The dangers of using a classic car

[types26/36]

Not an Elan but doubt it would have fared any better!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... river.html

[Europatc]

The good old taxi driver, King of the road. Poor chap had only hired it as well

[el-saturn]

thats why i added a safety devices (FIA version) roll cage when i put my restored punk together - NOT for racing purposes: an elan is like a cardboard box when hit: the panels I used left and right (of the door/footwell) are for the same reason made of 1/2" honeycomb (some of the honeycomb needed a bit of hammering near the seat edges) BUT I think (and hope) it was worth the extra effort! sandy (honeycomb panels are to be found at any aircraft component dealers) sandy

[Chancer]

They dont specify the head injuries but its possible that the lack of headrests may have been fatal.

If he hit his head against the windscreen then he may only have been wearing a lap belt.

Makes a case for putting safety over originality, having 4 point harnesses and racing seats with proper head restraintbor perhaps MX5 seats.

[KevJ+2]

Is it illegal to only have lap belts in front seats? I don't know.
If the car folded like a penknife and damaged 5 more cars in front I wouldn't think better seats would have saved him but maybe cars that are hired out should have added safety features. Would people want to hire an authentic classic with modern seats and roll bars though?

[cal44]

This imported clown killed the poor fellow in the sport car, plain and simple. At that speed I don't think a seat belt or head rest is of much use. Even if the law hangs him.............they'll just let twenty more come in to take his place.

[robertverhey]

Sorry but I find the previous post extremely offensive and would prefer that it, and this, my reply were deleted from this thread as if they never happened

[types26/36]

Is it illegal to only have lap belts in front seats?

In the UK I believe that if the car was not originally fitted with seat belts and is pre 1964 it is not legally bound to have them but children under a certain age may not be carried, I dont know how this relates to lap belts.
When I got my S3 it did not have s/belts and the previous owner said it never had them while in his possession, I fitted some and while taking it for the MOT asked the tester if I was obliged to fit them to which he replied no if they were never fitted originally. The car is a 1967 and was supplied as a kit so I think it slipped through the net because of that.

[TroonSprint]

Is it illegal to only have lap belts in front seats?

Yes I'm sure lap belts are illegal in the UK, at least in the front seats. If the MGB in question was made before 1965 it need not have had any belts at all. Our legislation states that belts must be fitted to cars constructed after the end of 1964. Or he might not have been wearing them, or he might have had static belts too loose, which is very common. But if the car really folded in the middle, belts may not have helped him much. From what I read it seems as though his head hitting the top of the screen frame was the fatal blow. The frame on the MGB is a stout aluminium channel with two bulky clips on it and would damage your head very badly, top up or top down.

Let's face it motoring is a dangerous activity, much more dangerous than commercial flying, and yet some people get very worked up about that. Motoring in an old car is inherently more dangerous than in a modern car with air bags, soft components and crumple zones. If you enjoy the experience of driving old cars you have to accept that if things go wrong you might get hurt, or worse. If you aren't a risk taker to some degree you wouldn't get in an old car.

This poor chap was just plain unlucky and found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could happen to any one of us.

Mike

[jimj]

I`m pretty sure that well before 1967 it was compulsory that seat belts were fitted and, not long after, it was compulsory to wear them. Remember that community stalwart, Jimmy Saville, imploring us to clunk, click, every trip.
I`m surprised to see an American objecting to immigration, with all it`s, mostly, positive benefits. Aren`t Americans mostly immigrants? Wasn`t California previously owned by Mexicans who were Spanish immigrants?
I`ve got fair hair and blue eyes so I can occupy the moral high ground being Anglo Saxon, and I don`t mind. We`re out for an Indian meal tonight, yum.
Jim

[types26/36]

According to this site lap belts are legal although I would not use them:
http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/advicea ... e.aspx#Lap

[ericbushby]

when I got my first company car in January 1966 it was an Austin Cambridge and did not have seat belts fitted. I was working as a service engineer on induction heating equipment, an industry which I continued in until two years ago.
I bought my own for ?15.00. They were called lap and diagonal type. I was earning ?20.00 a week. At that time it was only compulsory for the manufacturers to fit mounting points. Seat belts became compulsory later.

Eric usually in burnley but tenerife where it's raining just now.
1967 S3 SE DHC

[KevJ+2]

Eric, don't want to make you feel any older, but my dad had a Cambridge about that time
About 1988 I went to my first Club Lotus evening pub meeting near Peterborough but when I went through the door I was greeted by an aged group who told me it was the Austin A40 club night
When I first phoned the pub, the barmaid told me that there was a car club night that week - so I thought, how many could there be? I suppose the car park outside should have given me a clue
I'll be in Tenerife in January so hopefully the rain will be gone
All the best,
Kev.

[trw99]

A requirement for anchorage points was introduced in 1965, followed by the requirement in 1968 to fit three-point belts in the front outboard positions on all new cars and all existing cars back to 1965.

In 1983, front seat belt wearing regulations for drivers and passengers (both adult and children) came into force.

In 1989, wearing rear seat belts became compulsory for children under 14.

In 1965 I remember my father fitting an aircraft four point seatbelt to his side of the front bench fitted to the Ford Zodiac he drove. He only ever wore it on long journeys!

Tim

[ericbushby]

Hello Kev,
OK,OK, its the old -My dad had one like that- is it. Well I can take it. The sales reps at work had Lotus Cortinas.
It seems you have had Lotus cars for 26 years. I have had one for 3 years. Respect !. You should have kept that Sprint.
This isn't seat belts or accident comments so I am going now.
Eric in Tenerife (still raining)
1967 S3SE DHC