Carrying a bike (or indeed anything) inside a car

What is the law for having your bike(s) in the back of your car? Does it have to be tied down?

I have a Renault Scenic so take the middle seat out the back and the front wheel off the bike and it slots in between the remaining seats. Don’t currently secure it any more than that, it wedges up behind the front seats. Am I breaking the law?

Also thinking about this because we often carry large items at work in cars with the seats folded down

I’m not aware of any legal requirement to lash down loads in the back of a private car… I’ve moved bikes and lots of other bulky items like this plenty of times with no police attention…

I think perhaps you are worrying unnecessarily…

A mate of mine had some kind of advanced driving training tailored to his job, and was told that if you are carrying anything in the boot of your car you should have the back seats up and ideally have the back seatbelts clicked in too, in case you smash into anything.

Anything in the main part of your car is likely to be pretty dangerous should you roll your car.

Not sure about the law though.

I do remember reading on a forum (possibly here) that someone was ‘done’ for having a bike in the boot/back of car because it could potentially move (not tied down) and smash a window.

I tend to use my d-lock to at least lock the frame to the metal hoops that hold the back seats up when they are not folded down – just in case, and it increases security a little bit.

Don’t forget to attach one of your d-lock keys to your set of car keys, though – this very nearly led to an extremely disappointing hour and a half drive once……………. 😳

I tend to lash the bikes down, but mainly to stop them bashing into each other.
(Touran, one or two seats folded up = upto 4 bikes without front wheels in, all tied to lash point on side.)

People have been killed from being hit by loose objects in the event of a crash. I’m not aware of any law other than the catch all ‘unsafe load’. For work use it should be covered by H&S policy which I would imagine would require a risk assessment.

In German, but the pics tell a story

We have a massive bag which fills the whole boot and central space with the seats down. Both bikes and all our stuff goes in it – it stops kit flying into the back of your head and means it isnt visible from the outside. It wasnt cheap (£100?) but has been used LOADS over the past 5 years. Cant remember the make at the moment – the husband is out with it, but when he gets back, I’ll get him to post a link. Solves all your problems, and reduces the amount of mud!