Seatbelt Law

General General Lotus Talk
1

Question:In a car fitted with a four point harness, the driver (on a public road) only uses the two lap extensions. Is he:a) breaking the lawb) half-breaking the lawc)in the clear???

2

i have four point harness’s in my car and it walked through the M.O.T… i do remember the tester saying that if your not using them properly ie all buckles and clips your breaking the law because they are not going to protect you in an accident… this rather odd discusion came up after he pointed out what a pain having 6 point harness’s fitted can be when using your car daily… that’s why he fitted four point.

3

If you look on the www.safetydevices.co.uk site (the people who provided our std harnesses to Lotus for the Exige) as they state they are road legal and indeed there have been previous threads on here about this.So you are ok, although it can misleading if you read the letter of the law, as harnesses themselves are not legal.However as long as they have not got ‘flying style buckles’ on them you should be ok, Mark.

4

My question presupposes that a four point harness is legal. Question is, if on a quick trip to the local shops, you only do up the two lapstraps, are you breaking the law. Afterall you are wearing an effective restraint. Anyone know the exact wording of the seatbelt law?

5

KenWhats the chance of getting knicked just popping round to the shops, and then for plod to notice you haven’t done up the shoulder straps ? ( which are over your shoulder ? ) - Minimal I think ! But as I dont want ever to have a steering wheel in my brain… I always do up the straps - boring but having had two friends disapear in accidents where they were just popping down the shops - more chance of that than plod seeing you I think … [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif[/image]

6

My personal record for being stopped by the police locally, is 5 times in one week (never charged with anything or even cautioned)!!!I subscribe to the thoughts of Jeremy Clarkson, '…as a safety measure all seat belts should be replaced with a steel spike in the centre of the steering column…'I think he has a point, increasingly people think they are indestructable.