I am sure that this carseat has been deemed safe, however, I found it very complicated and hard to use. First of all, when we installed the seat in a rear facing position, it was extremely hard to tighten it properly, due to its shape. Also, there was virtually zero visibility out of the back window of the car when we finally did get it properly installed in the middle, or on the sides of the back seat! It's just so enormous! (We own a Honda Civic) This carseat is alot easier to use as a front facing seat, or booster.