Seat Belts

[DKM_Fam]

Please don’t beat me up to bad for asking this, I am just curious. We have a new to us 35’ Georgie Boy. The sofa and chair have seat belts. Do people use these while driving? We are a family of 5 (3 kiddos), none young enough to require safety seats. It seems to me, part of the joy of having a big motor home is to allow the family some comfort while traveling. I would love to allow my kids to be able to sit at the dinette or on the floor and play a game while traveling. Kids usually don’t ride as well or as long if “tied down”. I do realize the safety factor, and would insist they were their belts when in congested driving areas, or other dangerous conditions. However, is we are on long flat, low traffic highways and traveling at a leisurely slow pace, would you let them be unbuckled? Just curious and thanks in advance for your honest opinion.
Dennis

[DKM_Fam]

Thanks RickyJay. That is a great idea for bed belts. I will look into it.

Dennis

[robertbenita]

I'm not going to beat you up! As a kid I rode in the front seat on my mom's lap sometimes, my dad's lap while he was driving and got to hold onto the steering wheel or laid down on that small area above the back seat just in front of the back window of those great big metal cars. I also rode up in the cab-over portion of a camper. Of course times have changed and we know more about safety...

For my kids now that I am the father...no aimless ambling around the RV while it is moving! Seated in RV couch/chair/dinette or laying down in back bed. In weather, belted soon as you sit down. And yes, I let my kids ride up top in the camper unless they couldn't stop arguing on their own or weather/road conditions impacted my decision. Joint decision with the wife of course!

Driver seat and front passenger seat...belted always.

[Rick_Jay]

DKM_Fam,

We have a 2005 GBM Cruise Master. One of the things we liked about it is that it had 12 belted positions (driver, passenger, 3 on each of the two sofas, 4 at the dinette) provided from the factory. The great thing about having so many seatbelts is that it gives options as to where they want to sit. Our policy is belted while underway. If they need a bathroom stop or unbuckle for any reason, they must get permission. If I (driver) deem it's safe to do so (low traffic, straight road, creeping along due to construction/accident) then they are allowed to go. When they were little, my wife went with them.

It sounds like you're responsible, so I'm sure you can find a safe way to keep them secure.

As for the bedroom, I installed 3 non-retractable seatbelts across our bed in the back from SeatBeltPros.com. I installed 3 because we had 4 children of varying heights, so everyone had at least one belt across them. When we travel at night, we buckle them in back there while they watch the TV. I just didn't want them rolling out should I have to jam on the brakes (although the mental image of that is amusing 🙂 ).

They connect with an eye-bolt to the bed board and are removed when we don't need them. I think I got the longest ones available. They also sell the hardware that you need. You even have your choice of colors.

And...it's a reason to put eyehooks and straps on the bed for later adult playtime! LOL :B

Safe travels,

~Rick

[J-Rooster]

No just the DW and I.

[DKM_Fam]

Thank you all for the great responses. Like I said in the earlier posts, I understand the safety aspects and do intend to have the kids buckled up while siting. But like mentioned above, if they want to lay in the bed in back and watch a movie while we travel, this sounds good to me. I will be less distracted and thus able to pay better attention to the road. I really was just curious as to what other people do. Believe me I do not plan on letting my precious kids ride down the road while sitting up front or on the dash (I saw this once while on a trip). I will use common sense, but do plan to allow them some freedom to get up and move as the wish. I will not allow them to play kick ball in the isle or anything like that, but will allow them to get a drink from the fridge, move from the bed room to the dinette, etc.
Great comments by all and I do appreciate them. Please keep them coming.

[okgc]

Don't know how current this info is
Motor Home Seat Belt Laws

[Effy]

I, like many others, bought a MH for the convenience of moving around, making lunch, using the restroom etc while going down the road. That said, while you are sitting down either on the couch or dinette, you buckle in. I mean why not?

Sometimes DW and son will watch a movie in the bedroom while laying on the bed. No belts for this but I imagine the prone position provides more surface area to mitigate sliding or being thrown in a hard stop. Not saying I reccomend this, but it's how we roll.

[msmith1199]

Executive wrote:
The driver and passenger are required to be belted in. For all others it's optional. If you ride the Greyhound or Tour busses you're not required to wear a belt. School busses may now have belts but the kids are not required to wear them.

In my coach, it's my responsibility to ensure my family's safety. I allow my grandkids freedom to roam, play games, sleep, watch TV, go to the bathroom etc. while we are underway....it's why we have the coach. In fact, my wife makes us lunch while we are underway, and I eat while driving. Now if, in my opinion, we encounter rough roads, winding roads, heavy traffic or any other reason why I feel they should be seated, my word is taken and they sit. They know the rules and readily comply. Much like the pilot in an aircraft. If the seat belt light comes on, you put it on. It's a rare time though that I've felt they needed to be constrained inside the rig.....Dennis

California law now requires all occupants of a motorhome to be in belts. No longer optional for those in the back.

[doxiemom11]

Some motorhomes have seatbelts at the dinette. The bolt into the floor under the cusions with the belts coming up between the seat and back. Could you have some added so they could sit at the dinette and be belted in? Ours doesn't have them there, but the sofa and chair have factory installed seatbelts. Have you taken things apart, looked under to see if some are there? When we purchased ours used they weren't used, so the owners had them tucked back thru laying on the floor under the piece of furniture. Just a thought.

[offthewall]

DKM_Fam wrote:
Please don’t beat me up to bad for asking this, I am just curious. We have a new to us 35’ Georgie Boy. The sofa and chair have seat belts. Do people use these while driving? We are a family of 5 (3 kiddos), none young enough to require safety seats. It seems to me, part of the joy of having a big motor home is to allow the family some comfort while traveling. I would love to allow my kids to be able to sit at the dinette or on the floor and play a game while traveling. Kids usually don’t ride as well or as long if “tied down”. I do realize the safety factor, and would insist they were their belts when in congested driving areas, or other dangerous conditions. However, is we are on long flat, low traffic highways and traveling at a leisurely slow pace, would you let them be unbuckled? Just curious and thanks in advance for your honest opinion.
Dennis

All occupants in our MH are seat belted in at all times. I would NEVER let children "roam about" the MH while underway.

[edsland]

I'm a school bus driver for Naperville 203, the bus I drive is a 2014 full size bus. The seats are designed close and tall to protect the riders, the only buses with seat belts are the 1/2 buses that are for special Ed children.

[Executive45]

The driver and passenger are required to be belted in. For all others it's optional. If you ride the Greyhound or Tour busses you're not required to wear a belt. School busses may now have belts but the kids are not required to wear them.

In my coach, it's my responsibility to ensure my family's safety. I allow my grandkids freedom to roam, play games, sleep, watch TV, go to the bathroom etc. while we are underway....it's why we have the coach. In fact, my wife makes us lunch while we are underway, and I eat while driving. Now if, in my opinion, we encounter rough roads, winding roads, heavy traffic or any other reason why I feel they should be seated, my word is taken and they sit. They know the rules and readily comply. Much like the pilot in an aircraft. If the seat belt light comes on, you put it on. It's a rare time though that I've felt they needed to be constrained inside the rig.....Dennis

[kaydeejay]

If the MoHo comes to a sudden stop and the kids don't, where do you think they will end up?
As for the school bus comments, seats in school buses are close together and designed to prevent kids from being thrown forward. Nothing comes close in a Motorhome.
As someone who used to be involved in vehicle crash tests, (and have seen what happens to crash-test dummies) NO-ONE, but NO-ONE rides unrestrained in any of my vehicles.

[afrescopXx]

Ductape wrote:
I know this will run against the grain of the culture of safety at any cost, but how many school busses have seat belts?

As far as I know all newer school buses have seat belts.

No one rides in our MH without a seatbelt. If a bathroom stop is needed it is just that, a stop. An unbelted person is nothing more than a heavy projectile during a sudden stop.

[Dutch_12078]

Ductape wrote:
I know this will run against the grain of the culture of safety at any cost, but how many school busses have seat belts?

How many school buses are built as flimsily as most motorhomes?