Illegal Cabin attachements

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 !!!

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.

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

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 !

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.

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

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

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!!)

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.

You guys don't feel you're being a little... eeerrrr... obsessive...?

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.

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