Firms quote $500 and up for seatbelts

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Motorists are asking seatbelt firms about replacing their backseat lapbelts with safer three-point belts - only to be quoted hundreds of dollars.

A large part of the cost is blamed on having a specialist certify the work for upwards of $300 - a process one road safety advocate yesterday urged be scrapped.

The Herald asked four seatbelt firms how much it would cost to replace the lapbelt in a 2000 Ford Laser sedan. The firms would give only rough estimates without seeing the vehicle, but all put the cost at more than $500.

The Seat Belt Installation Centre in Wellington gave a breakdown of costs on the assumption that it was possible to install a three-point belt without major structural work to the Ford.

A spokesman said the firm might be able to install the belt for $200 - but the cost of having it certified for the road would be an extra $320 plus tax.

The company and a firm in Auckland, the Seatbelt Safety Co, both said they had fielded calls from the public about lapbelts this week after two Herald reports that they could cause serious injuries in crashes.

The stories focused on Hamilton mother Ana-Marie Le Roux, who broke her back and lost her large intestine and colon after her body jack-knifed over a lapbelt in a crash.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the used-car Dog and Lemon Guide and a vocal road-safety advocate, urged authorities to let lapbelts be replaced without certification.

Mr Matthew-Wilson said he had a 1978 trial car in which three retractable belts had been fitted for backseat passengers. He put the certification cost at around $450, and said retro-fits would be simple, cheap and quick without that added cost.

Mr Matthew-Wilson said he was not advocating home installation, but qualified mechanics fitting belts to pre-approved standards.

But Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman Andy Knackstedt said installing anchor-points for new seatbelts was "not minor work".

It could alter the structure of a vehicle, had to be done properly and needed to be approved by an expert.

Automobile Association spokesman George Fairbairn said using a lapbelt was better than nothing.

If adults were sitting in the back with young children, he suggested placing the carseat in the middle so the adults could use the three-point belts on either side.