When I was younger, it was common for a gang of builders to arrive on site crammed in the back of the van along with the tools and materials, or for hitchhikers to get a lift in the back of a pickup, but I think that’s all changed now with the seat belt law.

Is it legal to carry a sixth person in a five seat estate car, sat on the floor in the luggage area ?

Is it legal to carry a sixth person in a five seat estate car, sat on the floor in the luggage area ?

Unless there’s a specific seat then yes.

Reminds me of a trip to London with my parents and their two friends when I was 12. My sister and I sitting in the luggage area of the hired Granada estate car with my dad driving in the outside lane at 110 the whole way. Having just retired from strathclyde police he wasn’t going to get done for speeding!

I’m sure you will be fine disposing of the body. Just drive sensibly.

If you time travel back to the 70s you could take 3 children in there.

My Mum used to drive a mini van and we kids used to lie on foam mattresses in the back.

I believed like sitting in the rear of a van without a seat, over filling a car (more passengers than seats) will mean those passsengers are not covered by insurance policy of the vehicle (which always ask the number of seats) in the event of an accident. IIRC used to be the case (no idea now), that as long as you had been informed by the driver of this before travelling, it was legal to do so.

z1ppy – Member
I believed like sitting in the rear of a van without a seat, over filling a car (more passengers than seats) will mean those passsengers are not covered by insurance policy of the vehicle (which always ask the number of seats) in the event of an accident. IIRC used to be the case (no idea now), that as long as you had been informed by the driver of this before travelling, it was legal to do so.
POSTED 30 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

A ‘mate’ may have a 4 seater and he ‘may’ have been dropping 4 passengers into town when he was pulled over by the police and slapped on the wrists that all passengers need a belt. The kind police then drove the extra passenger into town and I (I mean my mate) drove the rest. It was foolish, lesson learned my next car will have 5 seats.

No of course you can’t.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Passengers-boot-footwell-cost-licence/story-16989745-detail/story.html

Your mum had a mattress in the back of her mini van? You go girl!!

If you time travel back to the 70s you could take 3 children in there.

We used to fight to go in the back!

Think it’s ok if they”ve already expired. The term ‘passenger’ would then become deliciously ambiguous thus fuelling philosophising over beer and crisps and stuff.

We used to ‘surf’ in the back of a transit down the ‘rabbit run’ at high speeds. This was a mile long unadopted country road full of potholes and dark woods.

There was blood. Not recommended. Lots of fun.

Every summer holiday me and my cousin would be lose in the back of a Volvo estate . we loved it especcialy on highland roads .

Pretty sure it’s utterly illegal now probably was then in the 70s.

We used to fight over being in the boot of my dad toyota corona estate back in the very early 80s. Wouldn’t think of sticking my kids in our boot now…

Is it legal to carry a sixth person in a five seat estate car, sat on the floor in the luggage area ?

Unless there’s a specific seat then yes.

Pretty sure you have misread the question.

If not. Very bad advice.

It’s still fine to lash passengers to the roof-bars though, isn’t it?

Does the passenger have a seatbelt? If the answer is no then it’s clearly illegal

Back when I was 17 I had an ex-gpo Bedford HA110 van. The night in question, I’d driven myself and a mate from Wigan to Southport for the Floral Hall rock night, where we’d met friends. At the end of the evening, I was persuaded to give them a lift home. Via the late night southern fried chicken shop, obviously. All this was well and good until the passengers started throwing chicken bones at me. I retaliated by yanking the steering wheel from side to side till they stopped.

Then I saw flashing blue lights further down the main road. A roadblock had been set to and it looked like they were only pulling suspicious vehicles so I shouted to everyone to call down. There was no such response so I pulled into a side road and turned to berate my gracious guests. As they raised that I wasn’t joking they became quiet and I turned back to resume the journey, just as someone knocked on my drivers window. It was a policeman who’d seen me swerving all over the road and thought I was drunk and had left the main road to avoid the roadblock. Ooops

“Have you been drinking?”, he asked.

“No”, I replied, ” I’m the designated driver, I’m taking this lot home but they were chucking stuff at me so I was swerving to make them stop.”

“This lot?”, he asked, looking at my two seater van. ” How many are back there? “

“Eeeerrm…. Seven?”

He walked round to the back and opened the doors to reveal three lads down each side of the van and one in the middle. Nine people in a two-seater van. I had visions of nights in jail and some serious explaining

“You lot, calm down, he’s doing you a favour else you’d be walking. You, drive carefully!”

And with that he walled back to his car and left. Phew.

It was only years later it occurred to me that he may have been worried about seven lads jumping out and causing mayhem when he was not visible from the main road

In the 80s we’d go on holiday with my grandparents in a massive Citreon CX estate. Me and my brother would travel in the boot with duvets.

Is it illegal – yes. Have we all done it and continue to do so occasionally – yes

My boss would sometimes travel from Portsmouth to Surrey with his 2 sons in the car.
Problem was it was an MR2. That would have been mighty uncomfortable.

Nine up, all 12 stone plus in a ford galaxy from derby to Leeds Bradford airport. Singly the most stupid thing I’ve agreed to be part of but very funny as it was a stag do. Journey back was horrendous especially overtaking the police car on the m1. How we didn’t get pulled is beyond me.

I THINK YOULL FIND ITS LEGAL IF THEYRE DEAD AND PREFERABLYY IN AWOODEN BOX,

I think there is something about the standard when the car was first issued a warrant too. My parents drive about all the time in vintage cars, I know their 1930s Morris doesn’t have any seatbelts, and is all legal, some cars only have front seatbelts. (in NZ that is).

It worries me, their driving doesn’t get any better, although the Morris for example has a top speed of 40mph, in a tailwind.

Check your insurance – you’ll probably find you’re only insured to carry a certain number of people in your car and it will be related to the number of proper seats with seat belts as installed by the original manufacturer.

Memories of long journeys in my dad’s Hillman Hunter Estate. Seats down, me and sis asleep in sleeping bags in the back. Who needed seat belts it was the 70s. …

I remember a couple of family holidays where me and my cousin were crammed into the boot of my dad’s Cortina Estate in the spaces between the luggage, like a pair of human Tetris shapes, for the drive from Glasgow to Great Yarmouth and back. Seats were for grown-ups.

As one of five kids, we used to do this all the time. Five in the back of a Cavalier, for the 9 hour drive to Scotland for holidays; a couple of us in the boot on a quilt to visit relatives, etc.

We also used to go to scout camps in the back of a transit van. Tents first, then cooking stuff, then personal bags, then scouts on top.

A colleague was first on the scene to a railways van that had crashed. The guy who had been sleeping in the back was crushed/impaled by various heavy tools. Not nice.

My mate had an MGB for a while. He and his g/f gave me a lift through Edinburgh one evening, back from the pub, me on the back shelf.. eek.

Oh and as above, holidays to Harris with my folks in a Mini Clubman estate (in the 60s) – roof rack for the tent, sleeping bags and kit inside, me and dog wedged into whatever space was left. No seat belt, but then I wasn’t going anywhere in a crash anyway..

Funny you should mention a Mini Clubman – I remember being nine of us in one once, four adults and five kids.

It was yellow, if that helps…

Rachel

Had 7 in a tuk-tuk in sri Lanka…..

Back of an estate is just dangerous, someone might see. Boot of a saloon is much more sensible.

It was only years later it occurred to me that he may have been worried about seven lads jumping out and causing mayhem when he was not visible from the main road

For some reson i once ended up with me, 2 girls and three skinheads rammed into my 306 (1 in the boot under the parcel shelf – obviously) My primary concern if I’d been stopped by the police wouldn’t have been a motoring offence :S

Ever overloaded a Luton van?

SLOW DOWN FOR THE ROUNDABOUTS!

On Luton vans 🙂

One of my workmates went round-a-roundabout, the vehicle lean was enough for the watching police to pull him, escort him to a weighbridge.
They left the van and took Towser down the nick to process him, on percentage i think he was well into 30% overweight.
Boss got fined, Towser got fined, think it was about £1 a kilo.
Made the local news for the wrong reasons, on percentage it was the most overweight vehicle they had seen.
Luton vans don’t carry much weight 🙂

Luton vans don’t carry much weight

they can carry loads of weight – just not very much of it legally unfortunately, they can be way, way over the legal payload before they start to look or feel overloaded. Just having you, two burly mates and full tank of fuel can use up half of your available payload with some lutons- my astra van can carry pretty much the same weight as the lutons I hire.

In the late eighties the entire under 15’s rugby squad ( including subs) used to travel to away matches in the back of a transit

It’s still fine to lash passengers to the roof-bars though, isn’t it?

Funnily enough I was mucking around earlier and discovered my eight year old daughter can sit on the roof bars with her ankles each clamped in the Thule 591 bike carriers. Seemed pretty secure to me but not actually road tested yet.