2006-09-20 02:18:41 · 3 answers · asked by PAUL B 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I'm sure you could legally fit a belt - but that wouldn't make carrying an extra passenger legal. The car is certified by the manufacturer to carry 4 occupants.
A belt you fitted could not possibly provide the same occupant protection as the factory-fitted belts. You cannot redesign the bodyshell to incorporate additional mounting points, ensuring the loadpaths through the shell are acceptable. Nor can you easily perform the belt-test procedures the manufacturers carry out during development to ensure the belts and their mounting points are strong enough (these tests are destructive of both the belts and the bodyshell). Nor can you ensure the position of the belts is the best possible in all 3 dimensions, the way the manufacturers can with their experts using 3D CAD/CAE systems.
To legally carry an additional passenger you would have to prove that the additional belt meets all legislative requirements, and certify the car through the Single Vehicle Approval programme as a 5-passenger vehicle. You might also have to fit a third rear-seat head-restraint to get it certified. You would then have to inform your insurance company that the car had been modified from the manufacturer's original specification, and they would have to accept the modifications and insure your car for 5 occupants.
It would probably be cheaper to buy a second car and employ a chauffeur to drive your additional passenger around in it.
2006-09-20 07:02:14 · answer #1 · answered by Neil 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi there. The Astra Twintop is designed as a 4-seat coupe convertible, so it deliberately doesn't have a third seatbelt in the rear. I don't think it can be done!
I hope this helps.
2006-09-20 02:33:18 · answer #2 · answered by Peter B M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-09-20 03:15:21 · answer #3 · answered by Stan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋