Fasten your seatbelts!

Twice a year, members of L’Aventure Peugeot Citroën DS receive a magazine of around fifty pages: the Bulletin de L’Aventure. In addition to news from the Association, historical articles, new shop products… You will also find practical information there. In the last issue, French rules concerning the wearing of seat belts in old cars were discussed. Here is an extract from this very interesting article, written by one of our members, Lionel Perrette.

The French Road Safety Rules provide that “while driving, any driver or passenger of a motor vehicle must wear an approved seat belt as long as the seat they occupy is equipped with one” (article R412-1).
In France, since 1970, passenger vehicles must be equipped with seat belts. Wearing them at the front has been compulsory since 1973 outside urban areas, 1979 in urban areas and at the back since 1991.
But when a vehicle does not have one at the front or rear due to its date of first entry into circulation, what rules apply? Do we need to equip it with seat belts to be able to drive around?

To be able to travel, must we equip a vehicle with belts that did not have them when it was first put into circulation?
No, there is no obligation to install seat belts on vehicles that are not originally equipped with them. The rules remain those that applied to it when it was first registered. If belts were not required at the time for vehicle approval, they are no longer required today.

However, can you equip your old vehicle with seat belts?
To be approved, a seat belt meets strict design and installation standards, which are validated by tests in the type of vehicle for which the belt and its anchorage were designed. However, there are generally no approved devices for vehicles which did not have them when they were first put into circulation. Installing a seat belt cannot be improvised at the risk of giving a false impression of security to the occupants of the vehicle.

In all circumstances, be vigilant!