Advice on rear seats

Be interested to know that myself being as I have now removed the second row of seats from my 109 and now have an enhanced bench seat along one side which forms the bed in my camper conversion.

Being as this vehicle is pre seat belt legislation I am wondering how legal it is for passengers to travel on that bench seat since it is not original. I suspect the answer is one of those grey areas which would affect any camper which contained a variety of seating in the back designed for static use on site rather than passenger transport.

For what it is worth, so long as you can still travel sideways facing without seatbelts on buses, there ought not to be a problem and the reality might be that there are fewer accidents recorded than for unbelted rear seat passengers given the statistical rarity of sideways seated vehicles on the roads.

I remember back in the late 60's when our school minibus was a transit crewbus with wooden bench seats on either side, unthinkable nowadays.

On or around Mon, 28 May 2007 00:05:47 +0100, "Larry" enlightened us thusly:

AFAIK:

bench seats and no belts are OK for adults and for private use for children, if there are no other seats available with correct belts. There's probably an exception for very young children.

"Organised journeys" with children have to be forward (or backward, I think) seating and seat belts, and the driver is responsible for the wearing of belts by anyone under 14.

Booster seats and/or adjustable belts are required for "small children" which are defined as "under 12 years old and under 135cm tall", and that's not a typo, just a stupid bit of legislation.

That last covers private use as well. There's a get-out clause, effectively, if there aren't suitable seats/belts due to the design of the vehicle, which I imagine covers the sideways seats in the LR since they never had belts nor are there mounting points.

Thing is his bench seat isn't original, so the "no seatbelts fitted when made" bit might not apply if there was no seat there in the first place..

I think it's best he calls the DVLA and the Department of Transport, when I had to resolve the status of the pinz seats, I found them all to be extemely helpful and careful, although I was unusually patient and understanding with them, even when being bounced between departments.

That's what it hinges on really, the seats weren't originally there so he needs to get clarity on what rules he comes under.

According to the DVLA/dept of transport, if there are no seatbelts in original fitment then a child over the age of 3 can travel unrestrained in the back, this includes bench seats. I made sure that they really meant this too. This can't apply to vehicles like modern discos though because the bench seats shouldn't be there without seatbelts, so they automatically come under the seatbelt rules so can't be used by kids.

There is a catch-all though, if a police officer believes that people are being carried in an unsafe manner you'll go up before the beak and they'll decide whether you get a possible max £5,000 fine or not.