overweight passengers

[seboni121]

Hi i need some informstion regarding safety , the person im thinking of comes in at 33 stones and his seat belt is just about closing , what is the legal standing about this

[philbes]

I would be worried about damage to the seat.

[Guest]

+1

I make my dad sit in the back to prevent him damaging the front seat due to his weight. I'm no Slim Hips myself, but at least I can secure my seatbelt without someone else's help.

I've refused to let people in my car due to their weight (approximately 25 stone) not just because of potential damage to the seat but also the danger to other passengers.

[devonutopia]

Hi i need some informstion regarding safety , the person im thinking of comes in at 33 stones and his seat belt is just about closing , what is the legal standing about this

 

I would imagine the legal viewpoint is the same if they were a normal weight - they have to wear a seatbelt.  "You must wear a seat belt if one is fitted in the seat you’re using"  (gov.uk)

 

The safety aspect is clearly different as a larger person may suffer more in an accident, both in their momentum and their inability to escape in the event of being upside down or similar.  No legal aspect to that though.

Edited 1 January, 2016 by devonutopia

[KenONeill]

I have no general or personal view on this. Legally speaking, ISTR that it is possible for a grossly obese person to obtain a medical exemption from having to wear a seatbelt, but I suspect that's not the information you're looking for.

[GentleGiant]

[waits to see if "seatbelt extenders" suddenly appear on EBay]

[loskie]

I had a recent IAM driving assessment for work. The instructor/assesor was a decent chap. Quite large (i am not slim myself), he brought an extension for the seatbelt, the type you see folks getting on a plane.

[mac11irl]

I wonder (without bothering the chexk..) whas the design loading worked to in even mounting the seatbelt day one.. not much point having an extender if your bulk momentum in a crash rips the anchor point away..

Eg isofix carseat anchors are only designed up to max momentum of an 18kg toddler. After that no gaurantee of the seat staying put. (Saw some scary vids reasearching ERF child seats...

[GentleGiant]

I wonder (without bothering the chexk..) whas the design loading worked to in even mounting the seatbelt day one.. not much point having an extender if your bulk momentum in a crash rips the anchor point away..

Eg isofix carseat anchors are only designed up to max momentum of an 18kg toddler. After that no gaurantee of the seat staying put. (Saw some scary vids reasearching ERF child seats...

 

And that is when the car is brand new and the mounts are suffering from rust.....

 

AFAIK, the law says you have to wear the belt, it doesnt say how effective it has to be. I used to know someone who had a Fairy bottle taped to their windscreen, as the MOT required window washers, and his old Australian spec Morris Minor didnt have them. It wasnt very effective, but it was enough to pass the MOT......

[gullyg]

Google shows up quite a lot of results, the main theme appears to be you should check with the car manufacturer whether you can use an extender and if you are looking to buy a car some marques have longer seat belts than others.

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-vehicles-for-obese-drivers-for-2013.html

I've never thought of it before but there's a lot of talk only about seats getting ruined and cars taking of a definite list even when the person isn't in the car due to their weight damaging the suspension.

[fabiamk2SE]

I would imagine the legal viewpoint is the same if they were a normal weight - they have to wear a seatbelt.  "You must wear a seat belt if one is fitted in the seat you’re using"  (gov.uk)

 

The safety aspect is clearly different as a larger person may suffer more in an accident, both in their momentum and their inability to escape in the event of being upside down or similar.  No legal aspect to that though.

 

im sure theres something about having a medical exemption certificate though? 

 

Being fat might not apply mind.. 

[fabiamk2SE]

i wouldnt let em in my car tbh. 

 

Gonna slow it down no end, isnt it  

[seboni121]

Apparently seat extenders can void insurance , so are we saying there is potential risk of damage to vehicle ? Well doing the math he weighs 462 lbs

Edited 2 January, 2016 by seboni121

[Ootohere]

'Apparently' according to who, is it in writing from some Insurance Company or Underwriter?

Is some insurance underwriter saying that larger people can not use private or public transport and use a Seat Belt with 

a Tested and  approved seat belt extender that can be purchased to allow larger people to be safely strapped in?

[mac11irl]

'Apparently' according to who, is it in writing from some Insurance Company or Underwriter?

Is some insurance underwriter saying that larger people can not use private or public transport and use a Seat Belt with

a Tested and approved seat belt extender that can be purchased to allow larger people to be safely strapped in?

the belt may physically go around them but, as i said... what are the loadings the belt mounting points are tested to in terms of (acc/dec)elerations durimg a crash at high speed. Thats probably where the voiding is cited.

Same for airbags really.. designed to deploy, catch you and slow your momentum, but whats the "catching" force load they work up to before an impact just bursts them or whatever..

Edited 2 January, 2016 by mac11irl

[Ootohere]

http://productsfortheobese.com/seat-belt-extender

 

Heavily loaded vehicle then slow down!

Driver unsure or feels unsafe then just say no!

[seboni121]

Apparently George we have asked our company about the extenders and some car manufacturers say that seat belt extenders vary in quality and therefore say that they don't conform to their rigorous testing and in the event of a collision will not protect the individuals, therefore my company's insurance will not cover

[Ootohere]

Surely any UK/EU Car parts seller are selling 'Tested or Approved' BS / Kite Mark/ EU what ever parts.

 

Or if not avoid.

If you are transporting someone as part of your job then your company will be the ones needing to do the 'Risk Assessment', and look at 

appropriate vehicles of which there are plenty, and then give the training if any is required, 

but that is their duty and corporate responsibility.

[FUBAR]

Had a big unit in front passenger seat of my E60 year before last, seat had to be all the way back, all the way down and back tilted wayyyyyy back. Seat matt sensor broke........... FURIOUS!

[gadgetman]

Does the manufacturer have details on maximum seat loading?

[seboni121]

This ^^^^ what is the maximum load for car seats ? There must be one surely ?!

[mac11irl]

I just read an extract from a spinal injury research document where they loaded seat bases to 930N then measured base deflections as the seat was pulled out from under it simulating foward transfer in a frontal collision.

930N is only (round figures) 95kg...

and theres a massive difference in results across the seats they tested.

[DanHarper]

What about the impact of said passenger in the back seat on the person in front in the case of an accident? Wasn't there a campaign in the late 90s that showed the danger of the rear passenger impacting and crushing the driver because they were not wearing a belt? Can't see that going well with a heavy passenger, especially if they get a seat belt exemption...

[Ootohere]

Boring story alert.!

Many years ago i was the 2nd man in a local delivery van and we had a Seat Belt Exemption.

We were on a High Street and had several drops to do over about 1/2 a mile.

Anyway we were stopped having lunch bought out a shop, we finished and as the Driver was away to move a Police Inspector came across and knocked at the drivers window and asked what we thought we were doing not putting on our seat belt.

 

The Driver explained we were doing drops to housebound customers along the road and had an exemption from seat belts,

but we put them on as soon as we start to go any distance or out of town.

The Inspector said that a piece of paper will not stop you going through the Windscreen, get your belts on.

 

The next week and there we were again, and the Police Inspector is coming out the shop and in the car about to drive off with no seat belt on,

and my driver was right at his window saying, that uniforms and hat is not going to save you from going through the windscreen.

[Phil-E]

The seats will only be rated to a certain weight and I bet that 33 stone is over that!

 

Same with the seatbelt, tensioner and airbag etc. All designed to cope with a "normal" person. Going by gym equipment (we have bought a fair bit as we have a home gym) most of that is rated to around 120kg max (18 stone) and some even lower at 100kg (I'm just under this at the moment but I am 6'7").

 

I personally wouldn't be happy with a 33 stone person sitting in my car just for the shear stress being put on the seat!

 

And if they don't like it then they can join a gym!

 

I used to weight almost 19 stone and broke the seat in our Peugeot 306 we had at the time! A couple of the rivets supporting the back snapped.

Edited 6 January, 2016 by Phil-E