Caroline Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 This is probably a very silly question to ask! Do you need seat belts to travel in side facing seats? I do not quite understand how some of these motor homes can be 4 berths and yet only have two fitted seat belts the Driver and the Navigator. I have looked on line for the information but must have missed it somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi Caroline, there has been lots of discussion of this before, if you use the search facility above and type in "seat belts side facing seats", set the search to all posts and you'll come up with a load of previous threads abouty it. Welcome to the forum, D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Ah you learn somthing new evertime, thanks now have used the search facility. Am now poughing throught all the legal stuff. Oh happy days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Cole Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi caroline I had the same problem with my Swift and asked the same question on the 29th dec 2007 you will find the answers you need there some of the legal stuff is as clear as mud! good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enodreven Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Hi, On the same topic albeit not exactly on side facing seats, can you carry more people than your vehicle is registered for ?? the reason i raised it is that. I have Just been looking at my Bessacarr E735's V5[log book] and have noticed that under the heading "Number of Seats" it is showing 2 including driver. Is there any legal need for me to change this, it has seat belts for 4 people ?? albeit i am not sure how many seating places were shown on the orginal design from Swift I have a feeling it may be 5 or 6 ?as it has some side facing seats any advice would be welcome, also it may be worth checking your own V5 Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Unless you already have the van, if you want to carry four seated passengers it will be best to avoid any van that has side facing seats. The simple answer is that passengers sitting in side facing seats cannot be belted, mainly because the seat belts themselves are liable to inflict worse injury than would otherwise be the case, should the vehicle be involved in a accident. The object of seat belts being, of course, to reduce, not exacerbate, injuries. On the other hand, if the occupants of the side facing seats are not restrained, and the vehicle is involved in an accident, the unrestrained side facing passengers are liable to be projected out of their seats to hit the belted, front seat, passengers from behind, thus injuring both parties.For this reason, new vehicles with side facing seats are having these labelled as "non-travel" seats or similar. You can use side facing seats as travel seats in older vans, where they have not been so designated, but the laws of chance and physics remain unaltered, so will still govern the outcome of any accident! Therefore, best avoided if they might be needed as passenger seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 enodreven - 2008-01-22 6:04 PM Hi, On the same topic albeit not exactly on side facing seats, can you carry more people than your vehicle is registered for ?? the reason i raised it is that. I have Just been looking at my Bessacarr E735's V5[log book] and have noticed that under the heading "Number of Seats" it is showing 2 including driver. Is there any legal need for me to change this, it has seat belts for 4 people ?? albeit i am not sure how many seating places were shown on the orginal design from Swift I have a feeling it may be 5 or 6 ?as it has some side facing seats any advice would be welcome, also it may be worth checking your own V5 Brian I'd suggest getting this altered to the correct number of belted seats and also make sure that your insurance company has the right number of belted travel seats down as well. Then you are okay to carry the passengers and you will be covered by your insurance to do so. It also means that when you come to sell your van there won't be any problems or discrepencies. I suspect it's still got down the original seat numbers from when it was a chassis cab and has never been altered by the manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 A couple of weeks ago our children (all now 50 ish) took us for a big trip out with all the trimmings into Cardiff for a show and wined and dined us. Transport was a stretched limo with well equiped bar etc, but surprise! surprise! the long sidefacing seat had four seat belts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 enodreven: I freely admit to not knowing the purpose of the number of seats datum that appears on recent-ish V5 documents, nor how the figure is derived initially. I've looked through various motorcaravan manufacturers' current brochures and there appears to be no set-in-stone relationship between a motorhome's number of 'designated passenger seats', the number of seats fitted with safety-belts, and the seating configuration. I'm not even sure if the V5 seat-datum has relevance in the UK as far as legally limiting the number of people you can carry in your motor home is concerned. Probably the best way forward would be to write to Swift Group (quoting your Bessacarr's build reference) and explain the situation. I'm a mite doubtful that the DVLA would agree to amend the V5 information without being provided with persuasive 'official' documentation from the vehicle manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I suspect that the number of seats on the V5 has been taken from the chassis on which it is built and excludes the seats - belted or otherwise - in the conversion. How is the vehicle actually described on the V5 - as a Bessacar or is Fiat mentioned? You should have no problem getting the DVLA to alter it - just phone them and ask to speak to one of their motorhome experts, explain that the number on the V5 is wrong, and ask what would be the best way of getting it changed. If you get the right person, they will be helpful, if not, try again. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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