The law and travelling unstrapped in the back of a coach built van.

Geraldine

Geraldine

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Please could any members out there advise us on how the law stands on this? Because they are side facing seats we cannot have seat belts fitted in the body of the van. Can we travel in the back unbelted?
 
My mate's got a Citroen Romahome and I've travelled in the back of it. He checked with his Insurance Company that it was OK to have unbelted passengers in the back, because he often takes his grandson with him when he and his Mrs go off for the weekend.

But best to check with your own Insurance for peace of mind.
 
Davidv said:
Please could any members out there advise us on how the law stands on this? Because they are side facing seats we cannot have seat belts fitted in the body of the van. Can we travel in the back unbelted?
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NO! unless the seat is rear facing. If a seat in the back is front facing the person riding on it must be belted.
 
got a feeling its down to the cop who stops you,but my argument would be that its good enough for buses,and the passengers are paying for their trip,yours aren't,i never give it a thought,lifes a gamble anyway,make your choice and go for what you're happy with.
 
i tend to think,perhaps naively,that the very fact that i have a vehicle presumes that at some point i may transport people in it,and would quite reasonably expect any passengers to be covered.it would sound a tad unrealistic if the insurance company said that such behaviour was a surprise to them
 
The law keeps changing on seatbelts but there is usually no retrospective action needed to comply with the new rules.

Nowadays, ALL seatbelts must be 3 point ones (like in the cab). I had a 56 reg motorhome with 2 side facing seats with lap belts only. It is still legal to use them. If your van was built to conform with the regulations at that time, it is still legal to travel in the back unbelted.

That is my opinion and it can only ever be an opinion because I am not a Lawyer.
 
In my experience of MOTing old/ classic vehicles, you only need to have fitted the seat belts that were fitted at the time of manufacture. Ie my old 110 land rover only had front seatbelts fitted but still had front facing middle and rear side benches without belts. It was legal to MOT and legal for adults to use all the seats but by law children may only travel in a front facing seat with a 3 point belt what ever the vehicle. They may not use side facing seats. For a motor home to be approved for the road it would have to have been inspected and passed for safety, I would expect that the rear lounge type seating was not intended for road use when passed.
However not wearing a seat belt is just stupid.
 
Sparks said:
On rare occasions I've carried passengers in the rear side facing seats but have informed them before hand that they wouldn't be insured.
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Need to check the small print in my policy, but does it actually say this in your policy?
 
this has been covered on many forums and it still seems to be a very grey area, and this point has come up a few times, even if the insurance says its ok to carry passengers the police officer stopping you could still possibly fine you for carrying an unsafe load? don't know for a fact if this is actually possible but does sound plausible...so to me it seems to b a case of, you take yer chances......
 
My answer is why would you want to risk anyone unrestrained in your van especially your grandchildren, i certanly would not.
 
My van is a six berth, and is constructed to carry 6 people belted. Two are lap belts on the backward facing dinette and the other four are three point, driver, passenger and the two front facing seats at the dinette.
However, I have been informed (and I cannot remember where it came from), that I could carry other passengers on the U shaped seating at the back of the van (no belts). If the passengers were, in the opinion of the police, making the vehicle 'unsafe' by their movements in the back then I could get cautioned (as the driver).
The wording I have used above was not the exact wording I were told/advised...it was a while ago!
 
My answer is why would you want to risk anyone unrestrained in your van especially your grandchildren, i certanly would not.
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His grandson gets the front passenger seat, his wife sits in back. :raofl:
 
i have read that you can carry passengers with no belts in the back of your MH if the van is older then 2001
i did it last week to cornwall put the missus and mum in the back kids up front with me
 
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