west australian seatbelt legislation

TonyBill · 13-09-2011, 04:54 PM

I have a 67 falcon with two bench seats, which has two seatbelts in the front and none in the back. Im pretty sure this is the way it was originally. Im desperately trying to find out if it is illegal to carry more than two people in the car (driver plus 1)?????? mainly because the new legislation as of oct 1st 2010 ruled out travel in the baggage compartment in station wagons etc. attached is a document i got from the office of road safety.

the short of it says:

"Only passengers that are sitting in a seat fitted with a seat belt (or child restraint) with the seat belt (or restraint) fastened and worn correctly can be carried in the vehicle.
No additional unrestrained passengers, including in the rear of station wagons, is permitted. Passengers must not occupy the same seating position as another passenger."

immediately after this, it says

"The rule does not apply to motorcycles or other vehicles without seat belts fitted."
does this include my car???

"There is no requirement for older vehicles that are not fitted with seat belts to have them fitted."
i presume this is just to save your classic original vehicle from being defected??

which is then made even more confusing by this immediately after

"If a vehicle does not have a seat belt or approved child restraint fitted to all its passenger seats, and a passenger has a legal exemption from wearing a seat belt under the code (i.e. medical certificate), then in this case those seats fitted with a restraint should be used first by those legally required to wear a restraint."

I even called the cops up and no one could give an answer either way. am i breaking the law by driving with 6 people in the car?

XA GS Ute · 13-09-2011, 05:44 PM

From what I know it's not illegal if the car didn't come out with seatbelts.
Personally I'd be putting them in the back if you want to carry anyone. My brother's doing that at the moment with his XR.

flappist · 13-09-2011, 06:00 PM

Although it may not be needed by law there is the whole "duty of care" issue and if you carry a passenger and have an oops resulting the the unrestrained passenger being hurt or killed you will not have a lot of fun.......

Jim Goose · 13-09-2011, 06:16 PM

Your not making it clear as to how many seats your wagon has for starters?

In any case your car only needs to meed the ADR of when it was built.
If it came factory fitted with only front seat belts, then you dont need to modify the car.

You seem to imply you want to carry people in the cargo area but again your not making it clear in your post.

There is no way in the world you can carry people in the cargo compartment.
If your car is a 6 seater.. bench seat front... then 6 adults sitting in the seat provided is what you can carry.

TonyBill · 13-09-2011, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Your not making it clear as to how many seats your wagon has for starters?

In any case your car only needs to meed the ADR of when it was built.
If it came factory fitted with only front seat belts, then you dont need to modify the car.

You seem to imply you want to carry people in the cargo area but again your not making it clear in your post.

There is no way in the world you can carry people in the cargo compartment.
If your car is a 6 seater.. bench seat front... then 6 adults sitting in the seat provided is what you can carry.

in the very first line of my post i said it is fitted with two bench seats...

bungarra · 13-09-2011, 08:41 PM

TB, yu can still use the vehicle with passengers, ypu sre not allowed to carry passengers in the load space of a ute, panel van or wagon.

If you install one seat belt in th eback say for a baby seat, you have to fit them to all spots in the back.

Road_Warrior · 13-09-2011, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyBill

office of road safety.

And therein lies your problem. Getting a straight answer out of these inept arrogant ********* is like trying to interpret some kind of stupid riddle. Do yourself a favour and write to the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Operations.

I have owned cars not fitted with seatbelts, and as far as I'm concerned, as the car was built prior to the relevant ADR being gazetted, the carriage of passengers is as per the vehicle's compliance plate and WAPOL know it.

graham7773 · 13-09-2011, 09:04 PM

I don't know if this is relevant but to my recollection, the 67 Falcon was not fitted with seatbelts ex factory. I owned a couple of them. Seatbelts were an aftermarket item, as you say front seats only, fitted with bolts clean through the center pillar.

FGII-XR6 · 13-09-2011, 09:18 PM

you only have to comply with the original ADRs . if the car is built to carry 5 ( or how ever many it states on the compliance plate) passengers and seatbelts wee not fitted you can legally drive the car as built and designed. you are not even more at risk of litigation as you are complying with all safety standards applying to that car. The car is legally registered as a 5 ( or how ever many) seater and when it was registered to carry this many passengers there was no legal requirement to retro fit seatbelts.
you may feel compelled to fit seatbelts for the safety of passengers but that is a personal choice

TonyBill · 13-09-2011, 09:20 PM

thanks for the input
yeh there was never a doubt about travelling in the luggage space, more so trying to interpret the meaning of when it says 'no one can travel in a seat without a seatbelt fitted' and 'this rule does not apply to motorbikes or other vehicles without seatbelts, older vehicles are not required to have seatbelts fitted'
i agree with you road warrior