AIUI, the law allows one to carry more adult passengers than there are seat belts, as long as the car isn't overloaded. Children up to 135cm high must use "child restraints", e.g. a booster seat and belt, though, so the number one may carry is limited by the number of seat belts.
One could legitimately carry in a car two adults and four children, as long as the children were secured by belts in booster seats, and the extra adult did not cause overloading of the car.
Is this the case?
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You can legally carry more passengers than you have seatbelts.
All that is required is that all seatbelts are used and those using the seatbelts are doing so appropriately, as far as I can work out legally it doesn't matter if it is a child or an adult who is unrestrained.
On balance an unrestrained child is probaly safer than an unrestrained adult.
Edited by hxj on 07/08/2008 at 14:27
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I am charmed by the image of FT and his unsecured adult passenger being towered over by four nippers perched on top of redundant polystyrene wedges.
Why are FT's putative examples nearly always so bizarre? In the absence of the lamented bell boy, he must be seen as a leading contender for site surrealist.
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On balance an unrestrained child is probaly safer than an unrestrained adult.
Hardly, when a child can have the equivalent weight of a baby elephant during sudden decelleration!
I would never, ever risk carrying more passengers than there are seat belts. I may survive a crash only to be killed by a child hurtling into the back of my head crushing it like a jelly filled eggshell!
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>> >> On balance an unrestrained child is probaly safer than an unrestrained adult. >> Hardly when a child can have the equivalent weight of a baby elephant during sudden decelleration!
... and an unrestrained adult would probably have the weight of an adult elephant! It's all relative.
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Define overloading.
If you mean gross weight of the car, probably not. However, the V5C would snooker you in regard to number of passengers as it states the number of seats which in all likelyhood matches the number of seatbelts.
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Go on FT, ask about the legality of carrying a baby elephant in the back of a Volvo estate. Does it need a booster seat? Would a small child be permitted to sit next to it in a rear-facing seat and feed it sticky buns?
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I don't know what you're on, but it is of course possible to get four elephants in a mini.
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No it's not but you can get 2 whales in a Mini.
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Is this the case?
I don't know. IANAL but these websites quote the law:
www.lawontheweb.co.uk/seatbelts.htm
motoring offences updated 06 May 2008 Seat Belts and Child Restraints
www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/index.htm
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.
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Ok, so one assumes that if you have a unrestrained baby elephant in the car and have an accident it will travel forward with the weight of a full grown one... if you have an unrestrained fully grown elephant whats the weight of that in an accident when it hits the back of your seat??
Just wondering.... ;-)
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sq
African or Indian?
Edited by Pugugly on 07/08/2008 at 18:56
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Good to see that the official advice agrees with me -
"If you must carry a passenger for whom there is no seat belt, it is better for the heaviest passengers to wear a seat belt, because they would cause more severe injuries to other people in the car if they are thrown about in a crash."
Interestingly it also makes no reference to the species - so I would recommend belting up all your adult elephants first!
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As if I'd do anything else... though someone next to me has suggested we leave the Mother in Law loose! :)
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How do you wash a car again?
Elephant and buckets of suds perhaps!
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swmbo has a car with only two seatbelts for the back seat not three
the insurance specifies only allowed to carry 4 passengers, the 2 up front and 2 at back
so even if it were legal to carry 3 in back, one with no belt, then she wouldnt be insured
making it illegal anyways
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