MAKE IT CLICK

wners of old or modified cars are an interesting bunch. On one hand, they’re keen to add big engines, superchargers, fancy wheels, and custom paint, and on the other, many don’t want to fit seat belts as it ‘ruins the look’ or ‘is too much work’. We can bet those people would change their tune if they spent a bit of time with the Police Serious Crash Unit (SCU), or even investigated the outcome of some low speed crashes with no seat belts or lap-only belts. We’ve personally been on the receiving end of some ‘show and tell’ from the SCU, and it’s pretty scary stuff. Crashes that you’d assume the occupants walked away from, or at worst be taken away in an ambulance, were fatalities. The more you learn, the worse it gets. The New Zealand Land Transport rule specifies that cars built after 1955 require lap belts for front-seat passengers, although rear seat belts are not required to be fitted on vehicles built prior to 1979. Luckily, thanks to the LVVTA, there are simple, approved ways to install belts into most vehicles that were not factory fitted with them, even if that may inconvenience owners of some vehicles who believe looking cool is more important than life. The vehicle that we use here for our step-by-step installation of rear belts was previously fitted with two sets of lap belts front and rear. The rear lap belts were installed to allow for a baby’s capsule and small-harness-type child’s seat