Law regarding passengers in a car? How Many?
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I was wondering if anyone knows a definitive law of how many passengers you can have in a car at any one time.
I am talking about the back seats really.
A standard size family car say not a mini or two seat sports car.
Say if there are 3 seatbelts and you normally have 3 passengers all 6ft tall big blokes.( Rear seating area)
Could you on occasion have 4 people in the back if there was room? Say 4 women with 1 not wearing a belt? And 3 with the belts? Or can you only have the amount of people according to belts?
Is their an actual law on how many in rear seats have tried google and have had no joy?
Thanks for help.....
I am talking about the back seats really.
A standard size family car say not a mini or two seat sports car.
Say if there are 3 seatbelts and you normally have 3 passengers all 6ft tall big blokes.( Rear seating area)
Could you on occasion have 4 people in the back if there was room? Say 4 women with 1 not wearing a belt? And 3 with the belts? Or can you only have the amount of people according to belts?
Is their an actual law on how many in rear seats have tried google and have had no joy?
Thanks for help.....
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Not sure if there is any law but your insurance policy usually states a limit.
p.
So the number of seat-belts should give you a clue.
Are you serious?
Cos I was in a car with 5 people on the back seat and someone was diverting traffic and clearly saw in the car and didn't stop us...
I'm willing to stand corrected on this one:
http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/seatbelts.htm
It says seat belts must be worn, if available, so if you have 5 in the back seat, and three seat belts, then as long as those belts were all in use, technically you're not breaking the law.
Let me just look up the law on overloading.....
And the 4th person would not mind being in a seat belt.
It was wether there is an exact law on the subject.
thanks again for input guys and girls..
Or didn't care.
The police will pull you over if they feel the car is overloaded. If you carry 4 back seat passengers in a peugeot 106, they will likely stop you. If you carry 4 back seat passengers in a large mercedes, they are less likely to stop you.
But cars are designed for the number of passengers they have seat belts for. I wouldn't just ask the person without the belt if they mind, I'd be checking with the person in front of them as it is them who would be at the most risk.
most cars the middle seat belt is just a lap one so what would happen if you use the middle one for 2 people or one of the side ones as a lap belt instead of a normal belt for 2 people would you then be breaking the law as all your passengers have seat belts on???
It would be very dangerous to have two people using 1 seat belt, espeically if it was someone sitting on the other;s lap.
If you brake hard, then the whole weight from the person underneath would push against the person on top, andsquash them against the lap strap. Thats why they have extension seat belts on aircraft for small children and infants - they should never sit on the adult's lap and go inside the adults seat belt with them. The consequences would be terrible.
Back seat has 3 belts - common sense dictates that it is therefor designed to have 3 people on it.
I didn't mean children or people sitting on top of each other i mean't sitting next to each other if they were 2 small framed adults were the seat belt would reach over both of them.
and just to quote we have a ka with 2 children 1 3yr and 1 7 yrs and they both sit in apporiate seating both strapped in with there own seat belts and theres only ever 4 people allowed in our car at any one time (me,hubby & 2 kids)safety of my children is paramount.
Wow! You must have some skinny friends
14 yr old kids aren't very big.
I think it would still be potentially dangerous if the car was to roll. Th belt is designed to hold you in place, but even with kids, the weight of another pressing against would be dangerous. I belt per person.
I know accidents hardly ever happen, but there's no point in using a belt incorrectly
I don't think you'd get away with it on those terms. You can't just say there wasn't a seatbelt available, when the very reason is because you've piled more people in the car than it can safely carry.
I think if you have any more people than the number of seatbelts, you're risking being pulled over.
No doubt because at the time the safety of the traffic he was diverting was more important than the safety of the people in just your car.
I know my insurance policy states that I can only have five people in my car so anyone who wants to risk other people's limbs lives should check that they are at least insured to do so. Remember, if you aren't insured to carry the extra passengers the insurance company are likely to consider you in breach of your policy and refuse to pay anything out to anyone and claims will then have to be made directly against the driver.
Yes, and of course driving without insurance (which is effectively what you'd be doing) is illegal.
I noticed a few days back there was an advert I think for the new Chevy Captiva on TV and they were bragging about how you can get it with room for 5 or 7 people, you'll never see an ad for a 4x4/MPV etc that has room for 8 or more people or its against the law. At least thats my basic understanding of it anyway! the only thing im not 100% sure of is whether the 7 includes the driver or not... it was a while ago I read up on all that stuff. I think its a maximum of 7 including the driver though... thats quite alot of people! and I believe there's also a weight equivalent too, like that you can drive, on a basic driving license in a normal family car, a maximum of 7 people or however many kgs per laden weight equivalent (??) im sure it can be found in the highway code online somewhere, which would give you the full details... I'll go check
someone there would definately know all the details if any clarification is needed... hope I helped
My understanding is that EVERY passenger must wear their OWN seatbelt, if there is only 5 seatbelts then you are breaking the law by having more than 5 passengers in the car.
From what I understand, the information you've given is correct but I don't think this is exactly what the OP is wanting to know?!:)
The OP is wanting to know how many passengers 'per car', not 'per driving licence', if that makes sense?!
But who would have diverted the traffic in the meantime if that person had pulled you over?