Minibus Club Article Archive

Hello, good evening and welcome to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, or at least to that part of it concerned with seatbelts in minibuses. Theses regulations aren’t exactly a riveting read but they’re worthy enough. After all, it’s been accepted for many years that proper seatbelts are a good thing to have in any vehicle. Quite apart from its being illegal to not wear seatbelts if fitted, your minibus insurance company may have something to say about their not being (a) available and (b) in use.

Seatbelt requirements vary, according to the age of the vehicle in question, the type of seats it has, how many passengers it can carry and what kind of passengers they are. For example, the means of restraining children or wheelchair users makes a difference. Conversely, the class of licence the minibus driver holds, or the type of permit used (if any) make no difference.

It makes sense, and not just for minibus insurance purposes, to observe the regulations assiduously, remembering that the state of the belts needs to be checked more often than in the compulsory yearly MOT test; seatbelts that are badly fitted and/or in poor condition are hardly likely to do what they should in an accident. Moreover, if a vehicle that should have seatbelts is used without them, the driver and the operator could be prosecuted. Remember, when looking at seatbelts or having them fitted, that more than just the belts are involved. The compatibly and state of repair of the seats, the vehicle’s floor and/or wall, the belt anchorage and its reel mechanism are all highly relevant.

Two types of seatbelt are in use and recognised by minibus insurance concerns. Three point seatbelts - the lap-and-strap kind - are the items of choice. These restrain the upper body in an accident, and new minibuses will have factory fitted items of this type. Though they represent the legal minimum requirement for rear seats (but not for use with child passengers), two-point seatbelts, a.k.a. lap straps, are liable to be discontinued in the future. Apart from the fact that lap straps can’t restrain a passenger’s upper body during an accident, they can lead to internal injuries if used incorrectly.

Want to have seatbelts retro-fitted? Doing this is fine, provided certain points are remembered. This is especially so when belts are retro-fitted to a PSV or a vehicle operating under a Section 22 permit.

The fitting of seatbelts is a notifiable alteration. Meaning? Well, the Vehicle Inspectorate has to be told and a one-off inspection must be carried out at a Class V or VI testing station. The installation naturally has to pass the test. This requirement began in 1988 and if the vehicle has removable seats, they must be left aboard for the test. The installation of more seating means a further installation check would be required.

Your minibus insurance company takes a healthy interest in changes to minibus seats and seatbelts. If you were to alter the seats, add more of them or fit seatbelts without letting the insurance provider know, your may find out to your cost if you make a claim.

Apart from keeping your minibus insurance company updated, ensure that the seatbelt fitter is a fully qualified specialist. Some minibus manufacturers will retrofit seatbelts, using genuine parts to make a system that complies with all the regulations; expect written confirmation to prove this. Finally, it’s wise to have the installation tested and witnessed by the Vehicle Certification Agency.

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According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s leaflet INF52(1), minibuses are, ‘Vehicles with 9 to 16 passenger seats, with or without a trailer weighing up to 750kg’. The implication of this is that a minibus can carry between 9 and 16 passengers, plus a driver. There are, however, regulations about the carriage of passengers. These show that the picture isn’t quite a simple as it seems. Regulations must be adhered to, not only for safety’s sake but also because in the event of an accident occurring, ignoring them could lead to problems with minibus insurance. So, let’s take a look at what they have to say.

Right, let us begin with the easy part, which says that a maximum of 16 people may be carried in a minibus. Are any of them allowed to be standing passengers? The short answer is ‘yes’ but there are limitations.

If the vehicle has fewer than 13 seats, has part of its gangway that’s less than 1.77 metres high or is a half-decked vehicle, no standing passengers are allowed. Should there be a certificate for the vehicle of initial fitness or conformity from on or after 1st April 1988, it will specify how many passengers may stand. If no such certificate exists, one third - or eight - of the passengers may stand; whichever number is the lesser applies. In a vehicle with fewer than 13 seats and has no part of its gangway is less than 1.77 metres high, three passengers may stand. If, given the same gangway height requirement and 14 seats, two passengers may stand - likewise, 15 seats means just one standing passenger. This may be a touch complex but it is important. Get it wrong and you’re breaking the law - and probably breaking the terms of your minibus insurance policy.

Speaking of offences, you can’t drive, cause or permit a Public Service Vehicle to be driven on the road if the number of seated passengers exceeds the number of available seats. Should there be seats designed to accept more than one adult passenger, each location is considered a single seat.

In the (probably now rare) instances where a minibus isn’t legally required to have seat belts and none are fitted, three children under 14 count as two passengers. For legal purposes, a child is considered to be under 14 until the last day of the August following their 14th birthday. Thereafter, the rules applying to adult passengers come into force.

Finally, there are two minibus use regulations, which must be adhered to for legal and minibus insurance reasons. These are included under construction standards and the first states that wheelchairs must face forward or to the rear of the vehicle. They aren’t allowed to face sideways. Just as sensibly, each seated passenger must have access to two vehicle exits at all times. Blocking access with wheelchairs, luggage and so on is totally out of order. However, it is permissible for one of the two exits to be blocked by a folding seat or wheelchair ramp or tail lift. Though the actual size of the gangway isn’t specified in law, it should be ‘reasonable’. This definition must take into account the number of passengers on board the minibus, and their levels of mobility.

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