Seat belt laws and Saab 9-3 (UK!)?

Question

my dad has just bought a Saab 9-3T convertible...which is a nice car.

He was planning to go on holiday in it, and he needs to take 5 people including driver. Unfortunately the third rear seat doesn't have seat-belt.

so i need two things...

1. is there a way of putting an extra seatbelt in the car?

2. does anyone know the laws on seatbelts so i can convince him not to use this car!?

two of the passengers in the rear of the car will have children under 10, and his ethos is 'if i dont crash it wont be a problem. The idea is NOT to crash you know....'

HELP!!!

Answer 1

The rules are very simple...........number of people that the car was designed to hold equals the number of seat belts that are required........

Answer 2

simple answer, that model aint made to carry more than 2 passengers in the back

Answer 3

This car is designed and built to seat four people.

It does not have a third rear seat.

It is also registered and insured to carry four people.

By carrying a fifth person he will be breaking the law, and may also void his insurance.

To modify the car to carry an additional person legally, he would have to submit the car to testing to prove that the additional seatbelt position is strong enough - this test is carried out by cutting the front end of the car away, to allow access for the test equipment, and usually severely damages the remaining floor of the car, so he would need an additional bodyshell on which to perform the test. He could then submit these test results along with his modified complete car for an SVA test, and ask his insurance company to re-quote for the modified car. It would be cheaper to buy a second Saab and get someone else to drive it.

Answer 4

I dunno about putting another seat belt in.

But, with children, the driver is responsible for making sure they wear a seat belt. With adults they are responsible for themselves. Kids under 10 will need a booster seat if they are under a certain height. and a seat belt.

The main problem is not really if your dad gets busted and fined, it is wether his totally stupidity will get other people who cannot stand up for themselves ie the kids, killed. If my dad was planning to be so dumb I would slash his tyres whatever dam car he had.

Answer 5

Legally he cannot carry more passengers than he has seatbelts - simple really.