Thread: Seat belt rules for old cars?

I believe the eak Car Club body in NSW is seeking to get an exemption for the under 7s but only for vehicles on Historic Plates - there is a chance it will get up.

ACT has indicated that it will not recognise any exceptions granted in other states and will prosecute anyone breaking the rules in the ACT - irrespective where the vehicle is from.

Garry

So, in Victoria, is a 2A LWB classed as a passenger car, an off road passenger vehicle or a light goods vehicle? Has anyone got a definitive answer from Vicroads?

Mine is an ex army GS, not a station wagon, and manufactured in 11 / 70.

It has the rear troop seats (only used on Anzac Day or similar), and is fitted with lap sash seat belt mounts, but came from auction with no belts fitted.

All good with no belts unless it is a passenger car.

Having said that, I have fitted seat belts, as it would be mad not to have them!

Cheers,

Mike.

Originally Posted by mike_k

Having said that, I have fitted seat belts, as it would be mad not to have them!

Cheers,

Mike.

Then most likely you will need an engineers certificate.

Originally Posted by garrycol

Then most likely you will need an engineers certificate.

?Maybe not necessary - there is no way of knowing whether it came with seat belts (they were optional on the 2a by then - and my 1958 S2 was equipped with them when I got it in 1963, having had them from new) or was fitted with them before engineers certificates existed - and I have never seen any suggestion that engineers certificates are required for modifications made before such bits of paper existed.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

?Maybe not necessary -

John

I agree, but Mike said he had fitted seatbelts and I took that to mean he installed them from scratch - for sure if the mountings etc were there from new and he just added the belts then a report is not required - but installed from scratch (as many are on these older vehicles) then a report will be needed.

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

.....- but installed from scratch (as many are on these older vehicles) then a report will be needed.

Garry

Even if the belts were installed from scratch before engineers reports existed? How do you tell when they were installed? (other than by the age of the belts). And in this specific case, the mounts are bolt-on brackets, so how would anyone know whether the brackets were there from new or not?

When did engineers reports first exist? Presumably when ADRs first came in in the early seventies.

John

This is a bit of a minefield.

To clear things up a bit, I purchased the 2A at auction in 1991. So it's a 2 owner 2A!

It was fitted with the appropriate factory seat belt mounts, (lower front of tub, rear outer part of seat box corners and the upper corners of the tub.)

There was no sign of them ever being used - about 3 or 4 coats of olive drab in all the threads. Wanting to live slightly longer, I fitted seat belts to the mounts, as at the time it was my daily driver.

The belts are still in good nick, correctly mounted etc. Never thought of an engineers certificate, and it has been registered in WA, QLD and now Vic.

My real question, after looking at the vicroads info (linked previously), relates to the Viroads classification of the 2A. If they think it is a passenger car - (unlikely but who knows) then it requires seat belts from 1969 on.

If it is an 'off road passenger vehicle' or a 'light goods vehicle', then these only needed belts in 1971.

The 2A is from 1970, right in the middle.

So has anyone been down this road in Vic before?

Thanks for the replies,

Cheers,

Mike.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Even if the belts were installed from scratch before engineers reports existed? How do you tell when they were installed? (other than by the age of the belts). And in this specific case, the mounts are bolt-on brackets, so how would anyone know whether the brackets were there from new or not?

When did engineers reports first exist? Presumably when ADRs first came in in the early seventies.

John

What if they were pre-existing but you replaced the belts because of their age and condition?