are seat belts a must

DA FLETCH · Post by **DA FLETCH** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:23 am

my ek has seat belts all round

do we have to wear them...

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Trev · Post by **Trev** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:29 am

I would think if they are there and you were not wearing them what would be you excuse? If the coppers asked??
Is it a non modified car (factory) if so you can take them out and drive it legaly, Trev

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mrs ratbox · Post by **mrs ratbox** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:55 am

in NSW if a car is fitted with seat belts you must wear them, even if for some reason somebody has put seatbelts in the rear but not the front passengers must fill seatbelted seats before non seatbelted

but like trev said you can remove them if it's not a modified car where they would probably have been fitted as engineer requirements

ek61 · Post by **ek61** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:07 am

same in SA if they have been fitted to a car you must wear them

and once they have been fitted to a car they can not be removed

vmx-mxr · Post by **vmx-mxr** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:02 pm

At the risk of spoiling the party, and trust me I know where you guys are coming from, why wouldn't you wear seatbelts if they are fitted?

Without putting too fine a point on it, I cut people out of wrecked cars for a living. Even with seat belts the injuries can be horrendous for obvious reasons.

Those who haven't worn seat belts as a rule are f........ if they have a decent hit, and remember it can easily be the other guy who hits you at 80 plus you are trying to protect yourself from even if you are going relatively slowly.

Cheers

Dave Mac

Stygian · Post by **Stygian** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:58 pm

A member of the NSW club was driving his FB late last year and got pulled over by the cops. The bolt holes for seatbelts in the front seat were covered by rubber grommets and they defected the car on the spot.

As far as I know, the rules for seatbelts in NSW are roughly as follows:

* A car not factory fitted with seatbelts does not have to have seatbelts installed, unless the car has been or will be modified (such as with the fitting of a supercharger or turbo to an engine).

* Once ANY car is fitted with seatbelts, regardless of year of manufacture, the seatbelts must be worn and must not be removed from the vehicle unless being replaced.

* Installation of seatbelts must pass engineering requirements. Authorised restraint fitting places are qualified to assess seatbelt installation. Some places are happy for you to install the belts, but will charge a BIG fee for the inspection (I've been told around $550). Obviously, this is done to discourage people from doing it themselves.

* Once seatbelts are removed they cannot be reinstalled onto the vehicle, regardless of their condition. New seatbelts which pass current ADRs must be installed. Apparently, restraint fitters will NOT fit seatbelts sourced by the owner - they will only fit belts they source themselves.

As Dave Mac said, why wouldn't you wear seatbelts? I'm going to put them in my EK, front and back (I don't care if people think this "ruins" originality).

Our old buses were not designed to crumple in the event of an accident. Saves you money if you rear end a Hyundai in a supermarket car park but in a prang on the road, all the energy of impact is transmitted to the occupants. As a consequence, seatbelts in an FB/EK probably won't save you from serious injury, but they might just save your life...

FB MAD · Post by **FB MAD** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:02 pm

Edna Blueflash wrote:A member of the NSW club was driving his FB late last year and got pulled over by the cops. The bolt holes for seatbelts in the front seat were covered by rubber grommets and they defected the car on the spot.

As far as I know, the rules for seatbelts in NSW are roughly as follows:

* A car not factory fitted with seatbelts does not have to have seatbelts installed.

* Once ANY car is fitted with seatbelts, regardless of year of manufacture, the seatbelts must be worn and must not be removed from the vehicle unless being replaced.

* Installation of seatbelts must pass engineering requirements. Authorised restraint fitting places are qualified to assess seatbelt installation. Some places are happy for you to install the belts, but will charge a BIG fee for the inspection (I've been told around $550). Obviously, this is done to discourage people from doing it themselves.

* Once seatbelts are removed they cannot be reinstalled onto the vehicle, regardless of their condition. New seatbelts which pass current ADRs must be installed. Apparently, restraint fitters will NOT fit seatbelts sourced by the owner - they will only fit belts they source themselves.

As Dave Mac said, why wouldn't you wear seatbelts? I'm going to put them in my EK, front and back (I don't care if people think this "ruins" originality).

Our old buses were not designed to crumple in the event of an accident. Saves you money if you rear end a Hyundai in a supermarket car park but in a prang on the road, all the energy of impact is transmitted to the occupants. As a consequence, seatbelts in an FB/EK probably won't save you from serious injury, but they might just save your life...

Thats also my understanding of the NSW rules pertaining to seatbelt fitment.

LYNCHPIN · Post by **LYNCHPIN** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:17 pm

Trev,

I think the seat belts rules in Vic say that you don't need to have seatbelts on a non modified car, but you are meant to keep them in if they have been fitted already.

Paul

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:18 pm

That makes sense Paul

Cal · Post by **Cal** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:32 pm

I'm still trying to find someone in Sydney who actually installs them.

Seems like a job no one wants to do

Stygian · Post by **Stygian** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:53 am

Cal wrote:I'm still trying to find someone in Sydney who actually installs them.

Seems like a job no one wants to do

Peter, speak to Mr Glading at the next club meeting...

mrs ratbox · Post by **mrs ratbox** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 4:10 pm

i'm of the understanding that you can take them out, via a disscussion with an RTA inspector, unless it's been documented by the RTA

police defecting a car meens nothing cause 99% of them are nob heads that don't know any better, recent disscussion on another forum about shaved door handles guy got defected officer said "needs to be engineered" when he went to an RTA inspection (pits) not just blue or pink slip RTA inspector said NO engineers report needed for shaved door handles proving this cop to be a knob, apparently he's new to the area and trying to make a name for himself

he defected another car on a trailer

not defending not having seatbelts i watched a TV show once about cars without seatbelts PRETTY SCAREY it was just before i drove a car to canberra without belts i was sh!tting myself but got over it

Stygian · Post by **Stygian** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:22 pm

ratbox wrote:...i watched a TV show once about cars without seatbelts PRETTY SCAREY it was just before i drove a car to canberra without belts i was sh!tting myself but got over it

...you crack me up RB

But yeah, you're spot on in regards to the officer in question. He was quite nasty to the owner of the said FB and spoke to him as if he was a 17 year old hoodlum busted for street racing. "I've seen this car getting around" he said and all the driver was doing was quietly cruising around his neighbourhood. Then he got defected.

I was going by memory from when I had my EK on the road with seatbelts as I had to replace the front seat ones. I'm surprised the RTA inspector said you could just take them out. The RTA never gives two different answers to the same question.... NOT!

Dr Terry · Post by **Dr Terry** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:33 pm

Edna Blueflash wrote: * A car not factory fitted with seatbelts does not have to have seatbelts installed, unless the car has been or will be modified (such as with the fitting of a supercharger or turbo to an engine).

This is the only 'rule' I question.

To my knowledge, in NSW, ALL cars built after 1st Jan 1965 require 2 front seatbelts, whether factory-fitted or not.

Many cars had no factory-fitted seatbelts as late as 1968, but all Holdens had 2 front ones as factory standard from 1st Sept 1966 (mid-HR).

The NSW RTA added the 1st Jan 1965 rule retrospectively. None of this effects FB/EK & I agree with the others who said if they're fitted why not use them.

Dr Terry.

lexumus · Post by **lexumus** » Sat Jan 23, 2010 6:55 pm

just a thought to ponder.....The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion.For example, one would calculate the kinetic energy of an 80 kg person traveling at 18 meters per second (40 mph) as 12960 joules and from memory 1 joule = 1kg. With this example, an adult in a EK without seatbelts travelling at 40mph that is involved in a front end collision will propel that adult into the steel dashboard with almost 13 tonnes of force..... ouch