old cars

[java]

This is all in theory....

Would it be safe to transport kids in an old vehicle? Say that old vehicle didn't have seatbelts but you could install approved seatbelts? Say it didn't have the optional backseat from the factory, but you could find one that fit from another vehicle and get it mounted properly? Would it be safe then or no because not everything came from the original manufacture (who isn't around anymore)

So different vehicle seat (mounted correctly), approved locking shoulder belts, and tether points for ffing seats. Would you do it? Or would it not be safe?

 

[LISmama810]

It would really depend on *how* approved everything was, and how confident I was that things were installed correctly. Not having seatbelts OR a back seat wouldn't sit well with me personally, but others have different comfort levels.

As for whether it's safe, "safe" is a relative term. Having seatbelts is safer than not having them. Being in a new car with modern safety features will generally be safer than an old car without them. So is it safe to be buckled into an old car with retrofitted seatbelts? Well, it's safer than not being in a seatbelt at all, probably.

 

[tiggercat]

Depends: was the mounting method crash tested? Same re: seatbelt attachments? If it didn't come with belts originally, it likely wasn't engineered to be load bearing in all of the necessary areas. Same with TA's, a vehicle that old wouldn't have TA points or approved locations so you would be relying on the person putting them in to determine if the area was structurally strong enough to withstand crash forces.

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

 

[AK Dad]

As for whether it's safe, "safe" is a relative term.

That's the key right there - too many people think of "safe" in black & white terms, and even when talking brand-new vehicles off the lot it's still not black & white.

I'm personally a huge "gearhead" and have a '65 Mustang that I bought when I was 14 that I'm in the process of restoring and modding. Now that I've become such a huge safety advocate I'll say that I do have some second thoughts about using it as a daily driver. I will however be doing as much as I can to make it as safe as possible. So far I've completely hacked out the factory front end and welded in an aftermarket double A-arm coilover with rack & pinion. It's already got a 4-point roll bar (that I installed back in HS so I could put shoulder belts in it, but I think I'm going to finish it off into an 8-point cage before it's done. The other couple of things I'm going to do is put a FuelSafe fuel cell (which has a self-sealing inner membrane and foam in the tank) to minimize fire risk, as well as there's a company that makes an aftermarket collapsable steering column for it.

Now, does any of that make it come close to the safety offered by a new (or even 10-year-old for that matter) car? Probably not, but is it safer than stock? Certainly. Safer than a motorcycle? I'm sure it will be. Any guarantees? Nope! I don't have the budget for that!

What was the original question again?