Compatability with Vehicles
Designed for families and new car buyers
Not all vehicles are created equally when it comes to protecting drivers and passengers. In fact, even within a vehicle, the different seating positions vary in terms of their effectiveness in protecting different passengers. For example, a front passenger seat with an air bag may provide good protection for an adult but should never be used for an infant in a rear-facing safety seat. The air bag, a safety feature that enhances protection for an adult, is dangerous for an infant in a rear-facing safety seat.
Each type of passenger (infant, toddler, child or adult) has different occupant restraint requirements and so needs a different combination of safety features. Each seating position in the vehicle provides different safety features and these vary from vehicle to vehicle. Sounds confusing? The Child Safety Seat Vehicle Compatibility Ratings are intended to help consumers and families take advantage of their vehicles occupant safety features by maximizing the protection available to each passenger.
The list of vehicles that have been rated is growing. Click on a vehicle model year below to see if your vehicle has been rated:
2008 - Vehicle Compatibility Ratings
2007 - Vehicle Compatibility Ratings
Key Points
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should use the Child Safety Seat Vehicle Compatibility Ratings?
What will it tell me?
What safety features are rated?
What is not rated?
Who should use the Child Safety Seat Vehicle Compatibility Ratings?
It is a valuable tool for those who:
- want to determine the most suitable seating position for each member of their family
- want to learn more about their vehicles occupant safety features
- plan to buy a new vehicle
What will it tell me?
The Child Safety Seat Vehicle Compatibility Ratings will help you determine which vehicle seating position has the best combination of safety features for each type of passenger (infant, toddler, child or adult). Each vehicle seating position is scored separately for use with:
- babies in rear-facing child safety seats
- toddlers in forward-facing child safety seats
- children in booster seats
What safety features are rated?
A team of experts uses the highest standards in the industry to rate critical occupant restraint safety features in each of the vehicles seating positions. Ratings are based on the combination of occupant safety features available and how easy they are to use.
Ratings for each seating position are completed for each different type of passenger (baby, toddler, child or adult). Ratings are:
The evaluators check the presence, ease-of use (including effectiveness of instructions, illustrations and warnings about misuse) relating to the following safety features in each of the vehicles seating positions:
- Seat belts lap / shoulder seat belts and lap belts only. Lap / shoulder belts greatly reduce injury to adults in a crash when compared to lap only belts. Lap only belts may be satisfactory for installing rear and forward-facing child seats.
- Air bags front and side. With advances in technology, air bags continue to change and improve from year to year. Today there are different types of air bags available providing different levels and types of protection.
- Universal Anchorage System (UAS) for child safety seat installation.
- Tether anchorage for forward-facing child safety seat installation.
- Automatic / Emergency Locking Retractor system (ALR/ELR) This system is designed to take up slack in the seat belt automatically and to lock in place when the passenger or child safety seat moves forward at a higher than normal rate of speed (particularly helpful when installing a child safety seat).
- D-ring Adjustable D-rings improve shoulder belt fit to accommodate different sizes of occupants.
- Seat belt pretensioners and load limiters Pretensioners restrain an occupant as early as possible in a crash, thereby reducing the load on the occupant in a violent crash. Load limiters reduce injury caused by the seat belt that can occur in serious crashes.
What is not rated?
The Child Safety Seat Vehicle Compatibility Ratings is not intended to evaluate different types of child safety seats or their compatibility with different vehicles. It also is not intended as an overall vehicle safety rating system. Rather, it provides an evaluation of each vehicle seating positions safety features and suitability for use with different types of passengers (i.e., for adults and use with rear-facing and forward-facing child safety seats and booster seats).