NHTSA
nhtsa.gov › ratings
Car Safety Ratings | Vehicles, Car Seats, Tires | NHTSA
Go to Car Seats · Uniform Tire Quality Grading Systems (UTQGS) ratings allow consumers to compare tire features. Purchase a vehicle with safety in mind. Use NHTSA's Vehicle Comparison Tool to see 5-Star Safety Ratings and recall information at a glance. ... The Highway Safety Act established NHTSA and outlined its mission to reduce deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. ... Began testing and rating vehicles for frontal impact protection using data from crash test dummies.
Homepage
Get resources and info about staying safe on America’s roads. And, find out if there’s a recall on your car or how to report a vehicle safety problem.
Recalls
Use our VIN lookup tool to check for recalls on your car, or search by make and model. Also, get recall information on car seats, tires and equipment.
Drunk Driving
Every day, about 34 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that's one person every 42 minutes. In 2023, 12,429 people died in
Car Seats & Boosters
Get resources on how to find and install the right car seat for your child such as forward-facing and rear-facing car seats, along with booster seats.
Government of Canada
tc.canada.ca › sites › default › files › migrated › faq.pdf pdf
Safety starts here. Frequently Asked Questions 5-Star Safety Ratings Overview
11. Do the changes in the new Safety Ratings mean that · vehicles that previously received 4- or 5-star ratings may · get lower ratings even if no changes have been made to ... Yes, NHTSA expects many star ratings to be lower. However, it does not mean that your current 4- or 5-star vehicle ...
NHTSA
nhtsa.gov › vehicle › safety-standards
Vehicle Detail Search - safety-standards | NHTSA
Search for vehicle using all available options, one page at a time. Full Vehicle Detail Search - safety-standards
Data.gov
catalog.data.gov › dataset › child-safety-seat-ease-of-use-rating-child-safety-seat-ease-of-use-ratings
Department of Transportation - Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Rating - Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings
To assist consumers purchasing child safety seats, NHTSA has rated car seats which meet Federal Safety Standards and strict crash performance standards. While all rates seats...
BabyGearLab
babygearlab.com › vehicle safety › car seat reviews
The 10 Best Car Seats | Crash Tested
Nuna Pipa RX
After spending tens of thousands of dollars on crash testing car seats in a certified testing lab, we discovered that not all car seats are equal, despite...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/buyingforbaby › anyone know the legit safety ratings of different infant car seats? i see so many different ratings per car seats.
r/Buyingforbaby on Reddit: Anyone know the legit safety ratings of different infant car seats? I see so many different ratings per car seats.
December 7, 2022 -
I saw one website that listed the nuna pipa low and even the uppababy mesa mid range. But chicco always gets a high rating. Can anyone debunk these?
Top answer 1 of 3
27
I'm a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) in the United States and can speak on seats here. Unfortunately, there are no standardized safety ratings in the United States. It is up to each manufacturer to meet and test their seats to certain federal guidelines, and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) enforces them (recalling seats that do not pass the guidelines). So while all seats must meet the same criteria and pass the same tests, we don't know if any seats exceed these marks. What we do know from the NHTSA sled test is that the crash simulated in the test is a pretty traumatic one, so any properly used and installed seat is a safe seat. That said, the NHTSA test does (IMO) need to be updated, and a few years ago Consumer Reports did try to make a more modernized sled test, which did yield some interesting results. I haven't personally used their results to steer me towards buying a particular seat, but if it made you feel more at ease to do so, then the only 3rd party test I have found to seem to have some merit is the Consumer Reports one. When watching sled tests, they can seem jarring and dangerous, even when the seat is used correctly. A trained eye can pinpoint actual concerns, while many sled test YouTube videos seem to create unnecessary concern. We do know from European tests that certain bells and whistles can help distribute crash forces differently (anti-rebound bars, fixed anchor connectors, load legs, etc), which might exceed NHTSA guidelines. European seats are made differently than American ones, so we don't know how much (if at all) those features can help for American consumers, but they can be something to keep in mind when buying. Ultimately the safest seat is one that is properly used, properly installed, and fits safely in your vehicle (not all seats fit in all vehicles!). I definitely recommend meeting with a CPST locally before having a baby to make sure that you understand how to use and install your seat. Over 90% of infants leave the hospital with one or more errors to car seat use, and I'm a huge proponent for drastically changing that statistic!
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I mean generally it isn't Chicco but the Clek that generally gets top marks (and top weight, not a lightweight seat). Canadian made with steel, published safety results, and very little messing about. In general, you can find ones that are certified in Canada, and it will likely be slightly stricter (EU ones are just different seats). That said, in frontal collisions most are pretty robust. Side collisions the US doesn't have good standards on, and it sucks. Anyways, installation can make all the difference, and some cars have challenges for some seats (some seats are far more flexible, if you think you won't have a stable car). Try it out ahead of time, and go see a CPST. Looking back, getting a good combination seat makes a lot of sense. My kids were out of the infant seat inside of 9 months, and while the rocking and moving ability of the infant car seat was nice I'm not certain it was worth it. Also, you really aren't supposed to keep a kid in a car seat of any sort for more than 2 hours at a stretch , and a lot of the "benefits" of an infant car seat over a combination one are basically invitations to not abide by that.
Consumer Reports
consumerreports.org › babies & kids › baby & toddler › car seats › how consumer reports tests child car seats
How Consumer Reports Tests Child Car Seats - Consumer Reports
That's because a seat can't provide optimal crash protection if it hasn't been properly installed or is being used incorrectly. For many years, Consumer Reports performed simulated frontal crash testing at 30 mph based on the criteria outlined in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 (FVMSS 213), which is NHTSA's standard for crash performance of child restraints (child car seats).
Safe in the Seat
safeintheseat.com › post › car-seat-crash-testing-to-the-regulations-and-beyond
Car Seat Crash Testing: To the Regulations and Beyond! » Safe in the Seat
November 26, 2025 - The tests are done by simulating a car crash at 30 miles per hour. This is done to make sure that the car seat in the back seat can protect your child in case of an accident. The tests are based on a set of rules called Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 (FMVSS 213). These rules are made by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
NHTSA
nhtsa.gov › research-data › child-seat-research
Child Seat Research | NHTSA
Evaluation of Child Occupant Protection In a 56 km/h (35 mph) Frontal Barrier Crash (Technical Report) Compliance tests were conducted on the Orbit Baby Inc. infant car seat model ORB803000 child restraint system in accordance with the ...
GitHub
github.com › fboulnois › nhtsa-car-seat-safety
GitHub - fboulnois/nhtsa-car-seat-safety: An analysis in R of the NHTSA data on infant and child car seats
I cross-referenced the seat model of the most popular travel systems with the NHTSA data. The car seat data was analyzed in a few different dimensions: Which car seats have the highest combined rating by geometric score · Which convertible (multifunction) car seats have the highest score · Which convertible car seats have an overall rating of 5 in any category · Which travel system car seats have the highest score · A few organizations also perform independent testing of car seats that meet or exceed the NHTSA standards:
Author fboulnois
Saferidenews
saferidenews.com › 2023 › 10 › study-nhtsa-eou
Study Examines NHTSA’s CR Ease-of-Use Ratings – Safe Ride News
There are a number of ways to access the EOU ratings. For instance, selecting Car Seats at www.nhtsa.gov/ratings presents two options. Clicking on NHTSA’s Car Seat Finder tool and entering a child’s age, height, and weight generates a link to the EOU ratings for each CR model the tool recommends.
World Car Rating
worldcarrating.com › home › nhtsa car seat crash test ratings explained
Essential Guide to NHTSA Car Seat Crash Test Ratings
September 13, 2025 - Car seats are essential for ensuring the safety of young passengers in vehicles. With numerous options available on the market, understanding how these seats perform in crash scenarios is crucial for parents and caregivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) conducts rigorous crash tests to evaluate the safety of car seats, providing ratings that […]
Car Seat
car-seat.org
Car Seat.Org - Carseat, Automobile & Child Passenger Safety Forums
Discuss IIHS and NHTSA Crash Tests and Transportation Safety Statistics. ... LF curriculum/resources for teens re: car safety, crash dynamics, etc. ... Comparison tool for top rated carseats from brands like Britax, Chicco, Combi, Cosco, Evenflo, Cybex, Graco, Nuna, Maxi-Cosi & Diono
NHTSA
nhtsa.gov › equipment › car-seats-and-booster-seats
Car Seat & Booster Seat Safety, Ratings, Guidelines | NHTSA
To maximize safety, keep your child in the car seat for as long as possible, as long as the child fits within the manufacturer’s height and weight requirements. Keep your child in the back seat at least through age 12. ... The best seat for your young child to use. It has a harness and, in a crash, cradles and moves with your child to reduce the stress to the child's fragile neck and spinal cord.
IIHS-HLDI
iihs.org › research-areas › child-safety
Child safety
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that child safety seats saved 408 lives in 2019 and an estimated 13,217 lives from 1968 to 2019 (Kahane & Simons, 2024).
Government of Canada
tc.canada.ca › en › road-transportation › research-testing-vehicles-child-car-seats › child-car-seat-compliance-testing
Child Car Seat Compliance Testing - Transports Canada
The results are not meant to be used to rate individual child car seats or to compare them against each other. The American and European regimes are similar in this respect. ... This test measures the safety of the infant or child seat during a full-frontal collision at 48 km/h. It is carried out on an acceleration sled that is equipped with a standard bench seat. A crash ...
Clek
clekinc.com › blogs › clek-all-about-the-ride-blog › crash-testing-for-kids-car-seats-what-you-need-to-know
Crash Testing for Kids Car Seats: What You Need to Know – ShopClek US
September 10, 2020 - This sticker indicates the exact CMVSS standard the car seat has been certified to and shows that it’s legal for use in Canada. Check for the Statement of Compliance. This statement indicates that the car seat has been tested and certified to meet FMVSS 213 standards. Now that we understand a bit about what crash testing is, let’s look at a video to get an idea of what a crash test looks like.
Iu
preventinjury.medicine.iu.edu › child passenger safety › selecting the best car seat › ease of use rating
Ease of Use Rating
Although you may use the rating ... vehicle. A properly used and installed child safety seat is the best protection for your child in a crash. NHTSA’s Ease of Use Ratings is a 5-star ratings system that ranks certain car seat features by how easy they are to use....
Consumer Reports
consumerreports.org › babies & kids › baby & toddler › car seats
Car Seats via @ConsumerReports
We test and rate 100+ car seats so that we can make clear recommendations—and you can easily find the right fit.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/cars › nhtsa is providing incorrect child seat recommendations on it's website
r/cars on Reddit: NHTSA is providing incorrect child seat recommendations on it's website
December 1, 2023 -
The child car seat finder tool published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/car-seats-and-booster-seats) is returning potentially dangerous results, contradicting information shown on the rest of the page and not functioning as one would expect.
As you can see from the linked screenshot, the tool does not even take into consideration the height and weight parameters and they are being completely ignored when generating a recommendation. It is dangerous that this is happening, providing incorrect child car seat information like this, especially from a federal organization that is often seen as a source of truth. Was this tool tested in any way before being released to the public? This is very troubling and makes me a bit mad. How much taxpayer money was spent on this tool? Not cool. And not safe.
https://imgur.com/usjFU6l
The tool's chart also changes the recommended age range for a rear-facing seat from Birth - 3 years to Birth - 2 years when you run the tool.
Original recommendation shown if you scroll up above the tool on the page: https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/carseatrec_age_size_bars_static_1000px.png
Edit: I've reached out to the NHTSA about this, haven't heard anything just yet.
Top answer 1 of 5
56
An observation as a car mechanic who has had a child recently. Most child seats are IMPOSSIBLE to install correctly according to their own directions. The local fire department certified guy is always unavailable. I am beginning to think it is a feature, not a bug.
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So rather than reaching out to the NHTSA, or tipping off some journalists who could better raise visibility with the general public, you're complaining here? I highly doubt the NHTSA has its own in-house programmers so this is something to get them to go yell at their contractors about.