NZ safety experts demand ban on lap seatbelts

According to a recent report in the New Zealand Herald, leading car safety advocates have called for the outright ban of lap seatbelts on imported vehi-cles. They also want a campaign to upgrade vehicles already fitted with them.

The Consumers' Institute, The Dog & Lemon Guide and the New Zealand Car Safety Trust claimed that upgrading seatbelts was a simple job that would cost about NZ$250, not the NZ$2000 claimed by Land Transport New Zealand.

Research by Auckland's Starship children's hospital has found lap seatbelts could cause life-threatening injuries or permanent disabilities in children, and called for them to be phased out.

NZ Consumers' Institute spokesman David Russell said there was good evidence to show lap belt injuries killed and maimed and a move to stop their use had to start somewhere.

"There is no justification for allowing importers to bring in vehicles with seatbelts that are known to kill the people wearing them.

"There are plenty of new and used cars available internationally that have safe seatbelts and these are the only ones that should be allowed into the country. Let's take a pragmatic first step," he said.

More than one million vehicles in New Zealand have lap belts, mostly in the centre rear seat.

Seatbelt installer Autoliv's New Zealand spokesman, Chris Sweetman, has said converting lap seatbelts was a major exercise. The mounting parts behind the seat were designed for child seats, not to take the force of an adult.

Autoliv said it could cost between $1500 and $2000, depending on the vehicle's engineering requirements.

Editor of the Dog & Lemon Guide, Clive Matthew-Wilson said LTNZ had deliberately misrepresented the degree of difficulty involved in replacing lap belts.

But hatchbacks and station wagons cannot be upgraded from lap seatbelts because there is nowhere to bolt the third point of the new belt.

New Zealand Car Safety Trust spokesman Gordon McKeown said lap belts should always be adjusted properly.

"A badly adjusted belt will be far more dangerous than one that fits properly."