I suggest you pick up a copy of Baby Bargains. There is also consumer reports.
According to Consumer Reports- I have a membership. They rank like this:
1. Chicco Key Fit 30
2. Peg Perego Prima Viaggio 30
3. Baby Trend Flex Lok
4. Britax Chaperone
4. Graco Snugride 32/35
They are not specifically rated on which one is SAFEST, but crash protection, ease of use, fit to vehicle LATCH and fit to Vehicle Belt.
If you look at just crash protection alone, the Britax Chaperone scored excellent--the highest rank than the Chicco Key Fit 30 which scored very good.
This is what CR says under crash protection:
Crash protection
We hired a contract lab to perform crash tests to the government standards as dictated by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213. Crash tests simulate a head-on 30-mph crash with a 22-pound instrumented test dummy representing an average-sized 12-month-old child.
I rec the Graco sungride, Graco sungride 32/35 (used to be the safe seat), Chicco key fit 22/30 or Baby trend infant car seat. All are pretty easy to install and use. Just make sure if you get the Sungride it has a front adjust. This site has tons of info on all the seats I listed here. https://www.car-seat.org/index.php
No one is really ranking safety from one seat to the next. I am in the same position that you are. I agree with PP about Baby Bargains as a great resource, but really would not use it as the be all and end all for safety (commentary is more accurate on the grades):
Essentially, I am using a combo of:
*Consumer Reports
*CarSeatData.org (helpful to see what people who have your make or car)
Re: Question about safety rating sites
I suggest you pick up a copy of Baby Bargains. There is also consumer reports.
According to Consumer Reports- I have a membership. They rank like this:
1. Chicco Key Fit 30
2. Peg Perego Prima Viaggio 30
3. Baby Trend Flex Lok
4. Britax Chaperone
4. Graco Snugride 32/35
They are not specifically rated on which one is SAFEST, but crash protection, ease of use, fit to vehicle LATCH and fit to Vehicle Belt.
If you look at just crash protection alone, the Britax Chaperone scored excellent--the highest rank than the Chicco Key Fit 30 which scored very good.
This is what CR says under crash protection:
Crash protection
We hired a contract lab to perform crash tests to the government standards as dictated by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213. Crash tests simulate a head-on 30-mph crash with a 22-pound instrumented test dummy representing an average-sized 12-month-old child.
Emily 8.8.08
Madeline 1.2.11
William 8.5.12
They dont put out the safety ratings of car seats. I also would never listen to CR https://www.car-safety.org/faq.html#Q30
I rec the Graco sungride, Graco sungride 32/35 (used to be the safe seat), Chicco key fit 22/30 or Baby trend infant car seat. All are pretty easy to install and use. Just make sure if you get the Sungride it has a front adjust. This site has tons of info on all the seats I listed here. https://www.car-seat.org/index.php
No one is really ranking safety from one seat to the next. I am in the same position that you are. I agree with PP about Baby Bargains as a great resource, but really would not use it as the be all and end all for safety (commentary is more accurate on the grades):
Essentially, I am using a combo of:
*Consumer Reports
*CarSeatData.org (helpful to see what people who have your make or car)
*NHTSA Ease of Use https://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_eou/info.jsp?type=infant