If you’re wondering “Can you sleep in a campervan while it’s being driven?”, there is a very short answer to this question, and that is no, you can’t. And you don’t need to ask too many seasoned campervanners to discover that doing so is seriously frowned upon, for safety reasons.
But it is, at least on paper, a fair question to ask. After all, a campervan is supposed to be essentially a van with a bed in it. Why shouldn’t you make use of such a bed if the opportunity is there, especially if you’ve followed my advice on how to make camper van beds more comfortable or bought the best mattress topper for a VW campervan to improve your sleeping experience?
I have been at least a passenger in a campervan since the mid-1970s, and I remember then, as a young boy, being put to bed in the back of the campervan while my parents, having failed to get into one caravan park, wanted to drive on to another one to see if they could have any joy there. I distinctly remember watching the night sky fly past through the back window as we zipped along.
But that was in the 1970s (and, as it happens, in another country), before stricter regulations came along. Hell, back then you could even try rustling up a meal in the back of a campervan while it was on the move. My sister once tried to do so. I can tell you, trying to mop a smashed egg off the floor of a moving campervan is not something I want to repeat.
Thankfully, all this changed in 1991, when, eight years after wearing seat belts in the front seats of vehicles had become mandatory, the law was expanded to include rear travel seats (where belts are fitted).
As the law now stands, all seat belts fitted in the back must meet European standards, and this typically means they have to have three fixing points and be facing either forwards or backwards. For maximum protection, passengers also need to be in a seated vertical or near-vertical position. There are even stricter rules when it comes to children that require you to install child seats for any child who is under the age of 12 unless they are over 1.35m tall. So don’t think you can get around the law if it is only the kids you are thinking about.
If you own a campervan that was built prior to 2006, you might find that it has no belts in the rear. It’s not illegal to travel in the back in these vehicles, but we’d strongly recommend never doing so, for safety’s sake.
In fact, as the law stands, the only times you can legally get away with not wearing a seat belt while the vehicle is moving is if you are reversing (and you are not going to be doing that for long), if you are licensed taxi driver or a an emergency worker on active duty (unlikely to be you in a campervan) or if you are a delivery driver driving no more than 50m between stops (again, unlikely to be you).
Doctors can issue a Certificate of Exemption from Compulsory Seat Belt Wearing if you have certain medical conditions, particularly if you are heavily pregnant. But even then, no medical professional is likely to encourage you to travel unprotected in a vehicle that could be going at 70mph.
There is, of course, nothing to stop you nodding off while you are strapped up – assuming, of course, you are not the driver. Otherwise, you will have to wait until you pitch up at your destination and can enjoy a good night’s sleep in your ‘van’s rock ‘n’ roll bed or a similar setup that your campervan provides.
Future Publishing Limited, the publisher of Practical Motorhome, provides the information in this article in good faith and makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of the advice to their circumstances. Individuals should take appropriate safety precautions and be aware of the risk of electrocution when dealing with electrical products. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither Future nor its employees or agents shall have any liability in connection with the use of this information. Double check any warranty is not affected before proceeding.
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