Seat Belts in the back seats ?

jennyp19

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We were looking at a motorhome the other day, and noticed that it was 4 berth, but only 3 seat belts. One of the seats was facing sideways. When we queried this with salesman, he said it was one of those gray areas in law, where side way facing seats don't have to have them.
True or false, or can someone point me in the direction of finding out.
 
Seatbelts in the back seats

My old 1987 Eriba which was a 5 berth had 2 side facing seat either side of the driver and passenger seats these were fitted with lapbelts but the seats in the rear lounge had no belts.I was told if the seats are not meant for sitting in while travelling in then they don't require seatbelts to be fitted.Not sure of the legal position but would recommend that all passengers should be belt up:D.No doubt other members will be able to throw light on this one,Andy.
 
seatbelts

hi there. i can confirm that you do not need seatbelts if the seats are sideways facing. they are considered dangerous although i have owned vehicles with lap belts on them (land rovers) but they are not a legal requirement.
 
Thanks for replies, I must admit, I was very skeptical of the salesmans comment.
 
Side ways seats are known as 'crew' seats and as such do NOT require belts.
 
i suppose realy if seatbelts are fitted in the rear. if someone was to run into you with any force then the rear of most so called coach builts would just disintegrate any way i know the one i have is only ally over a wood frame suppose it dont bear thinking about :eek::eek:
 
i assume new motorhomes are crash tested
but like you say flimsy plastic and thin wood coated in fibreglass is not much protection in a crash
 
t&s said:
i assume new motorhomes are crash tested
but like you say flimsy plastic and thin wood coated in fibreglass is not much protection in a crash
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funnily enough the base vehicles are but i have never seen any encap results for motor homes may be worth a trawl through the net to see if any exist
 
from practical caravan
Activities included motorhome and touring caravan manoeuvring and some revealing ... Very few manufacturers can afford to crash test complete motorcaravans, ...
i would have thought it would have been compulsory ime sure it is with a car to get type aproval or something like that
maybe someone else knows
 
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i think top gear did something like crash tests on motor homes last series dident bear thinking about :eek::eek:
 
mandrake said:
funnily enough the base vehicles are but i have never seen any encap results for motor homes may be worth a trawl through the net to see if any exist
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could be because as yet motorhomes are not required to be type approved good job really cos it cost a fortune for a self build
 
Last spring we had a terrible accident the Kennedy-tunnel overhere in Antwerp.
One of these east european cowboytruckers hit an Elnagh at the rear of a queu at full speed (120km/h where is a speed limit of 90, and cruise control on).
I will not give you the details... but the MH was squesed up to a lenght of 2m !
You are only safe in a tank. It doesn't matter wether you have steel sheet or plywood with allu or epoxy; nothing could resist such an impact !:eek:
Crash test or not.
 
sounds horrific
seat belts of any kind would not have helped these poor souls
i cant understand why he was going so fast there is enough warnings before the tunnel and i thought there were speed cameras ?
 
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Oh yes, but this is the far-west for those far-eastern cowboys. :mad:
 
Belgian said:
Last spring we had a terrible accident the Kennedy-tunnel overhere in Antwerp.
One of these east european cowboytruckers hit an Elnagh at the rear of a queu at full speed (120km/h where is a speed limit of 90, and cruise control on).
I will not give you the details... but the MH was squesed up to a lenght of 2m !
You are only safe in a tank. It doesn't matter wether you have steel sheet or plywood with allu or epoxy; nothing could resist such an impact !:eek:
Crash test or not.
Click to expand...

as you say belgian you can have the safest largest motor in the world with air bags seat belts or whatever you want, if you get hit hard enough you have had it.there was a crash test on a smart car they are amazing for there size, they ran it into a concrete block at 60 mph the car itself was not severely damaged or obliterated, but the g forces on the human body would have killed the occupants .
 
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