Illegal Cabin attachements

Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 11:23
ThreadID: 53269 Views:3368 Replies:12 FollowUps:11
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Im not sure if this has been looked at before on this site.
But does anyone know if it is actually legal / illegal to have attachments such as gps systems or laptop stands monuted in the cabin of your vehicle.
From a purely safety perspective I have some concerns about items such as laptop mounting systems in the event of and accident, and aslo from a insurance perspective.

What do you think?

Regards.
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Reply By: Member - Mike DID - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 11:34

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 11:34
The interior of cars have to be designed for passenger safety, so it's amazing that there are no rules about after-market additions.

The only regulation I know of is about obstruction of drivers vision. I hope those would be enforced better - I see some stupid installations high up on the windscreen of sedans where it will obstruct a major part of the drivers view.

Everyone here running HF has to a compromise install at the rear because of the limitation on bullbar-mounted HF aerials - 2 metres from the driver - they are limited to 30mm diameter because of obstructing the drivers vision. But how much obstruction is there from a 100mm wide GPS when it's at armslength from the driver !!!
AnswerID: 280573

Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 11:57

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 11:57
AFAIK it is not illegal to have GPS equipment mounted on the vehicle. The only proviso is that it does not unduly obstruct the driver's view through the front windscreen.

As for laptop stands, have you looked inside a police car?

From a purely safety perspective it is more than likely up to the vehicle owner as to where the stand is located.
Again provided it doesn't interfere with the driving operation there is no legal requirement as to fitment.

How many people stack equipment in the rear of their 4BY's without having a safety barrier?
There is no law stating you must have one.

Bill


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AnswerID: 280574

Follow Up By: Booman1n2 - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:23

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:23
Thanks SandMan,

I can "safely" say I have not seen the inside of a cop car!
In my line of work, OHS, i see a lot of incidents where people assume things and dont find out for sure until something has happened to alert them of the fact. I as browesing the site and noticed some pics of laptop stands and wondered about the safety aspects of the situation.
Basically, even though it may not be law, I guess I wanted to alert people of the need to take into consideration of the possible personal safety issue with regards to these sort of attachements, within th cab of there vehicles.
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Follow Up By: Member - Pixie - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:46

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:46
How many times have you seen construction helmets sitting on the rear parcel shelf? What is designed to protect the head would then become a missile right at head level in an accident.
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Follow Up By: Booman1n2 - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:55

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:55
All I can say is "a lot", and the majority of those people are of a supervisory level who should be setting an example and should know better.
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Reply By: Member - Barnesy (SA) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:21

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:21
Not sue about legal or insurance aspects. But it does make sense that if a laptop stand gets in the way of an airbag inflating then it could do some damage to the passenger. Those airbags are viscuos things.

Barnesy
AnswerID: 280577

Reply By: Member - Kiwi Kia - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:23

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:23
I seem to recall that any tv in a vehicle was not suposed to be in the drivers field of vision. Now we have dvd, gps, rear view camera etc. on a screen in front of the driver as supplied on brand new vehicles !
AnswerID: 280578

Follow Up By: Steve63 - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:57

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 12:57
I vaguely remember there being an exception (possibly only in some states) if the item was a driving aid. Can't recall the exact details.

Steve

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Reply By: snow - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:16

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:16
Some bozo in Rockhampton had a small religeous statue adhered to dash of car that apierced the roof of the car when airbag deployed during relatively minor traffic bingle recently. Missed vehicle occupants head by very little apparently.
AnswerID: 280585

Reply By: Geepeem - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:34

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:34
Hi Boorman1n2,
This question was answered recently in the Road Ahead magazine (RACQ mag) by the RACQ Legal Advisory Team. So for Queensland their response was:
"It is against the law in Qld for motorists to drive in cars with TV receivers or VDU's operating while the vehicle is moving or stationary but not parked, and any part of the image on the screen is visible to the driver seated in a normal driving position.
It is also illegal to use a Tv or VDU that is likely to distract another driver. If either of the above occurs the driver of the offending vehicle can be charged. ($100 and 3 demerit points).
Exceptions: Motorists can drive vehicles with VDU's in them as long as those units are part of a drivers aid, such as a navigational system. Other examples of legally acceptable aids include vehicle monitoring devices, closed circuit television security cameras, despatch systems, rear view screens and ticket issuing machines."

Regulations probably vary from state to state.

Cheers,
Glen
AnswerID: 280594

Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 14:51

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 14:51
This is a part of the Australian Road Rules

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Follow Up By: Booman1n2 - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 15:49

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 15:49
OK so by the looks of this it is not illegal to have an attachment on the dash / windscreen as it is classed as a "driving aid"

But has anyone asked their insurance company what their thoughts are when it comes to these attachments.

Don't get me wrong, I think a GPS unit is a good thing, I have one stuck to the dash myself.I still think something as large as a laptop cradle poses a serious risk to an individual if in an accident, and knowing what insurance companies are like will pick this issue to death.

Again, it is up to the individual.

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Reply By: Member - Olcoolone (S.A) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:39

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 13:39
I think you will find it is illegal to have an thing mounted in the drivers compartment that may cause bodly injury.

A dash is classed as a impact zone and are designed to accept a impact from the body to a degree.

This is why the police can pull over AKA HOON DRIVER and defect them for there gaugers and monster tacho.

There is an ADR that covers this.

This is a grey area.

Police are exempt.

Regards Richard

AnswerID: 280597

Follow Up By: Booman1n2 - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 15:50

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 15:50
Richard,

Do you know what the ADR Rule number is? I would like to have a sticky beak!
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Follow Up By: Gramps (NSW) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 16:40

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 16:40
"it is illegal to have an thing mounted in the drivers compartment that may cause bodly injury"

Like a steering wheel ..... LOL
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Follow Up By: Member - Olcoolone (S.A) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 19:56

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 19:56
ADR 21 I think.

Steering wheels are ADR approved aswell, about 25 years ago I had a VH Commodore and wanted to fit a Brock steering wheel to it because they were ADR approved, when I asked some questions about the approval I found out it was only approved for the Brock vehicles.

Regards Richard
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Reply By: Member - barry F (NSW) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:13

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:13
Steering wheels used to be a major cause of injury or death on a head on impact. I guesss that is why more recent model vehicles have an air bag slap bang in the middle of the wheel. (Where us oldies remember where the horn button used to be!!)
AnswerID: 280632

Reply By: Member - Troll 81 (QLD) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:24

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:24
I copied this from a PDF I found on the QLD department of transports website

DVD screens, television receivers, visual display units
and so on may be installed in a motor vehicle.No part of
the image on the screen may be visible to the driver
from the normal driving position unless the screen
cannot be operated when the vehicle is moving or it is a
driver’s aid (e.g. in-car navigation). As well, it must not:
• obscure the driver’s view of the road
• impede the movement of anyone in the vehicle
• interfere with occupant restraint systems like head
restraints, seat belts and airbags
• increase the likelihood of injury to anyone in
the vehicle or
• be fitted if any part of the image on the screen is likely
to distract another driver.
AnswerID: 280633

Reply By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:27

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:27
You guys don't feel you're being a little... eeerrrr... obsessive...?
AnswerID: 280635

Follow Up By: Red Frog - Vic - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:51

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:51
lol lol lol Forever the voice of reason, good onya Mike.
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Reply By: jomah - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:28

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:28
probably the most dangerous AND distracting item one can have in the the front of a vehicle whilst driving is a wife; even if said item is secured to front passenger seat.
AnswerID: 280636

Follow Up By: Red Frog - Vic - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:54

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 18:54
Yes you're right there, from my utes high vantage point I've seen some rather questionable acts going on in vehicles, don't know if it was the wife or girlfriend though.
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Reply By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 19:26

Wednesday, Jan 09, 2008 at 19:26
Personally I think the most stupid thing I see in cars is idiots with their feet stuck up on the dashboard or in one case an idiot actually driving a Commodore with his left foot up on the top of the dash. Would be good when an air bag goes off. You would be able to take your legs home in a jam jar. Or perhaps the term foot in mouth would come to mind.
What is it with people who have to stick their feet over every thing, are they closer to the trees or what swings in it or something.
I have a laptop mount but it is carefully placed so that it is in the centre of the dash and wouldnt interfere with the airbags or hopefully anyone in the front seat. It would be different in the 200 series which have knee level bags as well and therefore limit what you can attach around the column area like brake controllers etc
AnswerID: 280644

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