Genuine Noobie Question on Seatbelts (1 Viewer)

[Ian-n-Suzy]

Hiya,

This may seem a strange post with a poll for a "Noobie", but here goes.

We have just bought our first Motorhome, a Lunar Roadstar 786. We both love everything about the MH apart from one thing, Seatbelts.

We have two kids (8 and 10 years old), and our MH has no Seatbelts in the back and only 2 in the front (Driver and Passenger Seats).

There are no forward or rear facing seats in the back of the MH. Though we found a company in Stoke (Towtal) that can retro fit lapbelts.

From advice / information that we have gladly received on another forum we are currently thinking of selling our first MH before we have even took her out of the drive.

Could you PLEASE take a minute out to post your honest opinion in this poll.

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

[hilldweller]

We have two kids (8 and 10 years old), and our MH has no Seatbelts in the back

Does this help:
Link Removed

Is there anything more precious than those two ?

Obviously the answer is NO.

But the seatbelt answer is a little less obvious. You can sit them in seat belts in the back but a MH is fundamentally unsafe. It's as strong as an egg box. Pretty strong as you bought it but once any damage is done to the structure it will fold like an egg box.

So in some ways a race quality seatbelt gives a false sense of security because it's not a bit of use if everything around if disintegrates.

There is no definitive eary answer. With the right accident a lap belt will be fine, with the wrong accident you all perish.

 

[pappajohn]

lap belts are better than no belts but live kids are better than dead ones.

blunt but true.

a very expensive mistake to make, but id prefer 3 point belts to lap belts.

 

[Ian-n-Suzy]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the votes thus far.

It may seem a nonsensical first post but the information means alot to us.

CHEERS.

 

[Terry]

lap belts are better than no belts but live kids are better than dead ones.

blunt but true.

a very expensive mistake to make, but id prefer 3 point belts to lap belts.

Hi PPJohn yes 3 point belts are better than lap belts but not in side facing rears oh:

I have not voted but would carry the kids in the back with lap belts --- it is the no worries bit I have thoughts about
I would be more concerned with things flying around in a accident,the amount of m/h I see with fruit bowls and ornaments left on tables/work tops is unbelievable
Even in some new m/h I see a fire extinguisher sat 3 ft off the floor in a holding bracket just waiting for a head on bump to send it straight into the back of drivers/passengers head The amount of stuff I see that could fly around in the back frightens me a lot more than seatbelts.
In my own the F/EX is almost on the floor behind a bulkhead and nothing is left out of the cupboards while travelling,apart from the dog who travels in-between the front seats on the floor so if there is a accident he will only damage the heater not ideal but I reckon it is a better place for him than tied up in the back where he may get garrotted Then again accidents don't happen to us always someone else :thumb:
terry

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[Blisters]

I agree with papajohn, lapbelts are not good, ok at a push for the occasional adult traveler but i wouldn't put my child in a lapbelt (unless fitted to a rear faceing seat). Normally three point belts are fastened to a piece of 2" box section which is then fastened to the chassis, for me and this is personnal to me so not applicable to all, if i could not adjust the layout to include to forward facing belts I would swop the van rather than risk it. if you brought the van from a reputable dealer they should understand and offer you a good deal to swop

 

[Terry]

I agree with papajohn, lapbelts are not good, ok at a push for the occasional adult traveler but i wouldn't put my child in a lapbelt (unless fitted to a rear faceing seat). Normally three point belts are fastened to a piece of 2" box section which is then fastened to the chassis, for me and this is personnal to me so not applicable to all, if i could not adjust the layout to include to forward facing belts I would swop the van rather than risk it. if you brought the van from a reputable dealer they should understand and offer you a good deal to swop

You should not fit 3 point belts to side facing seats :thumb:
terry

 

[haganap]

You should not fit 3 point belts to side facing seats :thumb:
terry

I do agree with you Terry, but I can not see the benefit in an accident of having any seatbelt to a side facing seat.
From my experience, a lap belt is as much use as a you know what. My kids in our old van would sit in a lapbelt. He would easily slide out of this in a high impact accident no matter how tight it was.
Motorhomes are as said, like an egg box in a high impact accident. Add to that the dangers of things flying around and out of cupboards you would not want to be in any collision in a motorhome.
However, this is a fantastic hobby, many thousands of people do it and thankfully you do not often hear of many serious accidents (unlike when i had my Motorbike) so I refuse to be to concerned about the safety aspect. I think you can worry too much about things. Im not justifying not wearing seatbelts, just that in many cases the van itself is as dangerous in a serious accident than whether or not the rear occupants were wearing seatbelts.

That said of course I have the option to have my little chinas strapped in properly, normally one of which is in the front.

 

[Ian-n-Suzy]

I have not voted but would carry the kids in the back with lap belts --- it is the no worries bit I have thoughts about

terry

Hi Terry,

Thanks for your input. The option above was "would carry the kids in the back with lap belts - reluctantly", as opposed to "no worries".

Regards
Ian

 

[Wildman]

I answered no definately not, but then the situation would not have arisen as I would have thought about that before I bought something unsuitable. However could always wrap them in bubble wrap and squeeze them in the wardrobes, hee hee. Or in our case strap them down in the fore and aft overcab beds, straight jackets should do it. Why not just leave them home alone, with friends if you must, or even put them in kennels.

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[Terry]

Hi Ian I have now voted the middle option
reluctantly
If I had any worries or was reluctantly I would not be carrying the kids / grand kids in my case :thumb:
We have promised to take 3 1/2 yr old for a day out this year so he may well be in front passenger seat :thumb: unless we bind him in gaffer tape and throw him in the rear which does not sound a bad idea
terry

 

[dazzer]

We used the lap belts on the side facing seats without a worry. Any belt is better than no belt but im sure ive read a report saying you are more likely to suffer internal injuries with a 3 point belt on side facing seats.

To be honest most motorhomes dont go belting along at 100mph and most are driven very defensively by their (rightfully) proud owners. When i drove the RV i naturally drove at a much slower speed with larger spaces between the car in front and allow for longer braking distances. I also found that i tended to look up the road a lot further than when driving a car. All this cannot protect you from a loony driver loosing control but i would imagine motorhomes are probably the least likely vehicle to be involved in a shunt and the shunts that do happen would i imagine be fairly low speed affairs.

As said before i think you are far more likely to be hit by flying items.

 

[Jim]

The the website Child Car Seats : Carrying Children Safely say that the law is changing this May

The law will be changing in May 2009 to prevent the carriage of more passengers than there are seat belts, and the exact details of this law will be announced by the Department for Transport closer to the time.

I wonder if lap belts will be included in the count. I have 10 travel seats but 8 of them are lap belts.

 

[Terry]

Hi Dazzer, the report you mention probably said that they break your neck in an accident,hence not recommended on side facing
terry

 

[TheAleMan]

Hiya,

This may seem a strange post with a poll for a "Noobie", but here goes.

We have just bought our first Motorhome, a Lunar Roadstar 786. We both love everything about the MH apart from one thing, Seatbelts.

We have two kids (8 and 10 years old), and our MH has no Seatbelts in the back and only 2 in the front (Driver and Passenger Seats).

There are no forward or rear facing seats in the back of the MH. Though we found a company in Stoke (Towtal) that can retro fit lapbelts.

From advice / information that we have gladly received on another forum we are currently thinking of selling our first MH before we have even took her out of the drive.

Could you PLEASE take a minute out to post your honest opinion in this poll.

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Hi

We got very interested in the Lunar Roadstar 786 at one of the shows a couple 0f years ago when trying to buy our first motorhome, but got put off because of the lack of seatbelts on that model. I put the seatbelt thing as top priority when deciding what we wanted, so layout ect became second fiddle to it.

steve

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[Ralph-Dot]

Isn't option one and five the same,

I would not be botherd about using lap belts

 

[oldun]

I am appalled at how many of us will willing and recklessly endanger the lives of their own children.

Are these people fit to be in charge of children?

 

[sinbad1]

I am appalled at how many of us will willing and recklessly endanger the lives of their own children.

Are these people fit to be in charge of children?

I agree with you, I personally haven't voted as i can't see the point of a poll about risks taken with children. Any risk however small is not acceptable.

Regards

 

[phoenixlyn]

Thats the sole reason we got the m/h we currently have - its got six full seat belts!

swift 630L 05 plate.

(newer ones have only four seatbelts.)

Personally, I think the original poster should have thought of this before handing over his dosh.

Lyn

 

[ccl]

Just bought a Chausson flash 03 which has 2 forward facing 3 point seat belts and 2 rear facing seats with lap belts in the back. I would have preferred all 3 point seat belts.
This was one of my priorities when buying the motorhome as I have 3 children who have to sit in the back and I would not consider letting them travel unbelted.
I would not consider fitting side facing seatbelts as I think they are very dangerous.
It was very difficult when looking for a suitable motorhome to sometimes get accurate information about what seat belts were included and I was suprised to see new motorhomes being advertised as 4-6 berth without enough suitable seatbelts especially with the changes to the laws on seatbelts.
I voted to say I would sell and get a motorhome with enough seatbelts for the number of passengers.:Sad:
As for the posts about taking risks with children, what else are you supposed to do with them - leave them at home in a box of cotton wool!?oh: Are motorhomes really so unsafe they are not suitable to transport people in the back at all, even with seatbelts?

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[thehutchies]

I avoided adding to this thread because I was sure it would degenerate into inane comments questioning parents' ability to care for their children.
I'm just surprised it took seventeen or eighteen posts to reach that state. :thumb:

Well done, everyone, for your otherwise reasonable posts.

 

[oldun]

I avoided adding to this thread because I was sure it would degenerate into inane comments questioning parents' ability to care for their children.
I'm just surprised it took seventeen or eighteen posts to reach that state. :thumb:

Well done, everyone, for your otherwise reasonable posts.

So you do not think comments about the safety and care of children is sensible.

To any rational caring person the safety of their children will be their first, second, third....... priority.

Anyone who needlessly risks the life of their children is beyond understanding.

Do you think sending them up chimneys to sweep them clean is also reasonable?

 

[Stephen & Jeannie]

For goodness sake !! lighten up everybody before the mud starts to fly !!!! I, as a contentious and cantankerous grumpy old man am disappointed that the option...." i would not entertain children in my MH full stop"is not on the poll !!!!!!

 

[Blisters]

FIGHT[[

 

[ccl]

I didn't know you could still send them up chimneys.
I need some extra revenue to pay for the fact I had to buy a motorhome with so many seatbelts.
I think my lad might be a bit big but my middle daughter is just right and my youngest will be good to go in a year or so.
Please post details of were I can get them a sweeps brush. :thumb:

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[Losos]

Ian and Suzy - Far from being a stupid question I think you have asked a very good question and one which doesn't have an easy answer givn that you've already purchased your MH.

Generally I agree with above poster who said that we're not talking motorbikes or rally cars here are we ?

I've learned from this thread that keeping loose objects in cupboards and mounting the FE on the floor are probably more important than anything.

Also we will occassionaly have our two large dogs with us, they weigh more than your two youngsters and there's no way we can put them in any type seat belt They are also pretty precious to us.

 

[david price]

seat belts

I thought this thread was heading the way they all end up on another forum
To me people make their own choice,as long as they are not breaking the law,whats the problem?
To put it another way.My daughter is 15 and goes out alot with her friends.These days she has far more chance of something happening whilst out than being hurt when not wearing a seatbelt.
Do i keep her under lock and key? No,she is allowed to live her life has i live mine,I had 20 plus years of driving without a seatbelt before the law changed.Lets not get into slanging matches because someone chooses different to you.That is their choice.
Dave.
For all the pcs out there i still smack my kids if they play up:Cool: