a while ago, i heard "you can have as many people in the car, just along all the seatbelts are used" - maybe this was a loophole in the law

my brother told me recently that theyve changed:
"you cant have more than the number of people than seatbelts in the car"

my mini has only 2 front seatbelts.
the car was made 36 years ago and out of the factory it has no rear seat belts.

am i going to have to look into getting rear seat belts?
thanks

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I would have thought you can have as many people in the car as stated on the rego sticker?

I have a friend with a 850 with only front seat belts but it was roadworthied and registered as a 4 seater. they had no problems with no back seat belts..

I'm in the same boat. My car was built 3/70. Rear seatbelts were not mandatory until January 1971 or `72 so earlier Minis didn't have the anchors fitted.

I don't know the answer- but it gives me an excuse not to carry passengers in back.

There are all sorts of anomalies.
I rode in a Mustang last year that had front LAP belts, the owner reckons they are still legal... but if the fuzz drove by they'd think he had no belt on.

<edit> Cops in NSW are likely to pull you up if they see unbelted passengers. Might ping you for no seatbelts too...
Maybe you should just ask a copper nicely before you risk it..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

yep ill drop by the local Cabramatta Police Station one day and will ask them. such a nice bunch of blokes there... no smell of rats anywhere in Cabramatta

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The rule is that if a seat with a belt is vacant, passengers must use that seat. So if you have one passenger in pre-71 Mini sedan, they should sit in the front passenger seat.

From Jan 1969 you must have lap-sash belts in the front, and from Jan 71, lap sash in the back (except centre belts). There are no ADR regulations prior to Jan 69 requiring seat belts AT ALL. I used to drive a 1961 EK Holden Ute - no belts and quite legal!

Mokes are only required to have lap belts, as there is no place to mount the top bolt, unless you have a factory fitted cage, which was optional until the mid or late 70's.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

As bnicho said im sure if your vehicle is made before 1969, you do not need belts, but if they are there, they have to be worn

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So I could run the `64 850 without belts??

I doubt they would allow a new registration, as the mounts are all there...

Don't think I'd tempt fate again.. in `65, I nearly got killed in a Mini without belts..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

i think its just what its registered as... like if its registered as a 5 seater u can seat 5 people, and so on.. i think. but yeah, they might have changed the laws so dont take my word for it, i was looking at the old rego papers of betsy, and she's a 5 seater! but 4 belts....

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I agree - better to have belts! My EK got them after a few months use.

If you fit them yourself where there are not original fixings, eg: to the rear seat of a pre-71 Mini you are supposed to get an engineers inspection to declare them safe before you can legally use them! But most sensible RWC inspectors will pass them if you fit them properly with spreader plates etc. Copy the strengthening used in a Clubman and you will be safe.

With a Moke, you can only legally fit lap-sah belts if you use a factory rollbar. If the bar is an aftermarket or custom one, you are only supposed to use lap belts, or get an engineer's certificate. The thing is that there were maybe a dozen different companies supplying rollbars for Mokes as dealer fitment - so what is a factory bar now anyway!?!

"Of course it's a factory bar Mr RWC Inspector!!"

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

blah blah blah ADR's. If there were no seat belts fitted out of the factory, and it passed ADR's of the time, it's fine. IF mounts have been made up, and approved, then the seat belts MUST be used. You cant take the seat belts out afterwards.

I have even seen an officer tell one guy that his daughter should be in the back seat of an XP Falcon. She was only about 8 years old. His reasoning was that she wasnt old enough to wear a lap sash seatbelt. He still believed she would be safer in the back seat without any seatbelt at all!!! GO FIGGER

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My '65 Deluxe got through rego without ANY seatbelts. It is registered as a 4 seater. I believe technically although the mounts are there, the seatbelts were originally optional. Then again maybe the inspector was blind - the car had no mirrors either but he still passed it. I think he counted the number of wheels (which was 4 by the way, I had remembered to put them all back on) and passed it. Too easy!

Anto.

hahah
thats funny, my mini's blue slip said my car holds 5 people... must be a bigger car than yours Anto

this is getting to me... ill have to find out soon
there are so many "before the law changed" , "factory options" , "engineered alterations"
i guess no one can really answer the question about seat belts for the present law
thanks, will get back to you soon

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Appreciation without Depreciation
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While I was living in Adelaide (in 2002) I read through the laws thoroughly because I often carried 4 people in my 2 seater mini van. As far as the south australian rules read, you could carry as many people in the car as you can fit, as long as all the seat belts are used, and people are carried in areas of the vehicle designed for carrying either people or goods. As I figure it, that means the only places you can't cram your mates in are the engine bay and under the wheel arches.

After that bad accident on Mona Vale Rd a year or so ago, when an overloaded VW Golf spun out in the wet and killed two guys who were in the boot, the laws in NSW were changed. It is now illegal here to carry people in the boot, not that that is practical in a Mini..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Similar Laws were pased in the last year or so in QLD, after a ute rollover. So no more travelling in the tray of utes.

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"He's always been a dickhead, He always is a dickhead, He will always be a dickhead. So stop complaining when he acts like one."