Should young drivers be allowed to drive cars that have NO seatbelts?

butterflymum

Was quite astonished to discover the seat belt rules governing old/classic cars that didn't have them fitted as standard, which only restricts as follows:

...you aren’t allowed to carry any children under 3 years old in it. Children over 3 are only allowed to sit in the back seats.
These rules only apply if your vehicle was originally made without seat belts.

as found at https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law/if-your-vehicle-doesnt-have-seat-belts.

I know some insurance companies are not even too keen on cars over 6yrs old for young drivers as they feel they do not offer the same safety features as newer cars eg http://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/young-driver-insurance , so it seems especially crazy that young people can legally drive a car with no seatbelts.

Realise there will probably not be many 17/18/19yr olds etc out there with 'no seatbelt' cars, but for those that are, surely it is not ideal? Morally/ethically, would you be happy knowing and/or allowing your daughter/son to be a passenger in their friend's car if you knew there were no belts?

Wondered what others opinion of this was - I personally think it is far from ideal, and indeed ridiculous that, for example, a 17yr old could pass their test and legally drive such a car with not only them not having a seatbelt but also their passengers, such as fellow young people or even a sibling over 3yrs old. It puts undue pressure on friendships too - should a young person turn down a lift because their friend has no seatbelts or just take the chance and accept the lift? I imagine that for many young people, they would not want to be seen as 'uncool'/too fussy by not accepting the lift.

custardy

As as I'm concerned.
If they can drive it legally,its their choice.
However it should be illegal for anyone under 17 to be unrestrained IMO

vaio

of course they should be allowed, way to much nannying going on already

Risk is part of life and (with apologies for sounding like my father) much of the troubles and general hoplessness of the younger generation stems from not have to learn to deal with and manage risk due to too much state & parental nannying

da_rule

Problem is where do you stop? Cars with no airbags? Cars with low safety ratings? If they are old enough to drive then they are old enough to understand the risks of driving a car with no seat belts (or even not wearing a seat belt in a car in which they are fitted).

Whether parents are happy with their children going in a car with seat belts is surely a question for each parent, based on how well they know the driver, how skilled they are etc.

ilikewatch

I would imagine that the number of young drivers with regular access to vehicles without a seat belt is so few as to be negligible. Even when I was a youngster and a lot more pre '67 cars were in regular use I don' t remember anyone having one without seatbelts. I would be far more concerned about my kids getting a lift with some baseball cap wearing idiot high on drugs than getting a lift with a young classic car enthusiast in a car without seat belts!

I have in recent years driven a Willy's Jeep with no seatbelts, and I can tell you that I have never driven with as much care and attention to safety!

Nebulous2

It is an anomaly, but classic cars are not going to be driven by 17 year olds. Classic cars can have very cheap insurance, but generally only for restricted use and people with good records already.

Another anomaly is motorhomes. You could pay £60-70k or more for a new 6 berth motorhome, which wont have 6 seats with belts. People will be travelling with unbelted children in these.

pogofish

As well as no seatbelts, a large spike (or some other blatantly death-dealing device) should be affixed to the centre of the steering wheel for the first year or so for all young drivers.

That should encourage care/observation when driving like nothing else - and the rest, call it Natural Selection!

PlymouthMaid

Classic cars with elderly drivers and no seat belt are also quite scary. I remember making lots of excuses for my Dad not to take my daughters out on his kit car as when he got older his driving was nothing like it used to be but he was too stubborn and independent to admit that he shouldn't be driving at the time.

Iceweasel

butterflymum wrote: »

Was quite astonished to discover the seat belt rules governing old/classic cars that didn't have them fitted as standard, which only restricts as follows:

as found at https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law/if-your-vehicle-doesnt-have-seat-belts.

I know some insurance companies are not even too keen on cars over 6yrs old for young drivers as they feel they do not offer the same safety features as newer cars eg http://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/young-driver-insurance , so it seems especially crazy that young people can legally drive a car with no seatbelts.

Realise there will probably not be many 17/18/19yr olds etc out there with 'no seatbelt' cars, but for those that are, surely it is not ideal? Morally/ethically, would you be happy knowing and/or allowing your daughter/son to be a passenger in their friend's car if you knew there were no belts?

Wondered what others opinion of this was - I personally think it is far from ideal, and indeed ridiculous that, for example, a 17yr old could pass their test and legally drive such a car with not only them not having a seatbelt but also their passengers, such as fellow young people or even a sibling over 3yrs old. It puts undue pressure on friendships too - should a young person turn down a lift because their friend has no seatbelts or just take the chance and accept the lift? I imagine that for many young people, they would not want to be seen as 'uncool'/too fussy by not accepting the lift.

I'm astonished that you are astonished at that piece of information which I can only assume was news to you.

So do you want to remove all cars built before 1965 from the roads?

Or do you want only 'experienced' drivers to be allowed to drive them?

What changes to the law do you want- to fix this 'ridiculous' situation?

Will you also be astonished to discover that such cars (pre 1960) do not need an annual MOT test?

They also pay no VED. (Even 1973 cars don't pay that)

Of course I would question how many 17 year olds can afford to run a classic car in the first place.

We are not talking about 'old bangers' here - or are we?

System

My God how did I survive in my first car that didn't have seatbelts? It didn't have airbags, safety zones or any other features either.
In a head on collision you would hit the steering wheel which would probably cause the spokes to break and you get impaled by the steering column.

da_rule

!!!!!! wrote: »

My God how did I survive in my first car that didn't have seatbelts? It didn't have airbags, safety zones or any other features either.
In a head on collision you would hit the steering wheel which would probably cause the spokes to break and you get impaled by the steering column.

I think I may know the answer, was it by using common sense and not driving like a complete idiot?