Passenger Safety is my main worry

[kangarooelaine]

Hi there! We are seriously considering buying a used RV. Right now we like a 2019 Coachman Lephrchaun 23CB. Or something similar. We want something pretty small and easy to drive that doesn't use a ton of gas. The RV would be shared between my nuclear family (husband and son) along with my mom. A lot of trips would be three people. Some trips might be four people but in that case it would be a couple plus two others. So it really just mostly needs 3 beds.

My main holdup for not pulling the trigger and buying is I'm worried about passenger safety while driving. None of the class C RVs I've seen for sale have proper seating for more than 2 people. The seatbelts in the camper part of the RV are only lap belts. And they don't have head rests to protect the head and neck. And sometimes they don't even face forward. So... I was thinking about maybe pulling out a sofabed or dinette and replacing it with proper seats with shoulder belts. Is this a realistic idea?

 

[Neal]

Welcome to RVForums @kangarooelaine. The lap belts are pretty typical in RV's, doesn't mean it's a good thing but there really aren't many other options. The alternative is for your backseat passengers to drive separately and follow the RV to destinations. Welcome to the site and I hope to hear of your RV adventures soon.

 

[kangarooelaine]

Thanks for the welcome.
So you're saying NOT to pull out those seats and replace them with better seats that have headrests and shoulder belts?
or what about adding a jump seat or a console seat?

 

[Neal]

I don't know of your configuration but in my motorhome it's opposing sofa's with lapbelts. Not much you can do when sideways to the direction of travel (impact).

 

[kangarooelaine]

The seats all face forward or backward.

 

[Neemer]

Welcome, Kangarooelaine!

I think the answer to your question is you can do whatever you think is necessary to achieve a feeling of safety you are comfortable with. I looked up that model and it appears to be a very typical class C configuration. Keep in mind that you will be spending more time parked and using the coach as a house than actually on the road.

Good luck!

 

[redbaron]

Another issue is that once the seats are properly installed, what are you going to secure it to? There is no sub frame easily accessible to secure the seat and belts to. Most RV manufacturers secure it with large washers to the wooden boards. This will not hold up to any significant crash.

The seat belts are the least of the dangers in an RV. The cabinets usually have contents in them. With an accident the doors will fly open and spill the contents. Also the cabinets themselves will usually fall off the ceiling and become projectiles.

Bottom line--Driving an RV is a huge risk. Surviving an accident in an RV is a miracle, no matter what precautions you take. The side walls, ceiling structure, and floors are weaknesses that will fail in an accident.

 

[kangarooelaine]

Shoot, I knew it. You guys are talking me out of buying an RV again.

I had these concerns when my son was little and came to these or similar boards. Came to the conclusion that RVs aren't safe for children and decided not to get one. Now I'm feeling the same way but not just for children, for everyone. Driving two vehicles is not an option.

So... the welcomes aren't really necessary since I likely won't be staying. RVs are unsafe. Thanks.

 

[redbaron]

There are many things in this world that are not safe. Driving is just one of the things. Most people are more likely to die from lack of exercise and proper diet than they are from a car accident, and even fewer deaths occur in an RV.

I used to worry about seat belts in the RV for those in the back, but soon decided it just wasn't worth it. It is the same thing as seat belts in an airplane. They help when you hit turbulence, or in the case of an RV, sudden swerve or quick braking, but they do nothing for safety in the case of an accident. Ever seen an airplane accident where entire rows of seats are many feet away from the crash site?

Seat belts in cars are one of the safety factors that make them safe, along with the airbags, crumple zones, and engineering. Airplanes/Boats/RV's are not engineered to crash.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

The "RVs are unsafe" thought process reminds me of the debate years ago involving the Volkswagen "Beetle." Some advertising genius arranged for a remote-control head-on crash involving a Beetle and a Buick. The results were predictable and the Beetle was declared unsafe.

The Volkswagen advertising agency immediately arranged for a remote controlled head-on collision between a Buick and a locomotive. Again, the results were predictable. Did this prove that Volkswagens or Buicks...or, locomotives...were "unsafe." Hardly.

The point here is that safety is a relative thing and the only real measure of safety is statistics. While I don't have the actual statistics in hand, I would hazard a guess that they would show that the number of deaths and serious injuries in motorhomes is far below those of anyone's favorite family sedan, pickup truck or SUV.

TJ