Seat Belt Question

[Jriddle]

How many seat belt do most install in coach? I am having trouble deciding how many to install. Coach is for the wife and I, but know other will sometimes travel. I know that needs will vary, but would like to know what others have done. My copilot seat will only have lap belt I can't figure out how to make shoulder harness work. The seat is back from anything that you could hit your head on. Just looking for what others have done.

John

[Lin]

That's another thing on my list too.  I expect to put lap belts in the two front seats.

[Hartley]

Uh.. I thought the rule was a seatbelt for each passenger seated while in motion.?

You need to check the RV safety rules about exact specs on what is and what isn't applicable. Or look at Factory RV's to see how they do it...

Sorry.. I drew a partial blank there....

Dave

[JackConrad]

I would definately put seat belts on driver's and co-pilot's seats before using the bus.  All that is between you (and more so the co-pilot) and the outside is a big piece of glass.  I lost a busnut friend and a friend of his several years ago.  They blew a right front tire causing the bus to veer off the road. The bus hit a soft berm and slowed dramatically (enough to throw them through the windshields). Although the bus had slowed dramatically, it not come to a full stop and proceeded to run over them before rolling down an embankment.  Jack

[Jeremy]

How many seat belt do most install in coach? I am having trouble deciding how many to install. Coach is for the wife and I, but know other will sometimes travel. I know that needs will vary, but would like to know what others have done. My copilot seat will only have lap belt I can't figure out how to make shoulder harness work. The seat is back from anything that you could hit your head on. Just looking for what others have done.

John

Just wanted to mention that it is quite common for the shoulder harness to be attached to the seat itself - I've even seen this on folding seats. Obviously you would ideally choose a seat with this facility built-in, but it might be worth seeing how much steel there is in your existing seats and working out whether you could retro-fit a full inertia belt, which are much safer than just having lap belts. A seat with a proper, adjustable headrest should also be considered essential. Aside from actually going through the windscreen or impaling yourself on the steering column, the biggest dangers in an accident are neck and back injuries caused by the head and body moving about.

Jeremy

[cody]

The laws in many states differ on whether they are mandatory or not but I believe they are a good idea, in michigan they arn't required in a motorhome for any seating that is behind the drivers configuration, however, that being said you need to look at the seating positions to determine what is needed, a forward facing seat could have the seat belts attached thru the floor and anchored to a frame member, a side mounted seat such as a couch is a different problem with forward motion of the bus stopped the internal motion wants to continue with a twisting motion as well as forward motion, this creates a shear effect, a shoulder/lap belt arrangement is recommended by some for that.  Regardless of the arrangement, secure mounting is important, human missles are not only inconvient but at times very messy, other items of concern are unattached furnature (also known as mother-in-law launchers), coffee potsd, etc.  Doesn't take long to secure items but in the event of a panic stop it pays dividends in a hurry.  I'm not sure about other states but for some reason michigan has exempted certain vehicles from seatbelt requirements, for example, seat belts arn't required in school buses, interesting concept of need there lol.   

[gumpy]

Belts on all seats that will carry passengers while in motion. And they are required to be used. Only exception is to use the bathroom or get a snack. Nobody rides in the bed or bunks.

We did violate that a few times on the trip to AK when people were feeling ill, but in general we are always buckled in.

I haven't decided if I'm going to try to put them in the dinette. Probably not, since I didn't put any anchor points in my floor, and
and with my setup, it will be difficult now.

BTW, if you cut your seat rails out of the floor, the track works great for mounting seats and anchoring seat belts to the floor. Cut to length and weld in place before replacing floor. I put mine crosswise and can adjust seats out from wall, but you could put them lengthwise and get some forward and rearward adjustment capability. Might have to custom make some T bolts, depending on length needed. I did this. Works well for us.

craig

[Charles Seaton]

Whether or not to put seat belts in over-the-road coaches comes up as a subject every time there is an accident that causes the ejection of passengers.  In most bus accidents the resriction of the seat rows prevents serious injury and the modesty panel behind the front door prevents passengers from being tossed through the windshield.  In a family coach, I think seatbelts are a great idea, providing an extra measure of safety.

[Jeremy]

Here is such an accident - happened just today in Israel.

I was originally going to post it here because it contained a comment about some of the passengers' lives being saved because they were 'strapped in their seats'. Only when I re-read it I see that is actually said 'trapped' rather than 'strapped' - but in many ways that just illustrates the same point.



"A bus carrying Russian visitors has plunged into a ravine in southern Israel, killing at least 24 people, rescue workers say.

More than 50 passengers were on the bus when it came off a desert road and rolled down a steep slope near the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

Several of those hurt were said to be in a serious condition.

The group had only just arrived and were being transported to Eilat from Ovda airport in the Negev desert.

The group had come from the Russian city of St Petersburg. Local media reports said they were travel agents from the city on a trip to survey the Red Sea resort.

Dozens of rescue workers, ambulances and several air force helicopters rushed to the site to evacuate the injured.

Television footage showed the blue bus on its side at the bottom of the ravine.

Several of the passengers were thrown from the bus as it rolled down the slope, an eyewitness said. Luggage and wreckage lay strewn across the slope.

Some of the casualties were taken to hospital in Eilat, where medical personnel attending a conference were drafted in to help out. Others were flown to the town of Beersheba, a police spokesman said.

Six injured people who were trapped in the bus were rescued, an Israeli military officer said.

"They were saved because they were trapped in their seats," the Associated Press news agency quoted the unidentified officer as saying.

The Russian embassy in Tel Aviv said it had sent a representative to the scene of the accident.

'Overtook'

The BBC's Middle East correspondent Paul Wood says it is being seen as a tragic accident rather than any kind of attack.

The road where the accident happened links Eilat, a popular holiday destination, with Ovda airport, some 50km (30 miles) away.

It crosses mountainous terrain and involves a series of hair-pin bends.

The driver of another bus said that the vehicle overtook him in a no-passing zone and then crashed through a guard rail, the Associated Press news agency reported.

A taxi driver who saw the accident gave a similar account to Israeli public radio.

"The driver of the bus tried to overtake another bus in a hair-pin curve and lost control of his vehicle," he said.







Jeremy

[cody]

The idea that nothing like that can happen to us is just not workable, any of us at any time could be involved in an accident, a brief second could change our lives forever.  We seem to be very good at putting in the monoxide monitors and make sure our generators are vented away from the buses but we need to be equally careful in how we travel, I don't have that many friends and I really don't want to loose any.

[gumpy]

The idea that nothing like that can happen to us is just not workable, any of us at any time could be involved in an accident, a brief second could change our lives forever.  We seem to be very good at putting in the monoxide monitors and make sure our generators are vented away from the buses but we need to be equally careful in how we travel, I don't have that many friends and I really don't want to loose any.

Well said, and yet, recently there was a whole thread by members of this board discussing the finer points of changing drivers while traveling down the highway at 70 mph!

I just don't get it sometimes.

[cody]

I must have missed that one, I've never changed drivers while going down the road, it's hard enough just to get to the refrigerator and back before the bus starts to wander. lol

[Jriddle]

My post was just to see how many belts most put in. I understand the need for belts. Most of you have been on the road awhile and run into the need for extra belts. I was trying to get a feel of how many most put in. I am in the final stages of installing my floor and have been trying to guess as to where to weld supports on frame as I don't have all the furniture yet.

John

[busshawg]

What I have never been able to figure out is why aren't there seat belts in school buses. Our Gov't finds it so important no to use cell phones, seat belts, helmets etc. in most areas. Not that I'm want to open up a debate of which of these is warrented or not , but really school buses sghould have belts.
Our coach has belts for 2 passengers , including the driver. Too many belts brings too many tag alongs , haha.


Have fun 

[FloridaCliff]

John,

I only have belts for the driver and front passenger seat.

My rules are that anyone up front must have a seat belt on.

Everyone else is free to move about the coach except when we are in town or heavy traffic.

After this discussion I am going to add an additional belt in the rear for a baby seat, as I have friends who may ride with us who have very young children, something I hadn't thought about before....

Cliff