MOT legislation re harnesses anyone?

[racecar]

//BEGIN RANT//
hi people

took car for MOT today - car is track car/caged/4 point harnesses etc - but has no seat belts.

was given a refusal of MOT certificate - reason:

"The nominated tester considers that racing harness' fitted in front have no proof of installation checks"

guy said i would have to contact VOSA. so i duly did and HQ in Mitcham said all they have to do is check condition/secure location

so i contact MOT garage and they say that with current online set up they do not provision to do this?

WTF is going on? - i would not mind if i was using bailer twine as harnesses - but this is f***ing ridiculous
//END RANT//

anyway they are phoning VOSA this afternoon for clairfication - i expext them to come back and say:

""The nominated tester considers that full roll cage fitted in is a safety hazard as the driver might bang his f***ing head against the bar whilst entering the vehicle"

[E30BeemerLad]

not sure if the belts have to be "E" marked or not, despite being perhaps FIA approved etc. not sure.

sounds like a right old fanny on mate

Saw someone write in with a similar problem in PPC magazine in the last month or so, but can't remember the outcome.

[Widge]

Technically the belts should have an "E" mark or a BS kite mark.
Also they should be the quick release and do up type like normal seat belts as oppose th the aviation style twist bucke which is illegal. The reasoning behind this is that the twist ones take a while to put on so on the road most of the time people won't bother.

[Ant]

These should have passed Ross, condition =OK

they are also fitted to the factory points so no grounds for fail, if the tester wanted to cover his ass he should have advised the belts as non-oe, nothing more

what was the coup with the emissions in the end ? sounds like a proper jobsworth

[Widge]

Fastener is deffo a possible MOT failure, I went through all this with my kit car and it's why caterhams have the normal type harnesses. What sort of fasteners have they got? And how are they attached?

[miniblob]

Would probably pass at a different MOT station - however, i know a guy that races a golf and he just leaves the standard seat belt in place aswell as the harnesses to save arguing it with them!

[racecar]

@ant - switched maps at the garage - but the garage said no point in going any further with test - but i am sure it will be fine

@widge - i have a caterham with willans - and have never had any problems before but the last place i went this was pre-online days and it has been SORN since/

in any case car is having some welding this morning and if the local garage do not speak to mitcham - i have spoken to another guy down the road who runs another MOT station who is satisfied that a 4 point harness is ok

10 years ago used to go to a local garage long since closed - would turn up in my first caterham with all steel pushrod 45's etc long duration cam - straight through exhaust etc. would give the guy the keys - he would roar around for 10 minutes - confirm the car engine was healthy brakes were effective and come back with a grin on his face. in the meantime i would be filling out his paperwork....happy days

[Widge]

Sorry mate, my point was not against Willans harnesses but this type is not allowed


You're supposed to have these ones

[racecar]

well i have one of each in my current caterham:


and when it comes to MOT in about 2-3 months i am just going to go somewhere with common sense. willans harnesses are widely known as just about the best in the world. the fastening issue is just ridiculous

"The reasoning behind this is that the twist ones take a while to put on so on the road most of the time people won't bother."

i can assure the muppet who thought that one up that if we went up the road in my 2 litre alloy blocked cosworth bdg 7 circa 270-280bhp/520kgs - he would probably think that belting up is a good plan

[Widge]

I agree, but the reason they say that is referring to the modder inhis Saxo with harnesses in a 998cc, they won't bother putting thm on when they go down to the shops for fag, so it's not that rediculous, they can't make one rule for saxo and another for caterhams.
As long as the safety gear is in place i think they should back off, you can't legislate against idiots.
Good luck MOTing it, but actually the electronic MOT shouldn't make any differance as the rules haven't change.

[kevin316i]

How are the harnesses secured behind the seats? They need to go horizontally to the back, so the anchorage point needs to be somewhere around rear shelf height. Did the tester have issues about these anchorage points?

[fuzzy]

my old car passed with the same harnesses with the buckle being the same type as a seat belt,although i believe the quick release ones might not be allowed.i had the rear anchor points secured into the original rear seat belt points as i had the rear seats removed so they were at about a 45 degree angle.id take it to a different garage.

[Widge]

The rear belts from the harnesses should be secured at no more than a 15 degree down angle. Putting them over a roll bar and then to the floor is fine. The reasoning for this is that it had been proven in motor sport that you get nasty spinal compression injuries when thrown forwards with the harnesses going to the floor, as they effectively pull you down rather than pulling you back. And going over the seat back doesn't count!

[Turbo-Brown]

The seat belt check is such a load of crap on the MOT!

Last time the GT6 was MOT'd, they did the usual checks of giving them a quick wiggle and tug (ooh er) by hand which supposedly ensures that they're secure and safe to do their job.

I took the car off the road shortly after and found that the wire rope which secured the buckle bit, but was in a plastic sleeve, was only holding on by 2 threads of wire, so in an accident, I'm pretty sure it'd have broken sending whoever was in my passenger seat flying through the windscreen!

Also, I thought that it was just the E mark, the security and possibly the angle of dangle over the seat back that they checked (although even that in old Triumphs was well below what's now considered safe!)

[Widge]

Yeah your right, sorry I've wondered off the MOT checks. I just wouldn't like to have my spine compressed when using a hraness. They're very strict on the 15 deg thing on the SVA now.

[Ant]

The Harnesses in Ross's car are fitted to the stock anchor points on the rear shelf, should have passed no issue, tester was shite.

I'd have passed these without question, no grounds for a failure( I have MOT testers liscence btw )