Seat belts for side seats.

karlpe

Just been chatting to a chap at exmouth and he said seats that are not forward facing don't require seat belts, is this true or false.

After reading replies I would just say that I have no interest in doing this just whether it is allowed.
 
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FULL TIMER

PROBABLY TRUE , it is not good practice or considered safe to have seatbelts on side facing seats, as for forward facing seats then a lot will depend on age of vehicle etc different rules for different years.
 

Micky

Law changed

karlpe said:
Just been chatting to a chap at exmouth and he said seats that are not forward facing don't require seat belts, is this true or false.
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Hi,you cannot fit seat belts to side facing seats,you cannot carry people in the back without front facing seats that have the three point fixings points.i too was told that I could carry children etc in the rear without belts,the same law as buses ext,untill I dug a bit deeper what I did discover is that our 2berth could have under bench front facing fold down seats fitted with seat belts beneath our side facing bench seats,but you then lose stowage space,we did not price them up,buts that's the only answer to our problem.hope this helps,we where told if pulled by police with rear passengers,side facing the book will be thrown at you. Good luck do it right.
 
maingate

maingate

Forum Member
karlpe said:
Just been chatting to a chap at exmouth and he said seats that are not forward facing don't require seat belts, is this true or false.
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It depends what year his van is. No seatbelts were required at one time. Then side facing seats were allowed with lap belts. These were made illegal around 2006. Side facing seats were banned and all rear seats had to be forward facing with 3 point fixings.

None of the newer legislation was made retrospective, so it is still perfectly legal to do that if you have an old van.
 

vampirequeen

We converted a Transit which had three seats at the front but needed a fourth belted seat. We bought a Transit bus seat from eBay and had it welded in by a local garage. The welding cost us £130 to not only fit the seat but also strengthen the floor. Our children will be using that seat and we wanted to be sure that they would be as safe as possible.
 

yeoblade

maingate said:
It depends what year his van is. No seatbelts were required at one time. Then side facing seats were allowed with lap belts. These were made illegal around 2006. Side facing seats were banned and all rear seats had to be forward facing with 3 point fixings.

None of the newer legislation was made retrospective, so it is still perfectly legal to do that if you have an old van.
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I agree with that, except are you sure side facing seats were banned. There are loads of new vans with them in, though not as travelling seat belted seats.
 
maingate

maingate

Forum Member
yeoblade said:
I agree with that, except are you sure side facing seats were banned. There are loads of new vans with them in, though not as travelling seat belted seats.
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I am sure that side facing seats are banned as travelling seats.

If the Police ever stop me, one of my Whippets will be in trouble as he insists on travelling on one. :raofl:
 

hairydog

karlpe said:
Just been chatting to a chap at exmouth and he said seats that are not forward facing don't require seat belts, is this true or false.
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Yes, it is true or false.

For older vehicles, side-facing seats not only should not have seat belts, but they should NOT have them. They are likely to do more harm than good in an accident.

For vehicles made after 1988 all forward-facing passenger seats have to have seat belts.

For newer vehicles (manufactured since Jan 2006, but possibly first registered more recently), passengers can only legally be carried in "designated passenger seats" with proper seat belts. They don't have to be forward-facing: rear facing is OK too. But not side-facing.

But for vehicles made before 2006 is it legal for adults to use side-facing seats. However, children under 12 years old MUST be in a proper seat with a suitable belt. If there isn't one, they can't travel.

There is a LOT of misleading information published on the web, some of it with very misleading interpretations of the law (Carvanguard are guilty of this, for example). However, the Department of Transport leaflet seems pretty good: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...6202/carriage-of-passengers-in-campervans.pdf Unfortunately, it is six years old and so maybe misses some of the more recent legislative changes related to child passengers.
 
trevskoda

trevskoda

Forum Member
maingate said:
It depends what year his van is. No seatbelts were required at one time. Then side facing seats were allowed with lap belts. These were made illegal around 2006. Side facing seats were banned and all rear seats had to be forward facing with 3 point fixings.

None of the newer legislation was made retrospective, so it is still perfectly legal to do that if you have an old van.
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Even if a older van no ins co will touch you with side seats,here are the regs up to 2000 no rear belts req, 2000/2006 belts required in back three point or lap and belts tested at mot but from 2006/2012 under floor plates must be up to mot spec if through a steel floor,wood floor dont count,from 2012 all seats for convayence should be marked by manafacturer ,but as no maker or eu got together on this mot stations ins co etc are giving it a by ball,and may i say i had a big argument about this at mot last year on failing but i got a turnaround when i pointed out vech construction and use to them.
One thing in my mind is who on earth would want to travel without folk belted in.
 
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yeoblade

maingate said:
It depends what year his van is. No seatbelts were required at one time. Then side facing seats were allowed with lap belts. These were made illegal around 2006. Side facing seats were banned and all rear seats had to be forward facing with 3 point fixings.

None of the newer legislation was made retrospective, so it is still perfectly legal to do that if you have an old van.
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??

I think we agree that all travelling seat must be forward or rearward, NOT upwards or downwards, left or right or any combination of this facing, and have a 3 point seatbelt if the van is after around 2006., whippets excepted:dog:
What about a 12 seat landrover?
 
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hairydog

trevskoda said:
One thing in my mint is who on earth would want to travel without folk belted in.
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I agree with most of the rest of your post. But not this. I spent several years as a coach driver, carrying 50-odd passengers all day every day. No seat belts. It never bothered me: no accidents, no injuries. Seat belts are nice to have, but frankly, they're better if never needed.

It's a far better idea not to have an accident in the first place. I'm perfectly happy with passengers that aren't belted in. I prefer not to have accidents.

If I thought I was likely to have an accident that would require a seat belt to protect me or the passengers, I'd not make the journey at all.
 

vwalan

whats seat belts havent got any in mine doesnt require them so hasnt got any .
 
trevskoda

trevskoda

Forum Member
hairydog said:
I agree with most of the rest of your post. But not this. I spent several years as a coach driver, carrying 50-odd passengers all day every day. No seat belts. It never bothered me: no accidents, no injuries. Seat belts are nice to have, but frankly, they're better if never needed.

It's a far better idea not to have an accident in the first place. I'm perfectly happy with passengers that aren't belted in. I prefer not to have accidents.

If I thought I was likely to have an accident that would require a seat belt to protect me or the passengers, I'd not make the journey at all.
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Best stay at home then,19 or so killed here a few years back when bus made a runaway down steap hill,folk were turfed out side windows and other killed ones in front with heads clashing,remember you weight same as elephant at 30 mph so people in front get crushed and to say you wont have a acc is as good as saying you are never going to die ,do get real there are dumbos out there just looking to cause a acc.
 

FULL TIMER

hairydog said:
That article is very misleading. It makes assertions about insurance and legality which are simply not true. It doesn't help clear things up: it muddies the water.
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Seems straight forward to me travelling without seatbelts etc might be legal under certain circumstances however if the worst should happen your insurance may not cover you in the case of a claim, pretty sure some V5's also have a section stating how many passenger seats etc so might also be worth checking that out as well most vans have three seats how many converters would bother to change the details.
 

howsono

yeoblade said:
??

I think we agree that all traveling seat must be foward facing and have a 3 point seatbelt if the van is after aroung 2006., whippets excepted:dog:
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My travelling seats are rear facing and I feel a hell of a lot safer with my kids in them than I would with them in front facing seats. They're built to VOSA specs, have been MOT'd and Police checked. For the same reason as if I can I rear-face in a train and if I could would rear face in a plane. They do have built in 3-way belts although if I could figure an affordable way I'd have them not built in! The van *is* a self-build thought.
 

vwalan

early log books dont have that. anyway insurers know the rules and premiums are designed to cover the rules . if seat belts arent required then cant see any reason for them to change the rules to suit themselves . not required is not required . but if fitted should be used over not using them . i say buy old cars and old motor caravans then you decide if you want to wear them or not . children well let them have them its law. or perhaps a cage might be a good idea . better put that forward to an mp. ha ha .
 
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