Finds and declares that: (1) Pickup trucks are becoming increasingly popular as multipurpose vehicles and are frequently used for family transport and recreation;

(2) Each year, a significant number of injuries and deaths occur in this state as a result of persons riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks without the use of appropriate restraint devices when doing so;

(3) Injuries sustained by persons riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks without the use of appropriate restraint devices when doing so occur as a result both of collisions in which the pickup trucks are involved and of ejections from the pickup trucks during sudden stops, bumps, turns, or swerves where no collision occurs; and

(4) The occupant death rate is higher in pickup trucks and small utility vehicles than in any other kind of passenger vehicle.

Declares it is therefore the purpose of this act to prohibit riding in open truck beds except in specified circumstances.