Friday, May 14, 2010

The 5-Step Test - Your Way to Know if a Child Can Ride Safely Without a Booster

Are you curious if your child is ready to ride safely without a booster?
Are you curious if the booster makes the seat belt fit properly?

The 5-Step Test is a simple way to see if the vehicle's seat belt fits the child properly.

Kids who can answer "yes" to all 5 questions can ride safely without a booster (most kids are close to 5 feet tall before they pass).  

For kids who still need a booster to ride safely, make sure you can answer "yes" to questions #3-5 with the child sitting in the booster (if you can't, try a different booster).

The 5-Step Test ©SafetyBeltSafe USA

  1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
  2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
  3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
  4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
  5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip? (For squirmy kids, try switching the seatbelt into the locking mode - click here for more info)
If you answer  "no" to any of these questions, your child STILL needs a booster seat to make both the shoulder belt and the lap belt fit right and to keep them safest.

    1 comment:

    1. Thanks for the guide!

      I have been keeping my 6yo in the Sunshine Kids Radian seat. Is that really safer than a booster and, if so, how much safer? Our baby will move into a Radian after she gets out of the infant carrier, and I'm contemplating buying a booster for the 6yo (7 by the time we buy it) instead of a 4th Radian...

      ReplyDelete