Three-point seatbelts in the front of older American cars

We’ve talked about upper seatbelt anchorages in several previous Radiator articles, but another situation arose recently that we haven’t covered in depth before.

Seatbelt requirements for older vehicles can be complex, and where imported vehicles are concerned, often depend on the regulations in force at the time of vehicle manufacture in the vehicle’s home country. The Inservice certification (WoF and CoF) VIRM, under General Vehicles, Section 7-5, Table 7-5-3, spells out the seatbelt requirements for different vehicle classes, but there are also myriad clauses and exclusions that can affect what type of seatbelts are allowed, depending on factors like a vehicle’s tare weight, seatbelt origins, and year of manufacture etc. In some cases, vehicles are not required to have seatbelts at all, such as pre-November 1979 MA/MB/MC/NA-class vehicles with a tare weight exceeding 2,000kgs. Some of this can be hard to follow, and previous LVVTA Radiator articles have attempted to demystify these requirements.

A situation arose recently, where an early 1970s American coupé was presented for LVV certification, and as part of his inspection the LVV certifier noticed the vehicle only had lap belts fitted in the front. While this isn’t something that is generally covered during LVV certification of a modified production vehicle (unless there are modifications that affect the seatbelt anchorages), it is something the LVV certifier thought the entry certifier should be aware of, and noted it on the rectification sheet.

It’s fairly common knowledge that according to the VIRM, pre-November 1979 cars can have lap belts fitted to the front outer positions, usually because there is insufficient or no structure where the upper anchorage would go. There is a predominance of American vehicles in New Zealand that utilise this exclusion, because there are a great number of these vehicles imported into the country, and pillarless designs were common on American cars from the 1950s and ’60s. Some people don’t realise that often this exclusion is only applicable (in terms of vehicles of US origin) to vehicles that were manufactured prior to 1968, as Federal Motor Vehicle Standards were introduced that year to mandate the fitment of lap-and-shoulder seatbelts. While there were exclusions to this of course (particularly for convertibles), for the most part, any 1968 and onward American vehicle with a fixed roof is highly likely to be fitted with lap-andshoulder seatbelts.

Specifically, vehicles from halfway through the 1968 US model year were required to have lap-and-shoulder seatbelts fitted to the front outer seating positions – this is because the US model year actually starts from September of the year previous (so, the 1968 model year actually started from September 1967). The wording from the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 is as follows:

Passenger Cars (Effective 1-1-68)

Lap or lap-and-shoulder seatbelt assemblies for each designated seating position. Except in convertibles, lap-and shoulder seatbelt assemblies are required in each front outboard seating position.

In simple terms, this means any vehicle with a fixed roof had to be fitted with lap-andshoulder seatbelts in the front outer positions, and at the very least, lap belts in other positions from 1/1/1968. This rule change was well known prior to implementation, and because manufacturers were (and still are) loath to change things halfway through a model run, it’s very likely that any 1968 model car will have a lap-andshoulder seatbelt for both front occupants (as long as it’s not a convertible). If not, it’s highly probable the vehicle at least includes provision for them to be fitted.

The key difference here is that the lap-and-shoulder seatbelts referred to here are exactly that – a lap belt, and a separate shoulder belt. These aren’t the same as the standard threepoint seatbelts that were

(and still are) fitted to other cars around the world – US manufacturers persisted until the early 1970s with a separate seatbelt for the shoulder section that clipped into the lap belt receiver, so you could wear either the lap belt, or the lap belt and shoulder belt (or just the shoulder belt in some cases). This is primarily because while it became mandatory to fit seatbelts to a vehicle from 1968, in many states of the US it was not compulsory to wear them until decades later. Manufacturers offered people the option of wearing both seatbelts, only the lap belt, or neither. When not in use, the shoulder belt clipped into a receiver in the roof lining to keep it out of the way.

If a vehicle originally fitted with these seatbelts is subsequently fitted with retractable threepoint belts (or has the lap section of the seatbelt replaced), these will require LVV certification. Confusingly, re-webbing the OE seatbelts through an NZTAapproved agent is considered a repair, and the vehicle may retain its OE seatbelt setup, including pre-68 vehicles with lap belts only - the lap belt(s) can be retained. It’s important for inspecting agents to be aware of the introduction of this FMVSS rule, as this is a good indicator of whether a vehicle has the required structure to retrofit three-point seatbelts, or was originally fitted with them.

Have you a question that needs answering? or a specific topic you would like covered. Please contact us at info@lvvta.org.nz