Seat belt question

Julie798

Guest
In a older van that sleeps 6, but only has 2 front seat belts, is it illegal to let other travel in the van, or is it ok as it was made with only 2 seat belts ?
Thanks
 
I don't think they are legally required for the seats in the habitation areas but basically these seats should not be used on the road to carry passengers (although again it is not illegal to do so). However the police can still prosecute if they believe any passengers are being carried in a dangerous manner.

YouTube - Volkswagen T3 Crash Test Video 2 of 3

Watch this video 5.38 onwards to see what can happen.
 
seats

I can well imagine what could happen, was asked the question and didn't know the answer :eek:
 
It's still a bit of a grey area. I believe vehicles registered after 2006 must have them fitted to the rear seats and the law may well change to be more stringent as the years go by.

I am moving the bench seat in the from of my 2006 vehicle front to form part of the rear dining area. I intend to keep the seat frame with its bracing and put big bolts through the floor and stiffen up the floor. Whether that will then form part of the MOT test I don't know. I suspect it won't.
 
firefox, are those your videos on the utube link, they are brill! i'm planning on selling my vw camper and buying a panel van, i love the layout of the one in the videos, espec the raised bed - it's given me a lot of good ideas, so thanks you very very much for posting them, and we eagerly await the nest installment :D:D
 
Julie798 said:
In a older van that sleeps 6, but only has 2 front seat belts, is it illegal to let other travel in the van, or is it ok as it was made with only 2 seat belts ?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Julie798,
the way I understand the law is, if the rear seats face forward, they require a seat belt, if seating is side facing, they don't.
If seats have belts, they must be used.

Happy Camping:)
 
topsy75 said:
firefox, are those your videos on the utube link, they are brill! i'm planning on selling my vw camper and buying a panel van, i love the layout of the one in the videos, espec the raised bed - it's given me a lot of good ideas, so thanks you very very much for posting them, and we eagerly await the nest installment :D:D
Click to expand...

Thanks, glad you found them useful :) I've been fitting a load of top locker cupboards at the back. Takes ages! But hope to post another vid this weekend maybe. One thing about the back transverse bed is the type of van is very important. Due to the curvature of the van sides, I've probably only ended up with about 6 foot 1 bed. I'll measure the exact figure when I've got the insulation in. This could have been about 6 foot 3 if I'd fitted the bed lower but that would have messed up the garage headroom. I'm only 5 foot 8 so it's not a problem, but a taller family may want to go with another solution.

Will also be doing some vids moving the bench seat and anchoring to the floor to get the seat belt fixings.
 
Regardless of what the law says about seatbelts, I'd urge everyone to make sure all passengers have them. The reason I'm so anal about this is that last year, we were in a collision. A car, coming towards us, went out of control and into a spin and hit us head on. The van was a write off; but what really gave us a shock was the absolute chaos in the back from going from 30 - 0 mph (honestly, we weren't going fast). As well as all the contents of the cupboards and the cushions flying forwards, the built-in fridge had smashed through the wooden cabinet - I know it's not thick wood but the fridge came right through it and into the back of the passenger seat. We had been thinking about getting a dog - we are so glad we didn't because it would certainly have been killed if it hadn't been restrained with a belt or similar. So please, please use seatbelts. I'll climb down off my soap-box now ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top