Discussion
Hi All,
I'm considering buying a 1954 car that does not have any seatbelts.
The car has a wooden frame so it would not be easy fitting them.
Apart from the safety aspect, would this cause me any issues?
I'm thinking about problems with insurance and with taking the car to Europe for holidays.
Thanks
Bob.
I'm considering buying a 1954 car that does not have any seatbelts.
The car has a wooden frame so it would not be easy fitting them.
Apart from the safety aspect, would this cause me any issues?
I'm thinking about problems with insurance and with taking the car to Europe for holidays.
Thanks
Bob.
If you've got kids -
If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts, for example it’s a classic car, you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it.
Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.I've not hear of anyone having problems with insurance, there are plenty of cars with no belts or front brakes etc, as long as it meets the law for the year it was made it should be fine.
DVLA said:
If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts, for example it’s a classic car, you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it.
Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.
john2443 said:
If you've got kids -
If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts, for example it’s a classic car, you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it.
Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.I've not hear of anyone having problems with insurance, there are plenty of cars with no belts or front brakes etc, as long as it meets the law for the year it was made it should be fine.
And then the law really gets itself in a mess if you have fitted seatbelts into a car which didn't have them originally and you want to carry kids in the back. Basically they have to be carried in type approved child seats. Great if you can find ones that do, problem if you can't. So you end up with the ridiculous situation where it is legal to carry the kids in the back so long as they DON'T wear seat belt but you're breaking the law if they do. DVLA said:
If your vehicle doesn’t have seat belts, for example it’s a classic car, you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it.
Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.
Not an issue for the OP.
Fitting seat belts to a car of that age should present no problem so long as you don't expect the mountings to be good for 9G or whatever current rules require. The wooden frame you mention will be the body's frame and there will be a steel chassis under it and mountings can be attached to that.
If you take the car for an MoT they are obliged to check the condition of seatbelts if fitted whether they are required or not.
The seatbelts you fit may not save you and your passenger in a really bad crash, but won't make anything worse. They will stop the passenger's face hitting the dashboard when you have to brake hard without warning!
If you take the car for an MoT they are obliged to check the condition of seatbelts if fitted whether they are required or not.
The seatbelts you fit may not save you and your passenger in a really bad crash, but won't make anything worse. They will stop the passenger's face hitting the dashboard when you have to brake hard without warning!
Edited by Allan L on Sunday 26th July 09:57
BTW, my seatbelts were fitted by Quick Fit (https://www.quickfitsbs.com/ and reflexsafety.co.uk) no connection to the tyre people as far as I know, the main man is Stuart Quick.
When I was talking to the DoT about the change in seat belt regs for kids these were the company they suggested I talked to as being the specialist the department go to for advise, sadly they don't always follow the advise they are given.
Anyway usual comments about having no connection, just a satisfied customer.
When I was talking to the DoT about the change in seat belt regs for kids these were the company they suggested I talked to as being the specialist the department go to for advise, sadly they don't always follow the advise they are given.
Anyway usual comments about having no connection, just a satisfied customer.
It is not particularly difficult to fit seatbelts to a timber frame. Many light aircraft are wooden framed and they have seatbelts which can meet modern standards. (Many were only fitted with lap straps and most owners have retrofitted shoulder straps).
It is simply a case of locating the main structural members and then spreading the loading into them - usually with custom made metal fixtures.
Our 1973 2CV van had no seatbelts. A little welding of strengthening/ mounting plates to the existing frame and fitting modern inertias - seatbelts! It is a bit of a fuss, but given their very obvious safety benefits why would n't you?
It is simply a case of locating the main structural members and then spreading the loading into them - usually with custom made metal fixtures.
Our 1973 2CV van had no seatbelts. A little welding of strengthening/ mounting plates to the existing frame and fitting modern inertias - seatbelts! It is a bit of a fuss, but given their very obvious safety benefits why would n't you?
GTBob said:
Hi All,
I'm considering buying a 1954 car that does not have any seatbelts.
The car has a wooden frame so it would not be easy fitting them.
Apart from the safety aspect, would this cause me any issues?
I'm thinking about problems with insurance and with taking the car to Europe for holidays.
Thanks
Bob.
I also owned a 1954 wooden framed car, a Riley RME, without seat belts. I owned it for about eight years, took it to France on holiday (and lapped Le Mans) and had no insurance problems; many 50s and older cars have no belts.I'm considering buying a 1954 car that does not have any seatbelts.
The car has a wooden frame so it would not be easy fitting them.
Apart from the safety aspect, would this cause me any issues?
I'm thinking about problems with insurance and with taking the car to Europe for holidays.
Thanks
Bob.
As others have mentioned, belts can be fitted and I knew owners who had them fitted in Rileys the same as mine.
Pete54 said:
Our 1973 2CV van had no seatbelts.
I'm surprised at that, oh on second thoughts perhaps not (shrug) 
Prior to seatbelts becoming compulsory, at least for front seats, most new cars had the mountings fitted and it was easy to straight to inertia belts rather than have to bin a set of fixed belts.GTBob said:
The car has a wooden frame so it would not be easy fitting them.
As someone else said, that's not a blocker you just need to spread the load over an area of the frame - just as you do fitting them to a metal car not designed to have them.No, they won't hold to as high a G as a modern - but if you have a crash where the G is high-enough to fracture the wood around the seat belt the forces will be cracking many other parts of the frame too, so the last of your worries (not that you'd be much better off in a metal classic car).
I was talking to an ex Lotus formula junior driver who used to race type 22 in the 60s .. he commented about mine being converted for road use .. "is it fitted with seatbelts ?" he asked
yes its got a full harness ….." do you fasten it ?".....well yes on the rare occasion I take the car out ? " well my advice is don't fasten it …..they have a reputation in a crash ,the front suspension folding in and trapping your legs ….and your sat behind a 15 litre fuel tank ……we used to get thrown out ..it was a better option
yes its got a full harness ….." do you fasten it ?".....well yes on the rare occasion I take the car out ? " well my advice is don't fasten it …..they have a reputation in a crash ,the front suspension folding in and trapping your legs ….and your sat behind a 15 litre fuel tank ……we used to get thrown out ..it was a better option
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