IIHS just released a new Ease-of-Use rating for parents to consider before buying a new vehicle: the LATCH ratings for location and use of hardware in vehicles. These ratings for 2015 vehicles—ranging from Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor—measure ease-of-use only and are not considered safety ratings. In their search for ideal access to LATCH, the IIHS researchers only found 3 out of 100 vehicles made their cut for a top rating! The 2015 BMW X5, Mercedes Benz GL-Class, and Volkswagen Passat win for being most LATCH-friendly. Most notably, the Toyota Sienna minivan, built specifically for families, fetched a Poor rating (see rating example pic below).
LATCH is a familiar term for parents and caregivers who must deal with child restraints. 
What is it? Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren consists of connectors on the carseat that attach to anchors in the vehicle and is an alternative to using the seat belt for installing the carseat. Most carseats have a strap with connectors that either clip or snap onto the connectors, which are found in the vehicle’s seat bight (fancy term for “crack”). The top tether strap is found on convertible and combination carseats. These are carseats that can face forward and the tether secures the top of the carseat to the vehicle; it greatly reduces head excursion, or how far forward your child’s head comes out of the carseat in a crash. Note: the tether is generally only used when the carseat is forward-facing although there are some exceptions. Tethers are awesome for forward-facing kids, and should always be used regardless of whether the carseat is installed with lower anchors or the seat belt!
LATCH has been around for a long time: lower anchors were required hardware in vehicles since 2002. Top tethers have been required in vehicles since 2000. Some earlier vehicles have anchors in them because the manufacturers were that good. When it’s available and parents know what it is, LATCH makes installation easier and parents usually get it right. There’s still room for error, but it’s basically click, click pull tight. However, parents have to be able to find the lower anchors and top tethers and be able to easily attach the connectors before they can tighten the straps. If the lower anchors are positioned too deeply in the bight or at an angle where they’re hard to access with certain styles of connectors, this easy system becomes difficult quickly. It’s important to note that LATCH isn’t considered safer than the vehicle seat belt for installation.
Rigid lower anchor connector
Basic hook lower anchor connector
push-on lower anchor connector
IIHS researchers used tools to measure the depth of the anchors in the vehicle seat bight and the clearance angle. They also measured how far in from the edge of the bight they are found. Top tether anchors were rated on their locations as well. The goal is to have LATCH anchors that are easy to find right away because they’re clearly labeled and easily accessed. Vehicles receive a Good rating if they have the following:
- The lower anchors are no more than 3/4 inch deep in the seat bight.
- The lower anchors are easy to maneuver around. This is defined as having a clearance angle greater than 54 degrees.
- The force required to attach a standardized tool to the lower anchors is less than 40 pounds. (The tool represents a lower connector of a child seat, though the actual force required when installing a seat varies depending on the specific connector.)
- Tether anchors are on the vehicle’s rear deck or on the top 85 percent of the seatback. They shouldn’t be at the very bottom of the seatback, under the seat, on the ceiling or on the floor.
- The area where the tether anchor is found doesn’t have any other hardware that could be confused for the tether anchor. If other hardware is present, then the tether anchor must have a clear label located within 3 inches of it.
Because these are ease-of-use ratings, the IIHS LATCH ratings are NOT safety ratings and do NOT mean you should stop using LATCH for carseat installation. Your back seat may be differently designed than the 2015 models that they tested and as long as you can get the connectors on the anchors, you’re golden. It’s the battle to get them on that IIHS is measuring, not if they stay there. One thing you do need to remember is that there are weight limits for lower LATCH achors that vary from carseat to carseat.
What Can You Do As A Consumer?
Be *that* customer. Be informed. Ask to read the vehicle owner’s manual—make the salesperson work for their commission. The owner’s manual will tell you exactly how many LATCH locations there are and where the tethers are located (look under Child Restraints or LATCH). It will also give you any special directions for using the top tether. A Marginal or Poor LATCH rating shouldn’t preclude you from purchasing a vehicle because you can always use the seat belt to install a carseat. Sometimes knowing a trick or two, like folding the vehicle seat forward a tad to access the lower anchors, can make things easier. It just shows that you have to take more than leather seats and cup holders into consideration when choosing a new vehicle for your family.
3rd row tether anchor in Acura MDX
I want their next review to scold vehicle makers for having such low weight limits and push for 80 or 100 pound weight ratings so parents can use latch as long as they need to. Oh well, I can dream.
Tether straps attached to anchors in the ceiling can also reduce rear visibility, especially with Britax seats that have V shaped versa tethers. If you have 2 FF Britax seats in a Subaru with ceiling anchors – that is going to obstruct your rear view. I’ve been told by Subaru drivers that they get used to it but it’s still less than ideal.
I agree, Kecia! We are a Subaru family. In. One of our vehicles, the tether anchors are on the floor near the hatchback door (like in the Acura picture posted) which cuts into our ease of use for our cargo area, and in the other they are on the celing, which decreases visbility. Needless to say, knowing this ahead of time provides good motivation to keep our kids RF as long as possible, but I do worry that for some parents, it would be easy to say, “I’ll just not use the tether on this road trip because we need the cargo area,” or to skip it entirely. In my opinion, ease of use isn’t just about finding the anchors, it’s also about how well the anchors are situated for ease of use of the car overall.
I totally agree. I’ve worked with parents who didn’t want to use the tether because it interfered with their cargo area. And while I believe that safety is more important than an inconvenience, let’s be honest – if you need to unhook and then reattach the tether strap each time you have to get your stroller in and out of the vehicle – that’s a drag.
We had a Subaru Outback with ceiling mounted anchors. They were a minor nuisance, both for visibility and blocking some cargo space. I am not aware of any evidence showing that such anchors were any less effective at their primary purpose of reducing head excursion. Theoretically, though, a shorter and more direct route to the tether anchor may have a slight advantage in a crash. There is definitely a concern with ease-of-use and the nuisance factor resulting in the top tether not being used. But once you know the location and are able to use it correctly, it will still provide about the same safety benefit in a crash as any other tether location.
Melissa,
Technically, nothing is wrong with ceiling mounted top tether anchors. I believe the IIHS emphasis seems to be subjective and primarily has to do with ease-of-use. Once you know where the anchors are located and if you then have no difficulty using them correctly, then these ratings are meaningless in your situation!
It should also be noted that the lower anchor portion of LATCH is no longer very useful for forward-facing carseats. This is due to instructions and standards that often impose a weight limit that essentially makes seatbelt installation preferable to lower anchors for many forward-facing models. Of course, the top-tether remains a critical safety feature on forward-facing carseats, though it may have weight limitations in some cases as well.
whats the problem with ceiling mounted top tethers? My cr-v has one and it’s no more difficult to use than the other two that are on the seat backs.