Bed Ryder offers a seat system with safety belts for safer truck bed rides. (Photo from bedryder.com.)Note: This story was updated on June 8, 2020 to include changes to Hawaii’s truck bed laws.
Before you agree to let someone ride in the back of your truck bed, it would be a good idea first to see if it’s legal or not.
Laws governing passenger transport in truck beds vary from state to state. Hard Working Trucks turned to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for some help on truck bed laws in all 50 states. However, there might also be local laws in your area that you’ll have to consider.
IIHS gave us permission to publish a helpful chart posted on their website which addresses state laws regarding passenger truck bed rides across the country. Several states get very specific about bed laws, such as California, where people can ride in the back of a truck if the vehicle is used on a farm or in a parade where the vehicles do not exceed more than 8mph. Interestingly enough, Missouri’s truck bed law is the longest and most detailed.
Twenty states have no laws prohibiting passenger transport in a truck bed. They are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Take a look below to find your state and let us know in the comments below what your thoughts are on letting passengers ride in the back of a truck bed.
