Dave's daughter wrote -
I am concerned that there are no of shoulder straps in Michael's Bug.
Dave responded -
I share your concern over the lack of shoulder belts in Michael's car. It had shoulder belts when he bought it originally, but they were big and clunky and always in the way. The hardware is all there to re-install them, and very simply to do -- just a matter of getting them. I haven't seen them in the various VW catalogs we have -- only the lap belts. I know that he wears his lap belt religiously, but shoulder belts would make him very much safer.
Dave wrote to his son -
The new Rocky Mountain Motorworks (now Mid America Motorworks) catalog has lap/shoulder belts for VW Bugs from 1946 to 1979. If you decide to get them you won't be wasting the front belts that you already have --you can put them in the back seat, which needs new belts anyway.
Dave's son wrote -
That sounds cool about the lap and shoulder belts. I'll save up and see if I can get the black and chrome ones. I do need some belts in the back, too, so the whole thing works!
Dave wrote to Rob -
Did I tell you that Rocky Mountain Motorworks (now Mid America Motorworks) now sells the lap/shoulder belt combinations? My son is saving his nickels and dimes (they're about $70 a pair), then he will put the new lap belts that we installed in the front in the back (the latches on those are broken beyond repair).
Bottom line -- Dave helped with the "nickels and dimes," and the lap/shoulder belt combinations have since been installed in the Bug car.
Dave wrote to Rob a couple of years later, during the process of restoring his '73 SB -
I reinstalled the seat belts (sure don't need THAT hefty fine if I'm ever stopped -- seat belt use is required by law in this country.
Rob responded -
They've been compulsory here in Australia since about 1972, and we get about 98% compliance. Most people recognise they save more injuries than they create.
Here the cops will stop you if they can't see the shoulder strap over the shoulder -- they don't need another reason first. Still doesn't happen too often, and the more usual event is that someone will have and accident and will be injured from hitting the dash etc and the driver will then get fined for allowing occupants to avoid wearing their belts (it's the driver's responsibility here).
Disclaimer stuff: Rob and Dave have prepared this information from their own experiences. We have not assumed any specialised mechanical knowledge, but we DO assume that anyone using this information has at least some basic mechanical ability.
We hope you find this information useful, but we don't take any responsibility for anything which happens to you, other people, your VW or any other property or goods resulting from your use of this material.
Feel free to print off any of this information for your own use. If you intend to link this material to another site, reprint it, or in any other way redistribute it, please leave the information complete, including this disclaimer section, and provide a link to this Web site.
Last revised 6 May 2004.
