Transport minister boosts campervan safety campaign
Transport minister Stephen Hammond has boosted a campaign to improve safety in Volkswagen campervan conversions by agreeing to host a meeting of the UK’s major converters by the end of May to discuss a voluntary code of conduct.
The code of conduct could also include an inspection scheme to ensure that VW campervan conversions are safe before they are allowed on the road. It’s suggested that certificates would be awarded for safe fitting of seat beds and safety belts, gas supply and electric system before a visual inspection of the conversion.
The safety campaign was raised with Mr Hammond by Darren Bebb, managing director of Bebb Limited, a sister company to Shrewsbury and Newtown-based Salop Vans and his business development manager David Park and Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski at a meeting in London yesterday.
Mr Hammond thanked Mr Bebb and Mr Park for raising “significant issues” that the Department of Transport needed to consider and suggested the voluntary code of conduct agreed by converters and backed by an inspection certificate scheme.
“It is something that the Government takes seriously and wants to resolve in a deregulatory way,” he said. “I recognise from all the work that has been done that we shouldn’t be complacent on this issue.”
Following the meeting, Mr Bebb said he would now like the National Caravan Council to take on the inspection role to ensure that all VW campervan conversions are safe and fit for purpose. He also wants the insurance industry to be involved in the discussions, as it had an important role to play.
“After almost two years of banging our heads against a brick wall in trying to raise awareness of this serious issue, I am delighted that we are finally making progress,” he added. “Mr Hammond understood our concerns and we are delighted that he agreed to facilitate a meeting.
“In the past, we have tried to engage with lots of different organisations and to enlist the support of the major converters in the UK with only limited success. Now that the Department of Transport is taking the lead, I suspect that there will be a lot more interest.
“If our campaign manages to save just one life, then it will have been worthwhile.”
Mr Park told the minister that Bebb Limited welcomed new laws brought in by the Government last April to improve safety in motorhomes but argued that they did not go far enough. A loophole allows converters to avoid the new laws if vehicles are pre-registered.
This loophole could be closed if the regulations covered all new campervan conversion, irrespective of registration.
Bebb Limited contends that some campervan converters are gambling with lives by fitting potentially lethal seat bed systems, many of which either do not have seat belts fitted or have belts insecurely fitted to furniture. Independent tests have shown that incorrectly fitted seat beds rip free from the vehicle body in 30mph head-on impact, catapulting the passengers either upwards or forwards.
The company is so concerned about passenger safety that it has invested £100,000 over 18 months to become the first in the UK to design, test and manufacture a seat bed that exceeds the requirements of the new regulations.
The quick release Rock N Roll seat bed system for VW T5 campervan conversions has been crash tested in-vehicle by STATUS (Specialist Transport Advisory and Testing Utility Society), a division of Manchester University.
A key safety feature of the seat bed is a four-piece under bracing kit to fix it securely to the vehicle body. Incorporating two seat belts and iso-fix points for two children’s seats, the new seat is designed for fast conversion into a bed and a quick release system allows it to removed from the campervan when not needed.
“Around 100 vehicles per week get converted in the UK and I estimate that only about five per cent comply with the new standards that were introduced on April 1,” added Mr Bebb.
