in the back seat in a rear-facing infant seat.

• Children between the ages of one to about age four and 20-40 pounds should be secured in the back seat in a forward-facing toddler seat.

• Kids between the ages of four and eight or 40-80 pounds – unless 4’9” – should be properly restrained in the back seat in belt-positioning booster seats.

• The child seat manufacturer certifies that all child safety seats sold meet federal safety performance standards.  For a complete list of the safety seat models, please visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, www.nhtsa.gov.

Where to Go to Check Your Child's Safety Seat:
Lifesaving Options

• Statistics show that four out of five child safety seats are used incorrectly. No one seat is "best" for all children or all vehicles. Therefore the best child safety seat is the one that fits the child and the vehicle, and which will be used correctly on each trip.

• A child safety seat inspection station is the most commonplace consumers go to get their child safety seats "checked." This means that trained technicians (who complete a standardized AAA-certified course) are on hand to inspect and correct the installation of child safety seats.

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