Parents may want to choose a rental car based on car seat compatibility.

Car rental agencies may see an uptick in very specific requests from savvy parents, after a Chicago Tribune report suggesting that certain infant car seats are unsafe in certain vehicles.

The Tribune story itself is a good read, questioning the adequacy of the crash tests car seat companies use to establish their products’ safety. It also comes with a useful takeaway for parents on the move: A chart showing which infant seats failed government tests in which vehicle models.

For instance, if your infant seat is a Graco SnugRide, you probably don’t want to rent a 2008 Scion XD, in which the seat failed to adequately protect the baby-sized crash test dummy in the government tests. But the same seat performed as expected in a Subaru Impreza.

A disquieting number of the car seats tested separated from the click-in base at least once, and some of them in a majority of the tests. That’s sobering news for parents, since those infant carriers that snap into car seats make traveling so much easier. Car seat manufacturers criticized the methodology of the testing, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which conducted the tests, has not yet analyzed the results.

Still, if something as small as which car you rent on a family vacation could possibly save your baby’s life, it’s worth a look.

Photo by Carrie Kirby.