<VV> seat belts in TN

[Mark Noakes]

Lists have simultaneously had threads on installing seat belts for older vehicles; somebody suggested that we each check our states for the law as each state is different.  I talked to our state dept and found the following:

1--They are going from seat belt usage as a secondary law to that of a primary law...ie, before in TN they could not stop you for seat belt use alone; now they can.  It sounds like most states are moving in this direction.

2--Regardless, in TN seat belt retrofits are not required for vehicles that never had them...ie, the seat belt law does not apply.

3--One item that caught me off guard initially was that they do not at all like the idea of owners retrofitting their own vehicles with seat belts or upgrading from lap to shoulder belts...a moment's thought makes it clear as to why though...no controls over engineering solution and quality of implementation.  The suggestion was that the dealer should do any modifications...I wonder when the last time was that a Chevy dealer actually worked on a 61 Corvair Lakewood or 66 Monza (the 66 has lap belts but not shoulder) or a 58 Chevy Suburban?  Of course, this is not workable; however, t's not fair to pick on the guy as he was minimizing his and the state's liability and just stating the preference.  He was exceptionally polite, helpful, and clear in stating the state's policy which is all I was after to begin with.

This doesn't help as to retrofitting seat belts to old vehicles but does help to understand the mindset of the enforcement...in TN at least.  I have quite a while before I have to worry about the Suburban's launch on the road, but this is one issue that I'll have to address before it does...with proper engineering of course.

Summary point--it's not at all hard to track down your state dept to discuss this and they were easy to talk to, at least in my case.

Mark Noakes

New Section: parts for sale (note: location = Knoxville, TN)

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"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is usually a difference."