Airbags - are they legally necessary?

silvertree

Thanks to those who answered my earlier post - I have well and truly learned my lesson!

So now I know that I have a cat d car with no airbags, could anyone advise if it is actually illegal to drive a car without them? And even a rough sort of guesstimate on how much it would be to replace them - is it possible to do it yourself and then get it ok'd by a reputable mechanic?

We simply do not know if its legal now, although we were told that because the airbag light does not come on, it wouldn't pass an MOT anyway.

vikingaero

I imagine they are legally necessary - most cars sold after a certain date were required to be sold with airbags. If they aren't legally necessary then your Insurer may not like it.

forgotmyname

Depends how strict & thorough the MOT tester is, Problems arise if you have an accident and got injured
the insurance may not payout as the car has been "modified" have/will you declare this to the insurance?

Replacing the airbags is easy enough but the control module may need replacing or resetting by a dealer.

marksandsparx

silvertree wrote: »

Thanks to those who answered my earlier post - I have well and truly learned my lesson!

So now I know that I have a cat d car with no airbags, could anyone advise if it is actually illegal to drive a car without them? And even a rough sort of guesstimate on how much it would be to replace them - is it possible to do it yourself and then get it ok'd by a reputable mechanic?

We simply do not know if its legal now, although we were told that because the airbag light does not come on, it wouldn't pass an MOT anyway.

Airbags are listed as an optional extra, and do not need to be fitted to a vehicle.

Therefore any good tester will inform you of a fault with an advisory, He or She will not and can not fail it.

If the airbags are removed from the vehicle, there must NOT be any sharp edges exposed etc.

So legally, you can continue to use the vehicle, however, you will need to inform your insurance, as it is "modified" in effect.

Hope this helps, without giving you a lecture... as i have noticed alot of forum users here do.

marksandsparx

forgotmyname wrote: »

Depends how strict & thorough the MOT tester is, Problems arise if you have an accident and got injured
the insurance may not payout as the car has been "modified" have/will you declare this to the insurance?

Replacing the airbags is easy enough but the control module may need replacing or resetting by a dealer.

sorry, i was slow to write and didnt see your post first

bifold

In 2012 mot will include airbags and warning lights,whats the car? and year?

mikey72

They don't need to be fitted to new cars.
If they were fitted, they need to work, and the warning light should be checked at the mot, to ensure it is functioning correctly.

rev_henry

mikey72 wrote: »

They don't need to be fitted to new cars.
If they were fitted, they need to work, and the warning light should be checked at the mot, to ensure it is functioning correctly.

But you find Evos and Imprezas and the like with the airbags deliberately removed and a new steering wheel put on to reduce weight - is this illegal?

Kilty_2

rev_henry wrote: »

But you find Evos and Imprezas and the like with the airbags deliberately removed and a new steering wheel put on to reduce weight - is this illegal?

I think what mikey meant was that it'd be illegal to drive with the airbag hanging out of the dash or the old steering wheel sans airbag.

bifold

but you can disable a airbag, say front passenger's side for a child seat, interesting topic.

mikey72

rev_henry wrote: »

But you find Evos and Imprezas and the like with the airbags deliberately removed and a new steering wheel put on to reduce weight - is this illegal?

Can't answer that one.
If the airbag light doesn't do what it's supposed to, eg come on with the ignition, go off etc, it's fail at our local place.
They even have a chart on the wall for each make and model to check them off on.
Same with the ABS.

bifold wrote: »

but you can disable a airbag, say front passenger's side for a child seat, interesting topic.

But the air bag system in the car will allow for that, and rest will still work, and the warning light will function correctly.