riding in back of pickup trucks

I've been surprised how often people ride in the back of pickup trucks
in central FL. No seatbelt, nothing. Does FL have any laws on the
matter?

"Todd" > wrote in message

> I've been surprised how often people ride in the back of pickup trucks
> in central FL. No seatbelt, nothing.

Amazing! I should think they would just drop dead of inappropriateness.

When I was a kid we always rode around that way - in summer. And of course,
at least 50,000 - 60,000 of us per day were dismembered and splattered all
over the landscape. Just sitting in the back with the engine running killed
at least several hundred!

On Tue, 8 Aug 2006 01:38:03 -0400, "John Gaquin"
> wrote:
>Amazing! I should think they would just drop dead of inappropriateness.

I grew up in a place where it was never done, so it just looked very
unusual to see it several times on a 45mph heavy traffic route.

But if everyone's an adult and they choose to take the risk, by all
means...

Safer than riding a bike on that route for sure. But I wouldn't do
that either.

Todd wrote:
> I've been surprised how often people ride in the back of pickup trucks
> in central FL. No seatbelt, nothing. Does FL have any laws on the
> matter?

Oh by all means, let's have the government step in an "protect" us from
ourselves.

After all, I was killed 20 years ago when I rode in the back of a pickup
no more than one occasion.

> barking pumpkin said in rec.autos.driving:
> Todd wrote:
> > I've been surprised how often people ride in the back of pickup trucks
> > in central FL. No seatbelt, nothing. Does FL have any laws on the
> > matter?
>
> Oh by all means, let's have the government step in an "protect" us from
> ourselves.
>
> After all, I was killed 20 years ago when I rode in the back of a pickup
> no more than one occasion.

Absolutely. I was killed about the same time for *heaven forbid* riding
in a car with out wearing a seatbelt!

--
C orrupt
I mbeciles
A nonymous

>
> Absolutely. I was killed about the same time for *heaven forbid* riding
> in a car with out wearing a seatbelt!
>

Automobiles didn't always have seatbelts. It's a wonder that homo sapiens
didn't become extinct before seatbelts were mandated. -Dave

Mike T. wrote:
> >
> > Absolutely. I was killed about the same time for *heaven forbid* riding
> > in a car with out wearing a seatbelt!
> >
>
> Automobiles didn't always have seatbelts. It's a wonder that homo sapiens
> didn't become extinct before seatbelts were mandated. -Dave

In my day we'd ride about a mile in the back of a pickup - on top of
about 100 hay bales, which made our ride higher than the cab. Of
course, our average speed was 10.

"Todd" > wrote in message
...
> I've been surprised how often people ride in the back of pickup trucks
> in central FL. No seatbelt, nothing. Does FL have any laws on the
> matter?


I don't know about Florida, but now NC has a law prohibiting minors from
riding in the back of pick-ups. I don't have the statistics available, but I
don't recall many deaths or even injuries associated with riding in the back
of pick-ups. It strikes me as a nanny law. Around here this is the sort of
law that Damn Yankees (the ones that come and won't leave) like to
promulgate. I grew up on a farm, and I probably spent as much time in the
back of pick-ups as in the cab. And my Father always removed the tailgate as
soon as he got a new truck, so I never even had to deal with those.

Ed

C. E. White wrote:
> I don't know about Florida, but now NC has a law prohibiting minors from
> riding in the back of pick-ups. I don't have the statistics available, but I
> don't recall many deaths or even injuries associated with riding in the back
> of pick-ups. It strikes me as a nanny law. Around here this is the sort of
> law that Damn Yankees (the ones that come and won't leave) like to
> promulgate.

And if only the posters in this thread had lived to see it, as opposed
to dying years ago from riding in pickup truck beds.
Anyway, I'm sure any pickup bed riding bans will be touted in the same
way as seatbelt laws were - it's not that you'll fall out during normal
driving, but that you would be flung out of the pickup bed (read 1980s:
front seat of car) during a collision (or else strike the cab).

"Sir Ray" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> C. E. White wrote:
> > I don't know about Florida, but now NC has a law prohibiting minors from
> > riding in the back of pick-ups. I don't have the statistics available,
but I
> > don't recall many deaths or even injuries associated with riding in the
back
> > of pick-ups. It strikes me as a nanny law. Around here this is the sort
of
> > law that Damn Yankees (the ones that come and won't leave) like to
> > promulgate.
>
> And if only the posters in this thread had lived to see it, as opposed
> to dying years ago from riding in pickup truck beds.
> Anyway, I'm sure any pickup bed riding bans will be touted in the same
> way as seatbelt laws were - it's not that you'll fall out during normal
> driving, but that you would be flung out of the pickup bed (read 1980s:
> front seat of car) during a collision (or else strike the cab).

Absolutely true. But at least when I was young, it seemed an insignificant
risk. About the only bad thing that happened when I was in the back of the
pick-up was I got a painful (but not nearly fatal) cut on my hands becasue I
stuck them out while riding next to field corn. Those damn corn leaves are
tough. On the range of dangerous thing I did while I was a kid, riding in
the back of a pick-up was about a 4 (1 being completely safe, 10 being
fatal). Riding a bike on a country road was a lot more dangerous than riding
in the back of my dad's truck. Heck, weeding peanut on a hot July day was a
whole lot more dangerous (not to mention unpleasant) than riding in the back
of a truck. Playing in the hay loft was a lot more dangerous too.

Ed

Ed