'seat-belt Law' To Be Enforced With Immediate Effect

Bugatti · June 15, 2009

Supra_Natural said:
for instance, how do you fit a 3 point belt to a car that has no B-pillar?
naturally, nobody who wrote up this law seems to have thought of all that.

You mean a car like the spitfire..?? You got a point there...

SHAI · June 15, 2009

HelRazor said:
it ruins the "originality" of the car machan.....that is a big no no for us
but i am going to insert a multi point harness to me MG A once it is completed because it will be driven quite regularly...just to please the cops

but i would never ever put them on the TC's,TR's etc.....NEVER!!!

I do see your point machang but at the same time, safety is a concern....especially in an open top where your risk is even higher.

Supra_Natural said:
hmm, i was thinking it over this morning, i guess simple lap belts would be the best option, in fact i think the car came with a set, i didnt fit them after the rebuild, must hunt them up and see if they are salvageable...
other option is to rip out my (admittedly rather impractical) cream colored interior, and toss in a pair of sports seats with four point harnesses!

I'd go for the lap belts...why mess with the nice interior man????

Rebel · June 15, 2009

crdesilva said:
Honestly I think it’s a good move, we should have done this ages ago. Though the law is there I wonder whether this will work in SL.
BTW guys do you’ll know what happened to the Speed Limit law? Have the Police got the new equipments yet? Good if they haven’t

So to confirm; its good to use a seat belt to protect yourself in case of an accident, but not necessarily great to have to stick to 50kmph when driving thru a built up area on Sri Lankan roads which half the time have just enough width for two lanes (unless theres' a big Leyland that sits right in the middle of both lanes) which incidentally protects others??

xXx · June 15, 2009

Rebel said:
So to confirm; its good to use a seat belt to protect yourself in case of an accident, but not necessarily great to have to stick to 50kmph when driving thru a built up area on Sri Lankan roads which half the time have just enough width for two lanes (unless theres' a big Leyland that sits right in the middle of both lanes) which incidentally protects others??

ha ha ha ha very good point. land like no other, run by a no other too

it is funny how people who want this rule implemented long time ago don't comment on the issue of lack of speed limits

eyepea · June 15, 2009

eyepea said:
Is it safe to ware a seat belt if you are rather short and the shoulder strap is touching your neck?
Just wareing the seat belt is rather uncomfortable.

Pericles said:
Its a lot more uncomfortable to find yourself sitting on the road after hurriedly exiting the vehicle thru the windscreen after a crash.

SHAI said:
Uncomfortable they may be my friend but they be what keeps you from meeting your maker a little early....

Totally agree

Tough time persuading some passengers though .

Btw, does anyone know, if a passenger is caught not wearing the seat belt, is the passenger, the driver or both fined

Guess I might have to get the seat belt mount point on the door piller modified so that it is either lowered or made height adjustible. (Alternatively get passenger to wear a collar like that worn by people with sprained necks )

If anyone of you having a van with a folding bench seat in the rear, and is planning to install seat belts to it (lap belts?), would like to hear your ideas please.

gunat · June 16, 2009

I totally agree with the need to enforcement of this law- it will save lives, no argument. Once you get used to it, its second nature (as is crushed shirts, clothes...but whats more important? Your life or a piece of material?)

If there's one thing that annoys me more is to see parents allowing their kids to stand up in the car or be in front passenger seat- at worst, on the driver's lap. Complete, utter idiots (the parents, of course).

But given the targeted road user (cars primarily)- this is likely to be another way for the govt to find money...hit the middle class pocket.

I'd like to hear that the same applies to the pricks in trishaws and buses.

MasterDon · June 16, 2009

Supra_Natural said:
other option is to rip out my (admittedly rather impractical) cream colored interior, and toss in a pair of sports seats with four point harnesses!

oh no you wont do anything of that sort.....if you do,i will come down there personally and strangle you with that harness

and dont even think about removing that lovely interior

seriously though try to work around this machan...as shyan said a lap belt would do nicely...it didnt occur to me earlier but seems a godd idea né?

Rohnd · June 16, 2009

triptronic said:
how about three wheelers,do they too need seat belts..

Most of the Motor Rules in Sri Lanka are only for Cars & Small Vans.

Because they (Policemen) think Three Wheelers & Private/CTB Buses are

Politicians Taste ( They fear about ..) or do not a produce any something on the roads.

Above categories do not even need at least Kohu Lanu ,Thick Rubber Bands too.

This will be the outcome.

Saturn · June 16, 2009

All we need is for one person to convince the supreme court that this is unconstitutional as it only applies to cars/vans etc.. then this law too will be removed

personally I always use a seatbelt but I think it's offensive to single out car/van/suv users - as happens with most road laws, buses/tuktuks are given a free pass..

Edited June 16, 2009 by Saturn

mazdaspeed · June 16, 2009

Supra_Natural said:
i saw this and went WTF immediately... Dont get me wrong, i advocate seatbelts, always wear 'em where available myself, but what about the old cars? it isnt always easy to properly fit belts to them, for instance, how do you fit a 3 point belt to a car that has no B-pillar?
naturally, nobody who wrote up this law seems to have thought of all that.

Yes – I’m pretty sure that the bloke who wrote this rides to work and does NOT DRIVE

I;m totally in for belts – I’ve been using belts way long before these buffoons thought about it.

Double standards – what about bus drivers and the rest of the blooming lots …… listen to the news and u’ll realize how many accidents happen involving bus drivers……

B 4 seatbelts – we need to STOP giving driving licenses to every monkey that applies, have better driving schools, and ensure tat the proper road rules are applied – belts alone will not solve the problem – just another way for the GOVT earn money for their own benefits

Edited June 16, 2009 by mazdaspeed

GihanFX · June 16, 2009

law or not its for ur own safty,

maithri · June 16, 2009

Hi all,

Coming from a society that thinks it,s cruel to put kids in seat belts I am not surprised some moron decided that the seat belt rule applies to all cars.

Belts are only safe when properly installed and correctly used, not welded or bolted to anything that looks strong enough and used with poorly adjusted webbing and half broken seats.

The rule should apply to cars fitted with seat belts as standard or with belt mounting points built by the car maker as standard. So cutting off or unbolting the cruel belts is not used as the soft option.

Retrospective laws are unfair un democratic and eventually ignored when a sensible judge is persuaded the whole idea is stupid!

So even though I support a seat belt law where ever people use cars to ask the driver of a Model T ford to fit seat belts is crazy as well as un realistic, the law in this instance is an ass!

I hope some one in authority clarifies this law before it becomes useless as a result of a legal challenge.

Maithri.