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Cars.com recently released its 2021 Car Seat Fit Report Card. It provides a detailed analysis of which cars are the best for parents when it comes children’s car seat installation. Jenni Newman, the editor-in-chief of Cars.com and a certified child passenger safety technician, is our guest on Episode #200 of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I discuss the report card and the reactions by carmakers to the grades they received.
Table of Contents
Few carmakers get car seat installation right
While the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport earned a “B” for its Latch system, it received an “F” in the rear-facing convertible category. We also talk about common mistakes parents and caretakers make when selecting and vehicles with proper car seat installation.Parents also have car seat installation woes
The Cars.com national survey also revealed 56 percent of parents stated they have installed a car seat incorrectly. Additionally, 84 percent of parents find “some level of the process frustrating.” The survey also noted 67 of parents with car seat age children make vehicle purchase decisions based on car seat fit. Each Car Seat Check is performed by a Cars.com certified child-passenger safety technician who installs three types of car seats — infant, convertible and booster — into each new vehicle and evaluates the vehicle’s Latch system, as well as how the vehicle accommodates the different car seats.The car seat installation issue is our 200th issue
The Latch system is a set of lower anchors and top tether anchors that are supposed to make car seat installation easier, but that’s not always the case. To earn an “A” grade, a vehicle must show it has plenty of room for the car seat and the child, without impacting legroom for the driver or front passenger. Vehicles must also demonstrate their Latch system is easy to find and use (without any fit issues), in order to show it’s car-seat-friendly. Please join us as we celebrate our 200th episode as we report on this important issue. All of the cars.com podcasts:- #266, Cars.com releases 18th ANNUAL American-made index
- #224, Cars.com editor reports on EVs, NY Auto Show
- #202, Joe Wiesenfelder of Cars.com talks future of EVs
- #200, Few Carmakers Get Top Grades in Car Seat Installation
Hosted by James Raia and Bruce Aldrich, The Weekly Driver Podcast dives deep into the highways and byways of the automotive world. Each week, we put you in the driver’s seat, exploring unique, unusual, and often untold stories from across the industry’s spectrum.
Article Last Updated: August 7, 2023.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
