Van Seat Safety

At Van Line NI we never cut corners when it comes to safety, and when were talking about seat safety these are corners we NEVER cut. Even though there is a lot of vans on the road today with extra seating in the rear most owners of these vehicles don't know what is safe and what isn't. And to make things worse a lot of other van fitters in the UK and Ireland will not be completely transparent when it comes to the safety of their seats, but at Van Line NI we are, completely.

Our seats are all supplied through Scot Seats, one of the UK's leading designers and manufacturers of van and commercial vehicle seating. All their seats are crash tested at S.T.A.T.U.S in Manchester University to the required measurements that their are required to. Not only this but at Van Line NI are Scot Seats only preferred fitting agent in Northern Ireland, and their leading fitter in all of the island of Ireland.

Below we have listed all the information that you need to know about your van and the seats that can be put in it. Also at the bottom we have a check list for you to go over when purchasing new seats with your van fitter, we highly recommend that you check every item on the list to make sure that the seats that you are having fitted or have already had fitted to your vehicle are safe.

Please feel free at any time to contact us at Van Line NI where we can give honest and impartial advice regarding seat safety. We also provide inspections of seats that are already fitted to vehicles so if you have any questions regarding the safety of the seats that are already fitted please contact us and we can help you in anyway.

Vehicle Class

To start when it comes to seat safety you need to know what class your vehicle is. Not all vehicles come under the same vehicle class, so below we have listed the different types you you can see what you vehicle actually is. These classifications are given to vehicles when they leave the factory and can not be changed at any time.

Category M (Passenger Vehicle)

Category N (Goods Vehicle)

Motor vehicles with at least four wheels designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers.

Class - M1
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat.

Class - M2
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat, and having a maximum mass not exceeding 5 tones.

Class - M3
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat, and having a maximum mass exceeding 5 tones.

Motor vehicles with at least four wheels designed and constructed for the carriage of goods.

Class - N1
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass not exceeding 3,5 tones.

Class - N2
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass exceeding 3,5 tones but not exceeding 12 tones.

Class - N3
Vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass exceeding 12 tones.

Crash Testing & Installation

One of the most confusing parts of seat safety is the structure of the seat and what it has been crash tested to. At Scot Seats their San Carlos range of seats (the standard single seats as pictured at the top of this page) have been crashed tested twice. First they crash tested a single seat with two legs tested to M1/N1, the second time was a double with 2 legs which was tested to M2/N2, what this means is that the the San Carlos range can be fitted safely as a single or a double depending on the vehicle class. This means that if a customer with a standard van wants 3 additional seats fitted to the rear these need to be fitted as 3 single seats with a total of 6 legs, 2 per seat.

The problem that we are seeing in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK and Ireland is fitters fitting seats that have been modified from their crash tested design. For example a popular seat design for sale in Northern Ireland that has been crash tested as a single seat is most commonly fitted to vehicles as doubles and singles with as little as 2 legs on a triple frame. Not only was this seat not crash tested as a double or triple, so would need to be ALWAYS fitted as singles with two legs each, but the fitting of a triple seat with only two legs in just down right dangerous.

Another issue is the actual fitting kits that are used for seats to be fitted to the floor of a vehicle. All seats that are crash tested as done so using a large spreader plate on the top of floor of the floor for the seats feet to rest on and another plate mounted underneath the vehicle.

Always remember that in a crash a single seat will pull 6 tons of pressure on a vans floor, this has to be spread correctly over the right amount of legs and spreader plates. Failure to do so will result in injury or in a worse case even death.

Check List

We hope that just some of the information that we have given you is helpful in making your van and the seats inside it safe. Please remember that not only are you putting the people sitting in these seats at risk but also everyone in the front seats. No matter how good a driver you are you never know what the person in front, behind, beside or coming out of the next junction will do.

1. Check who makes the seat

If the fitter can not tell you who made the seat then he can not guarantee its safety. This is very risky and a bad sign of a bad fitter. If you are told the seat is made by Ford, Renault or any other vehicle manufacturer this is another bad sign. Even mini bus seats that are fitted by manufacturer are designed to go into specific vehicles with strengthened floors etc and can not be fitted into a van safely out of the factory. Also note that front seats can not be fitted safely into the rear of a vehicle.

2a. Confirm crash testing

Make sure that the seat is crash tested to the standard that you van meets or a higher standard. If you fitter says that crash testing doesn't matter, which some do, then don't buy or have the seat fitted as this is not true. If the fitter says that it is crash tested confirm who carried out the crash testing and ask for a copy of the certificate BEFORE the seat is fitter. Call the crash test centre and ask what was the crash test rating on the seat you are buying and give as much information as possible.

2b. Confirm the seat frame/legs

As part of your checks with the crash test centre make sure the fitter has told you how many leg per seat they will be fitting and inform the crash test centre this. We have seen seats that are crash tested as singles fitted as triples with 2/3 legs with M1 certificates, these where forged and the crash test centres are always looking to catch these cowboys out.

3. Removable Options

Make sure that what ever removable track or option that is being fitted is crash tested. If this is track, like the Unwin product, make sure that it is installed to the minium length required, 1.3 meters for any Unwin product.

4. Check for alterations

Make sure your seat has no alterations or obvious welding that has been done our of the factory. Some fitters will alter seats to make them fit easier and cut fitting time, this in turn makes the seats more dangerous and can make stress in a crash focus on a weak part of the seat and fail causing injury.

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