All posts by Mike

Best Car Seat Deals for Amazon’s Cyber Monday Sales

Ah, Thanksgiving! We’re full of turkey and we’ve driven home safely, but whether you’ve already done your Black Friday shopping or decided you’re still on the lookout for deals, the good news is that there are a number of quality car seat deals still available for Cyber Monday on Amazon. Here are the latest prices on some of the best car seats currently available, along with my reviews of these seats to help you with choosing between them.

If you’re like most people, you’ve got a lot of things on your plate as the holidays approach, and you might not have much time to find the best deals for everything. That’s where The Car Crash Detective comes in!

I searched through Amazon to find the best values for infant seats, convertible seats, combination seats, and booster seats, and included my personal thoughts on which of the seats are must-haves if you’re in the market in their respective categories. Have fun shopping and remember to rear-face until 4 if possible, forward-face until 8 if possible, and booster until your child passes the 5 step test.

In a hurry? You can read all of my reviews of recommended car seats here.
Top 3 Convertible Seats that Rear-Face to 50 pounds

  

 

The Clek Foonf – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Diono Rainier – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Clek Fllo – Review Here, Buy Here.

These are the best convertible car seats available in the United States right now when it comes to extended rear-facing. They allow you to rear-face until 50 pounds, which is as good as it gets today in the US. Of the three seats, the Rainier is the best deal, but the Fllo is my personal favorite. You can’t lose with any of these seats, however, so rest assured that your child will be well protected regardless of which you choose.

Top 4 Convertible Seats that Rear-Face to 40 pounds

   

The Britax Advocate ClickTight – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Britax Boulevard ClickTight – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Britax Marathon ClickTight – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Chicco NextFit – Review Here, Buy Here.

The 40 pound convertible seat market is packed, but these seats stand out time and time again. They all have astronomically high seat backs, which means that your children are all but guaranteed to reach the 40 pound weight limit before they need to be forward-faced. Of the seats, the Advocate offers the best side impact protection, while I think the Boulevard or NextFit are the best value.

Top 2 Convertible Seats on a Budget (i.e., under $200)

 

The Graco Head Wise 70 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Graco Size4Me 65 – Review Here, Buy Here.

When it comes to absolute value for rear-facing, you can’t get any better than the Graco clones, including the Head Wise 70 and the Size4Me 65. In fact, these are my two favorite convertibles, bar none, under $200. I have both seats installed in family vehicles right now, and between the two, the main differences are that the Head Wise 70 has more side impact protection and head support, while the Size4Me feels a bit bony in comparison due to the thinner fabrics used. As a result, I’d choose the Head Wise over the Size4Me if you can afford it. If you can’t or don’t want the extra padding, however, the Size4Me is 95% of the seat for a bit less in price.

Top 3 Infant Seats that Rear-Face to 35 pounds

 

  

The UPPAbaby MESA – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 4-35 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Cybex Aton 2 – Review Here, Buy Here.

When it comes to infant seats, I’m looking for ease of installation and ease of use, and these three seats are the best in the market when it comes to both of those factors, as well as when it comes to stroller compatibility in the case of the UPPAbaby MESA. Of the three seats, my favorite is the MESA, but all three are solid choices and are among the best in the market in rear-facing weight limits for infant seats.

Top Infant Seat on a Budget (i.e., under $200)

The Chicco KeyFit 30 – Review Here, Buy Here.

The KeyFit 30 is the number one selling infant seat in the United States for a reason: it’s an excellent value and makes the achievement of a safe installation a snap. I also love the fact that it has a great amount of compatibility with a range of Chicco strollers, including with the Bravo stroller.

Top 3 Combination Seats that Forward-Face to 70+ pounds

 

  

The Britax Frontier 90 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Britax Pinnacle 90 – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Britax Pioneer 70 – Review Here, Buy Here.

The Britax combination seats are not only the best combination seats on the market, they’re also among the best booster seats you can buy at any price, especially in the case of the Pinnacle and Frontier 90. For me, the Frontier 90 is the best deal, as it offers the high seat height and weight limits of the Pinnacle without the additional price.

Top 3 Booster Seats with More than 20″ of Shoulder Height
  

The Clek Oobr – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Maxi-Cosi RodiFix – Review Here, Buy Here.
The Kiddy Cruiserfix Pro – Review Here, Buy Here.

Although the Frontier 90 and Pinnacle 90 are my favorite boosters, if you’re not able to pick either of them up or are on a shorter budget, then your best best will involve the Oobr, RodiFix, and CruisterFix pro. Of these, the Oobr is my favorite; it has a long history of quality and is a solid choice for belt positioning and keeping kids safe until they’re old enough to use the adult seat belt.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

How to Drive Safely on Thanksgiving, Every Year

This Thanksgiving week, millions of drivers will take to the roads in order to spend time with family members around the country, and for many, these will be times of joy. However, there will inevitably be tragedies due to unsafe driving practices, almost all of which will be preventable. I’ve talked before about how to drive safely in general, but in light of the Thanksgiving holiday, it’s worth reviewing the most important tips for driving safely on Thanksgiving this week:

Slow down, buckle up, and drive sober.

Most people don’t know that Thanksgiving is actually the deadliest holiday of the year when it comes to car collisions. Two years ago in 2012, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has a Fatality Analysis Reporting System, more than 764 fatal collisions occurred, with approximately 400 of these collisions involving motor vehicles. That same year, approximately 654 collisions led to fatalities on Christmas. If we extend our scope of analysis to non-fatal collisions, on Thanksgiving 2012, close to 50,000 collisions occurred. Many of these resulted in lifelong injuries to children who were not safely restrained in rear-facing, forward-facing, or booster seats.

That is absolutely horrific. And completely unnecessary. Why do we know this?

Per the NHTSA, more than 40% of motor vehicle passengers who died on Thanksgiving died due to collision involving drunk drivers. This is close to the year after year figure of approximately 30% of all vehicular fatalities being caused by drunk drivers. Additionally, around 60% of fatally injured passengers were unbuckled. This, again, is similar to the year over year figure of around 50% of fatally injured passengers being unbuckled. Speeding, of course, was also present as an underlying reason for needless deaths.

These are preventable reasons. No one has to die this Thanksgiving, or any Thanksgiving, from an auto collision. Drive sober. Drive the speed limit–or slower! Drive buckled up, and make sure every passenger is buckled, every time.

And have a safe Thanksgiving. If you’re thinking of Black Friday shopping, check out the Black Friday deals at Amazon. You’ll save money and be safer not driving out to beat the hordes.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

3 Across Installations: Which Car Seats Will Fit In a Subaru Forester?

The Subaru Forester is a popular small all-wheel drive SUV chosen by a number of young professionals and families interested in a small, AWD SUV with strong safety features. It competes with offerings from other manufacturers like the Honda CR-V, Jeep Patriot, Nissan Rogue, and the Ford Escape. Even though it’s not a minivan, the truth is that you can fit a surprisingly large number of car seats in a Subaru Forester if you’re willing to take the time to fit them in. I spent the last weekend in my garage trying out car seats in a current generation Forester in order to see which car seats would and wouldn’t puzzle together. Before we get to that, however, let’s review some tenets of car seat safety: rear-facing, forward-facing, and boostering.

Perhaps you already know the basics of best practices in car seat safety: rear-face as long as possible (ideally until at least 4!), and then forward-face until at least 5, and then booster until a regular belt fits your child (which typically happens between 10 and 12). These guidelines keep your children as safe as possible by keeping them in the right orientations as long as possible.

However, in order to make use of that information, it helps to know which car seats are going to fit well and which ones will give you trouble in your Subaru Forester. That’s where my 3 across installation guide comes in handy, and why I run this car seat blog.

In short, if you want to do 3 across, you can’t go wrong with a set of Fllos or Foonfs. However, there are more car seats that will work, and work well, and I’ve tried to list them below. This isn’t a complete list, of course, and I’ll add more seats as I try them.You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Subaru Forester

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Peg Perego Flex 120 (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT, Diono Radian RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Britax Parkway SGL, Combi Coccoro, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Britax Boulevard ClickTight, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Britax Marathon ClickTight, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Rainier, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Pacifica, Britax Parkway SGL.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Olympia, Britax Parkway SGL.Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT, Britax Parkway SGL.

Tips and Tricks:

This generation of the Subaru Forester is 181 inches long and 71 inches wide, which means it’s around the size of most other small SUVs in the current market. It also means you should be able to achieve 3 across installations without too much trouble side to side, although you might have some challenges when it comes to front to back room.

The installation with the KeyFit 30, Parkway SGL, and Boulevard ClickTight is doable, but it’s going to be a difficult one to achieve. It’s much easier to go with the Fllo, Foonf, or Rainier instead of the Boulevard for that set of 3 across combinations, since the aforementioned seats are all narrower than the 18.5″ wide Boulevard ClickTight.

forester - 2011 - publicdomain2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Subaru Forester

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Peg Perego Flex 120 (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Combi Cocorro (x3).

Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT, Graco Snugride 35.

Tips and Tricks:

This generation of the Subaru Forester is 180 inches long and 70 inches wide, or one inch shorter and narrower than the following generation. It’s still possible to fit 3 Floos, Foonfs, Radians, and Coccoro’s, however, as well as a few other seats with a bit of work. Again, make seat belt installations a priority.

2002-subaru-forester-pd2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Subaru Forester

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT, Diono Radian RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Combi Cocorro (x3).

Tips and Tricks:

The second generation of the Subaru Forester is 175-176 inches long and just over 68 inches wide. I’m going to be honest; it’s a very, very tight fit to get pretty much anything to work in a 3 across setup. However, it’s possible with the right seats, and the right seats are the ones above. There are other combinations that might work too; these are just the ones I’m sure of. Naturally, you’ll want to use seat belts on all three seats.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can buy my books here or do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases.  It costs nothing extra to do so, but when you shop through my links, a small portion of your purchase, regardless of what you buy, will go toward the maintenance of The Car Crash Detective.

Irving M. Mangel, 76, in Boca Raton, FL, Killed in Underride

unsplash-yeager-flowers

Who:
Irving M. Mangel, 76, was killed on Monday, 4/21/14, at around 6 AM in Boca Raton, FL, on Clint Moore Road. He drove a 2014 Hyundai Equus and crashed into the side of a 1999 Freightliner tractor trailer driven by Johnny Ray Arden, 69. Arden was uninjured while Mangel died at the scene.

How:
Per police reports, the trailer was eastbound and trying to make a U-turn. Mangel was westbound and collided. He impacted the side of the trailer and died at the scene.

Why:
This was, sadly, another example of a passenger vehicle-large truck fatality due to a rear underride. The Equus (essentially a larger Sonata) impacted with enough force (likely in excess of 55 mph) to lead to that level of cabin intrusion (which would be classified as catastrophic, as the intrusion extended past the B frame of the vehicle). Catastrophic levels of intrusion are virtually unsurvivable. Despite the impressive safety features of the 2014 Equus, there was virtually no chance of survival. The reasons for the crash are not known at this time, but they almost certainly were due to driver inattention, whether due to cell phone use, radio use, sleepiness, or alcohol / medical impairment.

It is essential to repeat that this crash was preventable, but that virtually no passenger vehicle exists that would have protected him at the speeds at which he likely crashed, as the significant marker of trailer underride crashes is that the part that results in death–the trailer itself–is above the crash-absorbing structures of virtually every vehicle on the road.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

2015 Minivan Safety Comparison: Sienna vs. Odyssey

Choosing a safe minivan is a priority for parents and families, but it can be difficult to figure out what’s safest when every manufacturer claims to be doing everything every other manufacturer is doing. Let’s cut to the chase and take a look at how two of the most popular minivans currently available as 2015 models in the United States, the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey, compare with each other when it comes to keeping you and your loved ones safe. Of course, we’ll also take a look at car seat compatibility along the way.

I’ve looked at a lot of collisions involving vehicles over the years, and minivans have consistently stood out as some of the safest vehicles on the road. A big part of that is inevitably how they’re driven, as people are less likely to use aggressive driving behaviors when behind the wheel of a minivan compared to when behind the wheel of a pickup, SUV, or regular car.

However, that’s not the whole story. minivans also tend to come with a number of safety features that aren’t always present in other vehicles. Minivan manufacturers know who they’re marketing to, and if they’re paying attention, we might as well reap the benefits in order to keep our loved ones safe. Here’s a look at safety scores for the Sienna and Odyssey based on IIHS and NHTSA testing.

2015 Toyota Sienna Family Safety and Car Seat Review

sienna--publicdomain The  2015 Toyota Sienna is an excellent choice for most families when it comes to reliability, and it’s certainly a flexible vehicle when it comes to 3 across installations. However, while its safety scores are good in most areas, they are somewhat lacking in others. Let’s take a closer look:

Front moderate overlap: The Sienna does well here with a good score.  This indicates that in a 40 mph crash with a Sienna or similarly-sized vehicle, such as another minivan, you could expect properly-restrained adult occupants in the front seats to survive with minimal injuries.

Front small overlap: The Sienna has an acceptable score here as of 2015. This means that in a 40 mph crash with a Sienna or similarly-sized vehicle, such as another minivan, you’d expect a properly-restrained driver to survive the collision with minimal injuries, but that slightly different collision circumstances could significantly increase the risks of injury.

Side impact: The Sienna has a good score here.  What’s simulated is a 31 mph side impact by a 3300-lb SUV-like vehicle, and in such a collision, you could expect a properly-restrained driver and rear near-side passenger to survive the collision with minimal injuries. This kind of collision regularly kills people in vehicles without side impact airbags and strong vehicle cells, so this is a huge level of progress compared to where we were just 15 years ago at the turn of the millenium.

Frontal crash: The Sienna received 4/5 stars overall in 2014 here, with 5/5 stars for the driver and 3/5 stars for the passenger, which I don’t find acceptable for the passenger. What’s simulated here is a direct head on collision at 40 mph with a similarly-sized vehicle, and per the score, the likelihood of death or serious injury for the passenger is around 20 to 40%.

Roof strength: The Sienna has a good roof score, which means its roof is capable of supporting up to 4x the weight of the vehicle before caving in by 5 inches or more. This reduces the odds of roof crush in rollovers, which is great.

Car seat compatibility: The Sienna is a very friendly vehicle for 3 across installations, and I’ve been able to install many seats without any issues at all. The Clek Fllo is an example of a car seat that’s easy to 3 install in 3 across configurations in the Sienna. You can view the 3 across car seat guide for various years of the Toyota Sienna here.

2015 Honda Odyssey Family Safety and Car Seat Review

odyssey-2011-publicdomainThe  2015 Honda Odyssey is the newest iteration of what’s been another successful and reliable minivan from one of the two Japanese giants (Toyota and Honda). It does well in 3 across installations and it also does well in safety scores, as outlined below.

Front moderate overlap: The Odyssey does well here with a good score. This indicates that in a 40 mph crash with an Odyssey or similarly-sized vehicle, such as another minivan, you could expect properly-restrained adult occupants in the front seats to survive with minimal injuries.

Front small overlap: The Odyssey has a good score here as of 2014. This means that in a 40 mph crash with an Odyssey or similarly-sized vehicle, such as another minivan, you’d expect a properly-restrained driver to survive the collision with minimal injuries. This is great!

Side impact: The Odyssey also scores well here. What’s simulated is a 31 mph side impact by a 3300-lb SUV-like vehicle, and in such a collision, you could expect a properly-restrained driver and rear near-side passenger to survive the collision with minimal injuries. This kind of collision regularly kills people in vehicles without side impact airbags and strong vehicle cells, so this is a huge level of progress compared to where we were just 15 years ago at the turn of the millenium. Here is an example of a survivable side-impact collision.

Frontal crash: The Odyssey received 5/5 stars overall in 2015 here, with 5/5 stars for both the driver and the passenger, which makes me feel a lot better about their odds of survival in a head-on collision. What’s simulated here is a direct head on collision at 40 mph with a similarly-sized vehicle, and per the score, the likelihood of death or serious injury for driver and passenger is low.

Roof strength: The Odyssey has a good roof score, which means its roof is capable of supporting up to 4x the weight of the vehicle before caving in by 5 inches or more. This reduces the odds of roof crush in rollovers, which is great.

Car seat compatibility: The Odyssey is a very friendly vehicle for 3 across installations, and I’ve been able to install many seats without any issues at all. The Clek Fllo is an example of a car seat that’s easy to 3 install in 3 across configurations in the Odyssey. You can view the 3 across car seat guide for various years of the Honda Odyssey here.

Which is the safest minivan of 2015? The Honda Odyssey

While the Toyota Sienna is an impressive vehicle on paper and in practice, the Odyssey has the edge when it comes to crashworthiness, both in terms of its small overlap performance and in terms of its head on crash performance. Both of these vehicles are among the safest passenger vehicles on the road, without a doubt, but if you’ve got the opportunity to choose between the two of them, I’d give the edge to the Odyssey.

You’re unlikely to notice a difference in either vehicle in crash performance if you’re a child sitting in one of the rear seats, but your odds of injury as a front seat passenger in the Sienna in a head on collision are significantly higher than they would be as a front seat passenger in the Odyssey. Similarly, your odds of escaping injury in a small overlap collision are greater in the Odyssey than they are in the Sienna as a driver.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.