seatbelt laws and children seats
Hello everyone, I'm very close to switching to a A class. But I have young kids (2 6 and 1 10 year old ) and was wondering what the seatbelt laws are. I did some quick Web searching but nothi...
Forum Discussion
mpierce wrote:toedtoes wrote:
The last time I looked into this, the "general law" was:
Children MUST be seat-belted - no exceptions. Child seats and boosters are applicable as required in cars.
Adults must be seat-belted if the seats have seat belts. Meaning, if the dinette seats do not have belts installed, then adults can sit there without seat belts. The cab seats MUST have seat-belts, the rest of the coach is optional.
Another thing to remember is that even if the seat has a seat belt installed, it doesn't mean it is a properly functional seat belt. Many folks added their own seat belts, but just screwed them into the seat base (versus bolting them to the frame).
Yes, but......
I do not know particulars, and it varies from state to state, but most of the time, a vehicle is legal, IF it is the way it came from the factory. ie, Grandfathered. Seat belts are NOT required in that 1934 Ford.
IF your Motorhome was manufactured WITHOUT any seatbelts in the "house", then, passengers are NOT required to wear what is NOT there. My 1990 Bluebird only has lap belts on the two seats in the "cab". None in the house. Was told by Highway Patrol that passengers in the back are not required to wear what was not installed at the factory, and was legal at time of Mfg.
This may vary by state.
What my research had found was that this is NOT applicable to children. The child seat belt laws take "priority". My clipper has 2 lap belts - 1 in each cab seat. A child is therefore only allowed to sit in the passenger seat with the appropriate child seat. An adult may sit in any seat in the clipper - because the lack of seat belts was a "legal omission" at the time of manufacturing. Unless I add aftermarket seat belts to the house seating, I can legally only transport one child (in the passenger seat with appropriate child seat).
You are not allowed to disregard child safety seat laws because your vehicle does not have seat belts - regardless the age of the vehicle. Will you get stopped for having a 4 year old in a 1923 roadster with no child seat? Maybe - maybe not. But if you do, you can be legally fined.
