Seatbelts in Motorhomes

Venturer Dave

Guest
My wife and I are planning to get our first MH soon and are having fun looking at all the many layouts and imagining what would work for us.
We like the Autotrail Cheyenne 635 and thought it was just right until we found out that they were never sold with seatbelts in the rear of the van, only for the driver and front passenger.
Have we been infoirmed correctly or is this not true.
One feature we particularly like is the large rear washroom / dressing room. Are there any other designs in a similar size van that have similar layouts such as this one.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
 
Hi Dave
I believe that unless you have forward facing seats in the habitation area then seat belts are not required by law.
 
Hi Dave,
We got our first MH last year and having spent the best part of 12mth looking it always came down to not enough Rear Seat belts ( 3 kids). We were not happy with the self installed lap belts.

We got a Fiat Hymer Camp - this has six seat belts.

Again it a bit of a funny area, rear seat belts, and lots of people will give an opinion, we simply stuck to common sense - do we want to carry passengers in the rear without seat belts, no - are we happy with the kids being sat on a side bench with a lap belt, no.

If there are just two of you do you need to worry about rear seat belts?

Happy hunting
 
There would be just the two of us normally but we would like to keep the option open to take our douaghter and partner (30ish) with us on the odd occasion. I have found out about a company called Towtal who advertise to retro fit lapbelts.
What are peoples thoughts on this option and any experience of Towtal, good and bad.
 
Most (some?) German built motorhomes often have the full retractable rear seatbelts - certainly Westfalia and Possl have had reear seatbelts in their vehicles since at least the 1980s.
 
Venturer Dave said:
There would be just the two of us normally but we would like to keep the option open to take our douaghter and partner (30ish) with us on the odd occasion. I have found out about a company called Towtal who advertise to retro fit lapbelts.
What are peoples thoughts on this option and any experience of Towtal, good and bad.
Click to expand...

Be carefull in retrofitting seat belts as they require APROVED ANCHORAGES and the original van will not have them !

You will also be modifying the vehicle.............. insurance........... accident... deep crap!

We will not retrofit any seat belts, end of story.

Peter

Peter
 
Venturer Dave said:
There would be just the two of us normally but we would like to keep the option open to take our douaghter and partner (30ish) with us on the odd occasion. I have found out about a company called Towtal who advertise to retro fit lapbelts.
What are peoples thoughts on this option and any experience of Towtal, good and bad.
Click to expand...

From my point of view towtal are very bad for me any way I paid for a scooter rack over a month ago and still not arrived now they wont answer my calls or emails so it looks like i am getting a fight back to have a little whisper i they ears with a few friends:wacko:
 
Our Hobby has two lapsash belts on the rear dinette seat. Needs a massive steel frame back down to the floor to provide strength and that would be difficult to retrofit.

We have often carried hitch-hikers and regard the belts as essential as much for our protection from their flying bodies as for their safety.

Sometimes it is hard to get people to use them, particularly when it is not illegal not to use them. With this trio, there weren't enough belts to go around so we left it in the hands of our respective gods.

IMG_7269.JPG
 
Will your van have side facing seats Dave?
If not I have removed a set of child seatbelts from my van when I changed the layout recently.
You can have them if you pick them up from Coventry.
 
Last edited:
untill october 2007 campers and motor homes were excempt seat belts . pre oct 2007 still are .doesnt matter if the seats are side facing ,front facing or rear facing . still dont need them. i wouldnt fit them.
carrying children brings in another set of rules . best ask dft .com about them.
i dont have a problem carrying un belted passengers and mine doesnt require them in the front .in mine it was voluntary fitting untill 1st march 201 so i voluntered to remove mine. hate being told what to do. if you dont need them i say dont fit them.
 
the rules i have been given are no children up to the age of three may be carried unbelted in a private car or van even if the viehcle is not or was not fitted with seat belts or even needs them legaly . even if you wrap them securely in bubble wrap and pack them securely in a cardboard box .joking apart i dont think i would carry my grand kids in a car or van unbelted they mean too much to me. all the idiots you see with kids on there knees in vans and cars require locking up and there licence removing for life . a child can not voice its opinnion thats why my van has to go i have two grand kids under three .
 
I have a 6 berth motorhome built in 2005, with 6 seatbelts, two in front (driver and passenger), two full belts on the front facing seats in the back and two lap belts facing them.
I insist my 12 yr old son wears a belt if sat on these seats, but on long journeys I am quite happy (and he is) for him to go to sleep (read or play his electronic games) on the double bed above the cab.
I had two people sleeping on the double (made up) bed at the rear of the van on a recent long trip to Germany.
 
Seatbelts and common sense

Having spent 30 years in the fire service and attending many different vehicle incidents I would not entertain anybody in my motorhome (or car) without correct restraints. A small child's weight can increase to the equivalent weight of a large horse in a crash of moderate speed. Our 1997 Swift Royale has 2 rear 3-point seat belts and I am currently looking at changing it but my first criteria is that the replacement has to have 2 forward facing 3-point setablets not just lap belts (rear facing with correct head restraints is generally acceptable). Retro fitting can be a nightmare and you will have to decalre a modification to your insurance co. and no doubt have an engineers report each time you wish to change insurers.
Its not simply a case of a jobsworth telling you what to do - it's common sense.
 
I've been told that one reason why seatbelts are not provided as a matter of course is to do with the available payload of some makes & models. As it is the payload is given allowing for only the driver & half-full tanks.
 
they wernt provided because they didnt need them . also it could be difficult to fit adequate seat belt mounts in a commercial based vehicle.having said that ther really isnt a good standard to use as a guide. could be they were self tapping screws into a thin panel or bolted screwed to a wooden cupboard . even that would pass mot.
 
basicaly the reason you cannot fit rear belts in most older vans at least is ,there are no sutable places to anchor them to as the rear of the vans are made of ally and a frame made of wood even the floor is plywood so there are no structural points to fix seat belts to after all if the rear of a so called coach built van is not covered by the mot ie its not structural only the points that attach the body to the chassis are looked at probably somtimes if the mot tester bothers then you cannot expect to fit seat belts to it anyway have you seen a motor home whacked up the rear end not a lot left
 
i dont have a problem carrying un belted passengers and mine doesnt require them in the front .in mine it was voluntary fitting untill 1st march 201 so i voluntered to remove mine. hate being told what to do. if you dont need them i say dont fit them.
Click to expand...

???
 
yea a bit weird that post...... seatbelts do save lives and should be worn , at the least they stop you from hitting those hard sharp nasty things arround you and most important is they save you from being ejected out of your motor and getting ruffed up and squashed as your or another motor decides to stamp all over you. and if you have kids in well what can i say words fail me
 
nothing weird about my post. i dont have a problem . the vehicle does not require seat belts and i dont have them fitted. easy to understand . i dont like seatbelts .or the forced wearing of them. you can have your views and i can have mine.
i think i understand the rules of seatbelts and the construction of m,homes as good as anybody. i have participated in building m,homes for several years , even having a business that built them.
if you like seatbelts thats ok with me.
if you have a problem understanding my posts then i suggest you go back to school.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top