If you grew up in the ’90s and the 2000s like me, you probably remember having to ride in a booster seat as a kid. I distinctly remember the day my parents switched out my proper child seat for a simpler booster seat, which, as I remember it, was just a cushioned piece of plastic that made me sit a few inches higher than if I were simply sitting on the seat bottom. Gone was the four-point harness; in its place was the car’s normal seatbelt. I felt more like a grown-up than ever, even if I probably wasn’t more than eight years old at the time.
Child seats and booster seats are invaluable pieces of tech for keeping children safe in a crash, but most of the time, parents have to turn to the aftermarket for these devices. But over the past 40 years or so, there have been a handful of manufacturers clever enough to design modular seating systems specifically for seating children safely, in the form of integrated booster seats.
These integrated seats, which either fold out or up from the second row, effectively eliminate the middle man in the booster seat equation, giving parents a simple, built-in solution to keeping their children safe in the event of a crash.
What’s The Point Of A Booster Seat, Anyway?
Think of a booster seat as sort of a middle ground between a proper child seat and a normal, grown-up car seat. It’s less of a proper “seat” and more of a riser to position a smaller person’s body so the seatbelt is placed around their shoulder and lower abdomen properly (hence the term “booster”). Depending on height, kids should have booster seats from eight to 12 years old.
Without a booster seat, shorter, smaller individuals could end up with seatbelts placed around their neck and stomach. In the event of a crash, the person could “submarine” under the lap belt and get caught on the belt by the neck, causing serious injuries. Here’s a simulation of how an average six-year-old would do in a crash with and without a booster seat:
Volvo, known for its seat design and safety record, invented the booster seat in 1978, unlocking an easy way for children to be safely positioned to accept a normal seatbelt without the need for a full-on car seat with harnesses.
It wasn’t until nearly a quarter-century later, in 2002, that the United States, specifically California, got its first law requiring some sort of booster seat for children under 40 pounds, according to SafeInTheSeat.com, a site that recommends child seats to parents. Now, all states have some form of safety law for child passenger restraint systems on the books, though they vary by state, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
California signed into law the strictest booster seat rule on the books back in December, requiring anyone under 16 years old to use a booster seat if they don’t meet certain height requirements. While I feel bad for the 15-year-olds who haven’t hit puberty yet, it’s better to be embarrassed and alive than choked to death by your own seatbelt in a crash.
The Booster Seat Makes Its Way Directly Into The Car
Seeing as how Volvo invented the car seat, it makes sense that it’d be the first manufacturer to integrate the tech directly into its cars. That’s exactly what happened in 1990, when it introduced the first integrated booster seat in the 850 and 900 Series.
Instead of being a separate piece that you take in and out of place, this seat folded out from the backrest of the center of the second row, like an armrest or a set of cupholders. The seat got its own special cushion and cloth pattern on the seat bottom and seat back.
Other automakers quickly caught on—specifically, American automakers. It wasn’t long until integrated booster seats found their way into people-moving vans like the Oldsmobile Silhouette, the Chrysler Town & Country, and the Dodge Grand Caravan.
Later on, they even made it to the Dodge Journey, which had the system all the way up until it died in 2019. Here’s a video on how it worked from Mopar itself:
Volvo, though, remained the biggest innovator in the space. The Swedish automaker was the first to offer integrated booster seats for the two outer rear seating positions in the second row, in 1995, on the S40.
Volvo was also the first to offer two-stage integrated booster seats, allowing parents to adjust the seat’s height depending on the child’s size.
Why Doesn’t Every Car Have Integrated Booster Seats?
Right now, there are only four new vehicles on the market you can buy with integrated booster seats: The Volvo XC60 and the Volvo XC90, and their electric equivalents, the EX60 and EX90. Aside from the obvious cost of engineering, testing, and installing integrated booster seats into a second-row bench, there are a few other reasons why Volvo is the only manufacturer left actually offering this feature.
The first is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends discarding and replacing child car seats after a “moderate or severe” crash. With an aftermarket booster seat, all you’d have to do is take the seat out and toss it in the trash. But it becomes a bit more involved if the seat is incorporated into the car’s whole bench. If you get rear-ended, does that mean you have to throw out all of the second-row seat components? If you’re being on the safe side, you probably should. But also, I wouldn’t recommend driving a car that’s been in a “moderate or severe” crash anyway.
There’s also just a lack of demand. While integrated booster seats are a great idea, they’re really only useful for a few years until the kids age out of them. Ultimately, people just chose other features instead. Here’s what Chrysler told Cars.com about dropping the feature on the Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan:
“While the built-in booster feature had been available in Chrysler Group minivans, they were tied to the captain’s chairs that did not stow,” said Wendy Orthman, Chrysler PR manager. “More often than not, consumers chose the stowing feature instead. Ultimately, the boosters were eliminated in the vans when the new Super Stow ‘n Go seats were introduced in our current-model Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country.”
In a world where 99% of cars are boring, grey crossovers that look and drive mostly alike, I think the integrated booster seat has an opportunity to make a comeback. Gimmicks like this might seem small, but for a salesperson in a dealership trying to convince a family, showing off a built-in booster seat might be the thing that sways buyers. Personally, if I have kids, I’m definitely going to be picking up an old used Volvo wagon just to see how well those seats work.
Top graphic image: Volvo
While I didn’t have any use for booster seats myself I had to admire the clever feature of integrated booster seats in my -98 Mercedes S210. Don’t know if they were standard, mine was Avantgarde. There might be ones even in Autopian’s Ski-Klasse.
Talking about project Ski-Klasse, I wonder what have happened to that project? Are there any plans about it?
Even before having kids I always thought this was a brilliant feature. Same for the E-Class wagon with the rear-facing third-row “jump seats” that were designed as boosters for young kids.
Now, as a dad with one in a booster and two in harness child seats, and four cars (I have a storage problem, not a car problem!), I spend way too much time installing, removing, and reshuffling car seats. I really wish more cars had this feature.
I remember being 3 or 4 years old, riding on the front seat center arm rest on the bench seat in my Grandpa’s 1980-ish Buick Century like it was an integrated booster seat. I’m very thankful I didn’t turn into a projectile!
As a dad who’s kid is headed towards a booster seat, I would LOVE this feature. Sometimes, I seriously consider a Volvo for this reason.
As a guy who sold used Volvo’s in the 00’s, the integrated booster seat was absolutely the reason those cars sold.
Even more of a bonus than if the wagon had the third row seats.
Heck, in 1970 my family would join Grandma and Grandpa in their Oldsmobile 98 for a drive. The “men” would be in the front seat and all four ladies in the backseat. I sat on the arm rest at the age of 4 between my dad and Grandpa. That was my booster. Fond memories!
This would be a great thing to have when you are the DD and have friends under a specific height. Pull up and your 5’2 friend gets in, they’ve grown 4”. It’d be a funny joke and fully reversible.