Rear seat belts

[Phileander]

Morning fellow moggers
Just a quick question regarding rear seat belts as i cant seem to find much on internet, plenty on front seat belts.
Okay so are rear seatbelts needed to carry rear passengers if they arent fitted on a 1966 model?
Any info on the guidelines would be very welcomed.
Thank you all

[geoberni]

If they're not fitted they're not legally required.

1965 - Fitting Front Seat belt anchorages to new cars
1967 - Introduction of fitting seat belts to new cars (*see below)
1983 - Wearing front belts became Law
1987 - Fitting Rear Seat belts
1991 - Wearing Rear Seat belts

Aside from the initial introduction of the fitment law in 1967, which also back dated the fitment of front belts to include all cars manufactured since 1965, the laws are not retrospective.
So no requirement for rear belts in a '66.
However there are certain limits of children in cars with no rear belts. An unrestrained child over 3 years old can be in the back if all the front seats are occupied.

The basic info, without the timeline can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law/if-yo ... seat-belts

[Phileander]

Brilliant thank you for making it crystal clear

[geoberni]

No problem.
I looked into it all when I got my Basil (SII-1955) as he'd never been modified to have belts.
If I ever got stopped by a baby copper unused to classics, I wanted to be able to quote it all to them

[ndevans]

Personally, I would not be without front and rear seat belts, regardless of what the legal requirements are. Especially where a child is concerned.
But each to their own.

[geoberni]

Personally, I would not be without front and rear seat belts, regardless of what the legal requirements are. Especially where a child is concerned.
But each to their own.

As you say, personal choice.
I'm only answering the question.
As to Children, I agree with you, they should be restrained and I don't take the grandchildren out in the Minor.

For my car, I consider that it was never structurally designed to have belts fitted and being strapped into something that wasn't designed to have them is a matter of judgement and choice.
Any significant accident in my SII, I'm getting speared by the Non-collapsing Steering Wheel whilst being crushed by the collapsing bodyshell that a matter of inches in front of me and having my legs broken by the metal parcel shelf. Not forgetting the flimsy seats will collapse and spear me with their component parts too....
The windscreen is so close to the steering wheel I'm always banging my knuckles on the glass when I try to raise a hand to acknowledge another driver, whereas I have a stretch to even reach most of the windscreen on my modern car....

I brought a 60+ year old car so accept these risks, just as if I'd brought a slightly older design, like a Morris Eight.
Let's not get into a discussion about the pros and cons of our cars, modifications and legislation.