Graco Milestone, Graco 4Ever & Evenflo Symphony with SureLATCH top the All-in-One ratings from Consumer Reports
3 years ago Consumer Reports implemented a new, more rigorous crash test for carseats and started releasing the results of their ratings to subscribers. CR’s goal in creating the new test wasn’t to recreate the wheel. We know every carseat on the market here in the U.S. must be able to pass a basic frontal crash test (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213), therefore we consider all carseats on the market to be “safe” because they can all pass this baseline test. However, we also know that all carseats are NOT created equal and it would be naive to assume that they all provide exactly the same levels of protection.
Consumer Reports set out to find which seats provide additional margins of safety, above and beyond FMVSS 213, and so they developed their new crash test to be more rigorous than the federal standards. Their crash test ratings scale will indicate a “BASIC,” “BETTER,” or “BEST” rating to indicate how well the child restraint performed as compared with the rest of the seats in that “peer group” category. One main focus of this new crash test is head protection, since head injuries are very common in crashes, even among properly restrained children.
This crash test was designed by an automotive safety engineer and peer-reviewed by an independent crash testing expert with 40 years of experience in the field. Testing is performed at an independent, outside testing facility. This test utilizes an actual contemporary vehicle seat (a 2010 Ford Flex 2nd row seat) with a floor below it, unlike the government test which has a 70’s era back seat bench with no floor. There’s a “blocker plate” (pictured above) installed in front of the test seat to simulate the front seat in a vehicle. The blocker plate is intended to recreate the interaction that happens in real life crashes when the child or the carseat interacts with the back of the front seat. In addition, the speed of this test is set at 35 mph (instead of 30 mph which is standard in FMVSS testing). Those who follow vehicle ratings will recognize the 35 mph speed as the same speed used to crash vehicles in the NCAP program. CR’s new test applies 36% more energy to carseats than their old test protocol and a more severe test results in a greater distinction among carseat performance.
Consumer Reports crash tested 14 All-in-One models in up to 7 configurations, both forward-facing and rear-facing, with various dummy sizes, using LATCH or a 3-point seatbelt. Several models that received a “BEST” rating for crash protection are also on our Recommended Carseats List. We recommend the Graco Milestone, Graco 4Ever and Evenflo Symphony DLX/Elite with SureLATCH because of their ease of use and fit-to-child in all 3 modes (rear-facing, forward-facing & booster).
In addition to the Crash Protection Rating, Consumer Reports still gives each model an overall numeric “Score.” This is based in part on the Crash Protection Rating and also other more subjective factors, such as ease-of-use and fit-to-vehicle in various modes.
Top Performers in the All-in-One Category
Graco Milestone (Overall Score 79), Graco 4Ever* (overall score 75) and Evenflo Symphony 65 DLX/Elite models with SureLATCH (Overall Score 72) were the top 3 performers in overall scores and each received a BEST rating for crash protection. Other All-in-One models that were tested in this round by Consumer Reports include the Safety 1st Grow and Go lineup, the Diono Radian lineup**, Evenflo SafeMax All-in-One and some addional Safety 1st All-in-One models. Thankfully, all the models tested in this round received either a BEST or a BETTER score for crash protection. Subscribers to Consumer Reports can see the complete ratings HERE.
*Graco 4Ever was only tested for belt fit in highback booster mode. It was not tested for proper belt fit as a backless booster.
**Diono Radian models (R100, R120 & RXT) were NOT crash tested rear-facing using the angle adjuster accessory because this is an accessory product that does not come in the box with the seat. Diono Rainier was tested but there was some confusion regarding availability so results for that seat will be added soon.
More related info from CarseatBlog:
2016 Infant Carseat Safety Ratings from Consumer Reports – 17 new models evaluated
The Safest Convertible Carseats? New 2015 Crash Protection Ratings and Methods from Consumer Reports
The CPS Technician’s Guide to Understanding the New Consumer Reports Crash Test Ratings
More info from Consumer Reports (Subscription May Be Required):
FULL Consumer Reports Overall Ratings and Scores
Top 5 Rated Convertible Car Seats
Why You Should Buy a Convertible Car Seat Sooner Rather Than Later
All of the old 2015 14 consumer report should be taken off they don’t matter anymore. And all of the test should be done on all of the car seats. How can you determine whether they’re good or not. I’m grandmother I’m trying to decide which car seat is the safest for me to buy for my grandchildren. I really got no help. All of the test were not done on the boosters parts of the car seat. And I want the car seat tell last them all the way through till the time they don’t need them anymore. I don’t want to find out that later on the booster isn’t good enough. I’m very frustrated.
I agree. This article was not helpful. I cant seem to find any definition of what the “additional margins of safety, above and beyond FMVSS 213” are or even what the check list looks like for the FMVSS 213. What defines basic, better, best? Where can I find a detailed report on each car seat crash test? Youre site isnt really providing any more thorough information than the other 1000s out there that basically promote the same 3-5 seats, ALL WITH AFFILIATE LINKS.
Hi Marissa, the main differences are clearly discussed in our article. Consumer Reports crash tests at a higher speed compared to FMVSS 213 (35mph vs. 30mph). This results in a higher energy pulse and more forces applied to the carseat and dummy. In addition, the bench used is more typical of modern vehicles, rather than the 1970s bench used in FMVSS. Beyond that, we agree with some of your comments. For example, Consumer Reports simply does not publish an extensive methodology with details on their testing. This is one of the main issues we have with their results as well.
To be fair, we are only reporting on this press release from Consumer Reports. CarseatBlog did not participate in this testing. In addition, we are limited by copyright concerns as to how much of their information we can publish. You are encouraged to contact them directly for more details on their testing.
As for CarseatBlog, we do apply our own significant expertise in our recommendations and reviews, which vary from those at Consumer Reports. That said, there simply is no comprehensive crash testing data that allows a complete safety comparison of car seats like you can find for automobiles from the NHTSA and IIHS. As you have found, the Consumer Reports testing is rather limited and has some inconsistencies, but it is all that exists at this time. We would not recommend that anyone make a purchasing decision based solely upon the Consumer Reports information.
You can read about us, our authors and our policies here:
https://carseatblog.com/about-us/
https://carseatblog.com/about/
I don’t think you will find more than one or two blogs devoted to car seats with the degree of expertise and experience that we have in our industry! Certainly not 1000s, and many of those are copycats or disguised shopping portals with zero hands-on advice like we provide in our reviews.