Cars.com photo by Brian Normile
The Honda Ridgeline pickup truck has a lot of useful features that help it stand out in the utility department, but inside are additional features that make it among the most family-friendly trucks in the segment. The mid-size 2019 Ridgeline's backseat has three sets of lower Latch anchors — something we rarely see — and three child safety seats fit across the backseat.
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However, access to the truck's top tether anchors complicated car seat installation. Although the lower anchors were relatively accessible, the Ridgeline lost a lot of points for its top tether placement; something that's tricky in a lot of trucks. Connecting to the top tether anchor when installing a forward-facing car seat is essential as it limits the child's head- and neck-movement in a crash, but this step is often overlooked because the top anchors are often out of sight.
Cars.com graphic by Melissa Galicia Vega
In the Ridgeline, the outboard rear seats' tether anchors sit near the seats' base, on the side of the seat and close to the door. To use them, we had to route our convertible seat's tether strap through the Ridgeline's tether guide bar behind the seat's head restraint, then hook the tether connector to the tether anchor. This was confusing and time consuming.
The other car seats we install — rear-facing convertible, infant seat and booster — fared better in the Ridgeline since the low anchors are easy to find and there is ample second-row legroom. Visit Cars.com for the full Car Seat Check.
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