New seatbelt law doesn't make riding in pick-up truck bed illegal

State Senator Tom Wyss of Fort Wayne is not happy.

The Evansville Courier Press' Bryan Corbin reports:

The truck seat belt law was intended to prevent accident injuries, and the two lawmakers say they also intended to ban another dangerous practice: passengers riding in the truck beds of moving pickup trucks.

So they are frustrated the new law is not being interpreted that way by police or by the state's planning agency for criminal justice and traffic safety issues. A prosecutor who gave a legal interpretation to police departments statewide said the new law does not specifically prohibit an adult from riding in the bed of a pickup truck.

The prosecutor recommends that police not ticket people for that reason.

State Sen. Thomas Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, long has tried to pass legislation to ban truck bed riding. He thought he had done so with the new seat belt law that just took effect last week, House Enrolled Act 1237. So the news that a prosecutor had found an apparent loophole came as a surprise.

"Oh, that's ludicrous," Wyss fumed when told of the attorney's legal interpretation. "Anyone interpreting it any other way is trying to parse the legislative intent and the legislative fact of what we did. These are the kinds of interpretations which upset legislators, which make a mockery of our law. They parse this stuff up."

[ ... ]

But Deborah Reasoner, traffic safety resource prosecutor with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, is unequivocal the new law, as written, does not ban riding in a truck bed. Earlier versions of the bill included a ban, but it was left out of the final version the Legislature passed, she said.

Without specific authority in the new statute, Reasoner cannot recommend that police ticket passengers for riding in truck beds, as long as passengers are age 16 or over.

Her rationale: If police stopped a pickup for that reason and found a more serious violation, such as drugs, and the defense challenged the legality of the traffic stop, then the court could suppress all the evidence — and the entire case would be dismissed.

[ ... ]

Although not intended as formal legal advice, Reasoner's non-binding legal interpretation was written as a question-and-answer memorandum for law enforcement. It was posted on the Web site of the criminal justice institute. (View the PDF of the memorandum here ).

Police discourage passengers from riding in truck beds because of the danger, but say that under the new law, they don't have legal grounds to ticket people for it. The Evansville Police Department interprets the new seat belt law as not prohibiting adults from riding in truck cargo areas.

[ ... ]

Sgt. Todd Ringle, spokesman for the Indiana State Police post in Evansville, said that rule also applies to SUVs. A passenger in one of the vehicle's seats who was not buckled in would violate the new law, but a passenger asleep in the rear cargo area would not be in violation, Ringle said.

[ ... ]

Records show the truck bed riding ban wasn't in the original House Bill 1237 but was added by the Indiana House Feb. 15. Once the bill passed the House and went to the state Senate, it was heard in the Senate Transportation Committee, which Wyss chairs. On March 13, the committee approved a change, deleting the wording about truck beds. Wyss contends that wording was "redundant" because of text elsewhere in the bill that said all vehicle occupants must be in a seat belt or child restraint.

Lawmakers reached a compromise between House and Senate versions of the bill but the truck bed wording was not reinstated.

The final bill passed April 29, in the Legislature's final hours before adjourning for the year. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the bill into law and it took effect July 1.

Wyss contends that other than for a few exceptions — riding in the back of an ambulance, for example, or in the living quarters of a motor home — the new law requires all vehicle occupants to be in seat belts or child restraints.

"How much more emphatic can you be?" he asked.

Comments

[Mike Sylvester]

We have some rather large problems in the State of Indiana:

Our wages are significantly lower then most other States.

Our taxes are rising.

Many of our high paying manufacturing jobs have left the country and more will follow.

I truly think our elected officials should stop passing "nanny laws" and address some of the real issues we have.

Mike Sylvester

P.S. Elected officials should start with property taxes...

[Ben Weaver]

Who keeps voting for State Sen. Thomas Wyss? This guy continues to try and push big government down our throats while hiding behind the Republican party name.

Look, if somebody wants to do something that is potentially dangerous to themselves and it is not going to hurt anybody else, then let them do it and let them face the consequences. It is called RIGHTS with RESPONSIBILITIES.

Time and time again our legislatures are trying to take both away from us: our rights and our sense of self responsibilities. Just take care of my roads, keep my taxes low as you can, and bring in the jobs, ok?

[Cory Craig]

Agreed with Mike Sylvester.

Besides, seatbelt laws should be done away with anyways.

[Roger McNeill]

Yes, thanks to Tom Wyss for being our nanny once again. We're such children!