My car was stolen in 1992. It was found stripped to the metal. The police said that the ring they caught a week later sold the bucket seats down in Mexico that are then bolted into the cargo areas of trucks for people to ride in. I doubt they were/are belted in.

My heart goes out to Eric’s parents. We do trust the schools with our kids lives. We shouldn’t have to tell them to not do something like this, they should know better.

What I was wondering about was passenger rules for the cargo areas/beds because on occasion I have seen people sitting in the backs of open pickups.
Restrictions on riding in cargo areas of pickups
Current laws and exemptions/ restrictions on riding in cargo areas and the major gaps or exemptions in those laws
This links to safety belt use laws in the states.
August 2008

What happened to Eric Law tragically illustrates that riding in the open cargo area really is not safe, even if one is close to the age of majority and even within the letter of statute. My thoughts are with his parents.

http://www.state.nj.us/oag/hts/seatbelts.html

New Jersey’s Seat Belt Law: (NJS 39:3-76.2f)

Applies to all passenger vehicles including vans, pickup trucks and SUV’s, that are required to be equipped with seat belts.

Applies to all passengers, who are at least 8 years of age but less than 18 years of age, and each driver and front seat passenger of a passenger automobile, operated on a street or highway. All occupants are required to wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt system.

Makes the driver responsible for proper seat beltuse by all occupants who are under the age of 18.

New Jersey’s Child Passenger Law:

Children up to age 8 or 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear seat of the vehicle. If there is no rear seat, the child must sit in the front seat secured by a child safety seat or booster seat.

Children under age 8 who weigh more than 80 pounds must wear a seat belt anywhere in the vehicle.

Passengers age 8 to 18 (regardless of weight ) must wear a seat belt anywhere inside a vehicle.

In a letter to Knox County Schools, attorney Greg Isaacs said Law’s death could have been avoided if students had been properly supervised by staff at the Byington-Solway Career and Technical Education Center at Karns.
Isaacs went on to question the school allowing students to operate a motor vehicle on school property with unrestrained students in the back of a pickup truck.”
Another followup
New details emerge on death of Karns student
(Just a question–Do other folks with pickups have belts in the truck beds? Is that SOP in NJ? We’ve had 3 pickups–all with belts in the cabs, but not in the bed. Strictly speaking, it’s legal here over a certain age to allow a person to ride in the bed, and my understanding is that in TN it is legal over the age of 12 under certain conditions but it’s never safe and I’d never put a living thing in the open cab).