Is It Illegal to Ride in the Bed of a Truck in Indiana?

Riding in the bed of a truck in Indiana is not illegal for adults. The state has no statute that specifically restricts passengers in the open cargo area of a pickup, which puts Indiana among roughly 20 states without a dedicated cargo-area law.¹ Children are a different matter, and even for adults, “not illegal” is not the same as “no consequences.” The real exposure usually shows up after someone gets hurt.

What Indiana Law Actually Says

There is no section of the Indiana Code that addresses riding in the cargo area of a pickup. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety lists Indiana alongside Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and about 16 other states as having “no state law” on the subject.¹

What Indiana does have is a general seatbelt law. Indiana Code 9-19-10-2 requires every occupant of a motor vehicle equipped with a manufacturer-installed seatbelt to keep it fastened while the vehicle is moving forward.² The phrase “equipped with a safety belt” is the key. Truck beds do not come with factory seatbelts, so the statute does not reach a passenger sitting back there. People in the cab, of course, have to buckle up, and seatbelt violations are a primary offense in Indiana, meaning an officer can stop you for the belt alone.³

Children Cannot Legally Ride in the Bed

The child-restraint statutes close the door that the missing cargo-area law leaves open. Two provisions do the work.

Children under eight must be secured in a child restraint system that meets federal standards. Driving with an unrestrained child under eight is a Class D infraction.⁴ A child restraint cannot be installed in an open truck bed, so this law makes carrying a young child there illegal in practice.

Children between eight and fifteen must be in either a child restraint or a federally compliant seatbelt. That is also a Class D infraction when violated.⁵ With no seatbelt available in the bed, this requirement bars anyone under 16.

Short version: no child under 16 can legally ride in a truck bed in Indiana, even though no law uses those words directly.

What a Ticket Would Look Like

Because there is no cargo-area statute, there is no standalone fine for the act of carrying an adult in a truck bed. The citations an officer can actually write come from the seatbelt and child-restraint chapters.

A standard adult seatbelt violation in the cab is a Class D infraction with a $25 judgment.⁶⁴⁵

The Civil Liability Problem

For adults, the bigger risk is not the traffic court docket. It is what happens after a crash or a fall. Indiana follows a modified comparative-fault system. An injured person can recover damages only if their share of fault is not greater than everyone else’s combined. A jury that assigns 51 percent or more of the fault to a truck-bed passenger for choosing to ride unrestrained can award that passenger nothing.⁷

Indiana Code 9-19-10-7 compounds this. For causes of action arising after June 30, 2024, a defendant can introduce evidence that the plaintiff was not wearing a seatbelt, and if the defendant proves that buckling up would have reduced the injuries, the jury can cut the damage award accordingly.⁸ A truck-bed passenger was obviously unbelted, and if the cab had an open seat with a working belt, the defense will argue the passenger chose the bed over safety.

There is a technical counterweight. The same statute says that failing to comply with the seatbelt chapter does not itself constitute “fault” under the comparative-fault statute and does not limit an insurer’s liability.⁸ So the non-use of a belt can shrink your damages but cannot, on its own, be used to assign you a percentage of fault. The distinction matters in settlement talks.

If the Truck Is a Commercial Vehicle

Federal rules add another layer when the pickup is a commercial motor vehicle. Under 49 CFR 392.60, the driver of a commercial vehicle other than a bus cannot carry any passenger without written authorization from the motor carrier that names the passenger, identifies the trip’s start and end points, and sets an expiration date.⁹ The rule applies whether the passenger is in the cab or anywhere else on the vehicle.

Exceptions cover employees assigned to the vehicle, people transported during an emergency, and attendants caring for livestock. Farm trucks hauling agricultural products to or from the farm are also outside the rule.⁹

Legal Does Not Mean Safe

Research on pickup cargo-area fatalities found that occupants back there face roughly three times the fatality risk of front-seat occupants overall, and nearly eight times the risk of belted front-seat occupants. About a third of cargo-area deaths happen in non-crash events like sharp turns or sudden braking, where the person is simply thrown from the bed. Over half of those killed are between 15 and 29. Open beds are roughly twice as deadly as enclosed cargo areas.

Indiana leaves the choice to adults. That choice carries no ticket by itself, but it carries real weight if a jury ever has to look at it.

1
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Cargo Area Restrictions Laws
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-19-10-2 – Use of Safety Belt by Motor Vehicle Occupants; Safety Belt Standards
3
Indiana Department of Health. Buckle Up – Restraint Use Indiana
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-19-11-2 – Child Less Than Eight Years of Age; Child Restraint System; Penalty; Medical Exceptions; Child Restraint System Account
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-19-11-3.6 – Safety Belt Standards; Child Between Eight and 16 Years of Age; Child Restraint System or Safety Belt
6
Indiana Courts. Indiana Trial Court Fee Manual
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-51-2-6
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 9-19-10-7 – Failure to Comply; Fault; Liability of Insurer
9
eCFR. 49 CFR 392.60 – Unauthorized Persons Not to Be Transported