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CAN I FIT A SEATBELT TO THE BENCH SEAT IN MY CAMPER?
Q I have just purchased this Transit camper conversion (1) and I am finding it a bit of a minefield locating anyone who can do work on it.
My campervan has two seats in the front, with a bench seat behind that does not have a seatbelt (2).
I was recently advised by a seasoned and very knowledgeable motorhome owner, whom I met on my travels, that with campervans, it is not a legal requirement to have a seatbelt fitted on the bench seat.
In the short term – before I get the seatbelt fitted – are you able to confirm that this is indeed the case?
Practical Motorhome has been a great source of information, so many thanks for enlightening this newbie!
Ed Keogh
A Gentleman Jack replies… Although I’m not a qualified expert in the legislation covering road vehicle construction and use, I have thoroughly researched the matter and most sources agree on the following.
Under section D5 of the V5C (UK Vehicle Registration Certificate), there is no such body type as ‘motorhome’ or ‘campervan’; there is only ‘motor caravan’ (written as two words) or ‘van with windows’.
The DVLA has recently been found to be incorrect in its usage of the latter term to describe a motorcaravan, but many still have this description on their V5C!
For all types of motorcaravan, there is an important difference between lounge/dining seats in the habitation area - aka the residential bit - and the designated travel seats.
The latter are in the cab and may also be in the residential section. For motorcaravans, there is no legal requirement for the rear seats to have seatbelts, provided they are not used to transport people.
If they are used to carry passengers, they become designated travel seats and must be forward or rearward facing, with seatbelts and head restraints.
For your era of motorhome, these can be two-point ‘lap’ belts, although three-point belts on crash-tested seats are strongly advised. One should never use lap belts to restrain passengers on inward-facing seats, regardless of the age of the vehicle, as they can cause serious spinal injury in the event of a collision.
If you need to carry more than one passenger, there are work-arounds.
First, the cab passenger seat can be replaced with a (salvage) Ford double one. The inboard (middle) seat has the three-point (lap and diagonal) safety belt attached to the (crash-teste
