Is anyone familiar with Washington State laws in regards to 4 and 5 point Racing Harnesses. I am running a 4 Point Harness with Stock Seats, on a custom Harness Bar built by Speedware and someone asked me if it is legal. According to this person in some states you will get a no seat belt ticket if you just wear the 4 point harness. Also would be curious on information for British Columbia as well, as I drive up there a lot!

I realize that there is a huge debate on the the safety of running a Harness setup on stock seats, and I think both sides have some valid points to be aware of.

Thanks in advance!
Tony

 

Here's some info: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.688 but they don't really say much about harnesses... Maybe in the guts of the law they discuss the requirements.

 

I have never heard of anyone getting ticketed for this....

 

your standard run of the mill harness motorsport (4,5, or 6 point) won't be street legal, it doesn't matter if its attached to the harness bar or chassis (and chances are the harness bar isn't technically legal either...)

for a harness to be street legal it has to be specifically manufactured for the public roads. as far as I know only Scroth makes street legal harnesses

 

I was going to say the same thing about the Scroth being the only DOT legal harness that I'm aware of. It has a quick break away feature that allows you to move to the side I believe in case of a rollover. I'll have to look up the exact function of it though to be sure.

 

Why would you want to wear a 4 point on the street in the first place? If you say for keeping you planted in your seat I would have to say the you would already be driving illegal and the seat belt ticket would be the least of your worries at that point. I thought the same thing before I installed mine. If you are snugging down for the street you should really be at the track. When I am strapped in I can reach nothing in my car except the wheel and shifter. All settings must be right of I have to loosen the belts to reach say the traction control button. Ya they keep you planted but you should not be running that hard on the street. Remember when corning that hard on the street there are just too many unknowns and no margin for safety. Yours or the family coming the other way you do not see. I hit a seal at speed in my boat over the holiday weekend. It was an accident that shook me pretty bad. I was glad I was by myself at the time because it was not pretty. Glad it was not a person- It was far off shore so not possible. I struggled with visions of the seal and still do. I am not sure how you would handle killing or injuring another person because of making a stupid choice made on the street. Sorry to be a downer here but a harness on the street looks like nothing but trouble to me.

I did look at a a Lotus Elise- Track Car on Sat. at Park Place that is registered in WA and has plates and it only has a 5 point harness and roll bar. You can go to the track and back but would not be a comfortable commuter by any means. Car was imported and weights 1478 LBS and was never intended to be street legal but it got registered and titled in OR so it now has WA plates. Harness is great when pushing hard at the track not so great for drivig on the street 99% of the time.

 

Scroth is what i have in my Exige and what is DOT approved. Im sure Drew at speedware can answer all your questions.
@Island Master I used my exige as a commuter during the summers. I find it to be a great commuter and the harness isnt bad at all, its just time consuming but its now second nature to me. My S2000 was a worse commuter than the exige. Once you are in the Exige and got the technique down it fits like a glove.

 

is this the Lotus 211 that they have?
please say someone got a wa plate on a 211

 

Yea they have a 211; saw it awhile ago was thinking about trading the exige for it but its not road leagal.
They also have elise S1, but wouldnt touch that since it has a rover engine in it.

 

Which one is the 1500 LB car that you can put a plate on?

 

most likely this
Elise 190
http://www.parkplaceltd.com/inventor...rent=1&size=50

 

Thanks

 

Only DOT approved seat belts are legal. So that leaves out 98% of the racing belts. Unless you have the DOT belts on you can get a ticket.

It's one of those things that, if you ask 10 Cops 5 will say you are OK & 5 will say ticket. Really it's one more thing on the list for them to pull you over for.

 

Yup, thats the car. Full aero package under the car too. Looks great and very cool. It will need tires as it has what looked like all seasons on it. Was considering it right up until I did some research on the motor.