We often get calls, emails and messages from vehicle owners asking if we’ll be releasing a particular type of product in the future. Many of these suggestions have grown into some our best selling products so we always take time to listen then research the idea. Sometimes these suggestions seem like a good idea, until it becomes clear that vehicle and passenger safety will be affected – One of these suggestions is for storage baskets mounted to the inside of the vehicle roof, above or alongside the heads of vehicle occupants.
Interior, roof mounted baskets have been around for a while, normally above the cargo area of a LandCruiser, Prado or Jimny where it’s useful to have somewhere to keep those small items which would otherwise get lost, or things like a jacket or hat that you’d like to keep easily at hand – We have our own version of this for the Maxliner Venture canopy.
Using a storage system above the cargo area, well behind the vehicle occupants is a great idea and as long as the front of the storage area is enclosed, everything should stay away from occupants heads in the event of an accident.
However, fitting a storage shelf to the inside of the cabin roof where it’s close to occupant’s heads cannot be considered safe and could endanger the lives of people in the vehicle – the image below is AI generated but shows the general type of product that people are asking for.
In an accident, people get thrown around inside the cabin, even if they’re wearing a seatbelt. Vehicle manufacturers design their cars to strict safety standards, keeping the inside free from sharp corners, metalwork, hard protrusions and other things that could cause injury.
In Australia ADR 42/02 Section 12 covers this:
EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL PROTRUSIONS
12.1. No vehicle must be equipped with:
12.1.1. any object or fitting, not technically essential to such vehicle, which protrudes from any part of the vehicle so that it is likely to increase the risk of bodily injury to any person;
12.1.2. any object or fitting technically essential to such vehicle unless its design, construction and conditions and the manner in which it is affixed to the vehicle are such as to reduce to a minimum the risk of bodily injury to any person;
12.1.3. any object or fitting which, because it is pointed or has a sharp edge, is likely to increase the risk of bodily injury to any person.
Vehicle standards are often hard to understand, but ADR42/02 is clear in this regard. No vehicle exterior or interior can be fitted with something that protrudes in a way that it is likely to increase the risk of injury.
Here in Australia, many people will be familiar with the need to position fishing rod holders on a bull bar in such a way that they don’t protrude outside the rounded bull bar hoop – It’s ADR42/02 that requires that to happen and it also applies to the inside of the vehicle.
What happens in a crash?
Whilst doing our research, we looked for crash test images of common dual cab vehicle such as the Ford Ranger or Toyota Hilux, hoping to find one that demonstrated how people’s bodies get flung around inside the vehicle. However, thanks to the current model Ranger’s multiple airbags, it’s very difficult to find a photo of what happens inside the vehicle in a crash.
This is where the GWM Canon and Mitsubishi Triton crash tests became useful – Despite scoring well, the published crash test photos don’t show the rear curtain airbags deployed, allowing us to see what happens to those rear seat passengers.
In the photos above we can see the rear seat passenger’s head and body move around during the crash but there is nothing in the way for them to hit – Whilst we cant see this happening in the Ranger or Hilux crash test, physics dictates that the rear seat passenger’s body will move around in a similar way.
Rear seat crash test footage.
YouTube channel K1CarTV have a very useful video showing various US model pickup trucks during a crash test, with the video focusing on the rear seat occupants.
In the K1CarTV video you’ll see that in every vehicle tested, the rear seat passenger gets thrown around a lot in all accident types, often going forward initially before then coming back into the seat and up toward the ceiling.
Don’t carry rear-seat passengers?
In addition to the increased injury risk faced by the rear seat passengers, those in the front seats are at risk too – If you crash at 70km/h, the stuff you’ve loaded into a roof mounted basket wants to keep travelling forwards at 70km/h even after the car has stopped. The force of the accident can turn small items such as torches and umbrellas into potentially deadly projectiles, flying forward at head-height.
The Verdict.
Consider what would have happened to the rear seat passenger in any of the crash tests shown above if there was an interior roof mounted storage shelf, molle console, interior parcel shelf or any other basket type product fitted near or above their head. The risk of injury is not isolated to a particular brand of vehicle, or particular design of interior roof mounted storage system – Anything mounted to the inside of the cabin roof, around or above the seats greatly increases the risk of severe or fatal injury.
Fitting a storage basket or shelf anywhere that increases risk of injury results in the vehicle not complying with ADR42/02 and is therefore illegal in Australia.
To be clear, we’re not talking about storage racks and shelving in the cargo area or canopy – They’re well away from occupants heads.
Whilst we’re always keen to modify our vehicles and create innovative solutions for as many people as we can, some things are just not a good idea. Please consider the safety of yourself and your passengers before installing interior mounted accessories..