Is this legal?

[Aiminghigh123]

On my way home and spot this come round the corner rather quickly then stop in traffic.

Is this actually legal? Kids in the back with no restraints.

[kambites]

If the car is old enough, yes.

[ProTantoQuid]

I believe that if it was made without seatbelts then it is fine.

You do have to put young kids in boosters or baby seats though, so it wouldn’t be legal for them.

[robbieduncan]

I don't know the answer for sure but I think it depends on the age of the vehicle. If it's old enough to not have required rear restraints when built I believe it can still be used without rear restraints. Now how that interacts with the requirement of child seat/boosters up to quite a late age I don't know.

[Rozzers]

It is legal, yes.

The booster seat thing is a grey area, they were there to locates seat belts properly and this doesnt have any, so there is no sensible enforcement action to take.

[mike9009]

Yep, completely legal.

My kids sit in the back of my T25 with only lap belts. When they were younger and in rear facing seats they did get to ride up front with a three point belt.

[bristolracer]

I'm guessing from the picture that's one of the London bridges?
So their journey has been from Chelsea to Battersea park for the afternoon.
11mph average speed then
Jocasta will have been complaining that theres nowhere to plug her phone in and it's cold and draughty in the back
Dont worry, next week they will be safely back in the Chelsea tractor range rover as it hammers down the A303 to the cottage in Cornwall for 2 weeks before being packed off to their Oxfordshire prep schools.

[Aiminghigh123]

mike9009 said:

Yep, completely legal.

My kids sit in the back of my T25 with only lap belts. When they were younger and in rear facing seats they did get to ride up front with a three point belt.

Well at least they have something. These had nothing.

[Aiminghigh123]

bristolracer said:

I'm guessing from the picture that's one of the London bridges?
So their journey has been from Chelsea to Battersea park for the afternoon.
11mph average speed then
Jocasta will have been complaining that theres nowhere to plug her phone in and it's cold and draughty in the back
Dont worry, next week they will be safely back in the Chelsea tractor range rover as it hammers down the A303 to the cottage in Cornwall for 2 weeks before being packed off to their Oxfordshire prep schools.

Ha ha well I can’t argue with that Chelsea is full of bloody RR. Last time I was there I saw one with a completely flat rear tyre and the driver didn’t even stop just carried on driving wrecking the rim with kids in the back. More money than sense.

This is Kew Bridge, considered the countryside if you’re from Chelsea.

[the tribester]

Seat belts law refers to for forward facing seats only. Those in the LR, or Volvo seats in the boot facing back, don't need belts.

[Rotten Door]

Used to drive around regularly in the late 1980s in one of those, canvas roof off and windscreen folded forward. Ours was a Series 2 rather than a 3 in the photo. Occasionally a child in the back on a sunny day. Not sure I would do it now, legal it may be but not sure it's sensible these days.

[Jimmy Recard]

Isn't it pretty obvious that it's legal because the car would not have been built with belts?

Edited by Jimmy Recard on Monday 24th August 16:35

[Pizzaeatingking]

When I was younger we'd often go and visit family in the New Forest, the guy had a Defender 110 with the sideways seats in the back. We loved it as kids, spotting the dear and other wildlife while being thrown about all over the place.

[Dr Interceptor]

Pizzaeatingking said:

When I was younger we'd often go and visit family in the New Forest, the guy had a Defender 110 with the sideways seats in the back. We loved it as kids, spotting the dear and other wildlife while being thrown about all over the place.

It's a wonder many of us who are 35+ actually made it into adulthood

I remember bouncing round in the back of a Mk1 Escort with no belts, and the springiest seats known to man.

[Aiminghigh123]

After posting this I did so some digging around.

So any child under 3 can not travel in a vehicle without seat belts. That’s against the law full stop.

This Land Rover is a 1974 model so doesn’t have seat belts as standard. Children over the age of 3 can travel in a vehicle without seat belts but must travel in the back seats only.

Each to there own I guess, for me personally I would never let my kids travel in a vehicle like this. I have seen some horrible accidents some fatal on my commute.

[Riley Blue]

I once rode in the back of my Dad's Morris Traveller when he went to pick up its back doors after having them repaired. By 'in the back' I mean in the space behind the rear seats, not in them, without the back doors in place. Fortunately I didn't bounce out on to the road and get squished to death.

[TGTiff]

Slightly off topic
I rolled my old man's Alfa in 1982, before the seatbelt law came into force.
Got out and walked away.....

[Pizzaeatingking]

Dr Interceptor said:

It's a wonder many of us who are 35+ actually made it into adulthood

I remember bouncing round in the back of a Mk1 Escort with no belts, and the springiest seats known to man.

I'm a bit early for no belts, I just about remember the Defender and one friend had a Escort Cabby with no rear belts.

My dad on the other hand remembers being wedged in a motorcycle sidecar with two of his siblings (smallest would be pushed down the front) and when my Grandad upgraded to a three wheel van they all got chucked in the back. They rolled it once with my Aunt (a baby back then) all wrapped up in her little cot thing. She didn't have a scratch on her. Three wheeler was written off mind.

[Ranger 6]

Aiminghigh123 said:

....Each to there own I guess, for me personally I would never let my kids travel in a vehicle like this.

Mine's a 1988 and wasn't built with seat belts in the back either. It's not much stronger even with a roof and yes, my kids (and dog) travel in it - they're older than three though.....

[Foss62]

Rotten Door said:

Used to drive around regularly in the late 1980s in one of those, canvas roof off and windscreen folded forward. Ours was a Series 2 rather than a 3 in the photo. Occasionally a child in the back on a sunny day. Not sure I would do it now, legal it may be but not sure it's sensible these days.

I’m not sure why it’s any less sensible ‘these days’? Travelling in the sideways ‘seats’ in the back of Land rovers was standard practice for the first ten years or so of my working life. The risk is no higher now than it was then.
Improvements in vehicle safety are worthwhile in terms of overall risk reduction, but an occasional outing in the back of an old land rover is not going to do any harm.