can you ride in the bed?

This is true, but a good many people are in accidents that are caused by the "other guy" or things like patches of ice, blowouts, etc. that the average driver may not be capable of responding to in time.

A good many people don't like to be constrained or to go through the hassle of buckling in their kids and will do so only because they don't want to pay the traffic fines.

It's difficult to separate out the effect of seat belt legislation from other safety methods but all collectively combine to at least lessen injuries and fatalities in an inherently dangerous activity. Driving the car is the most dangerous thing that people do on a daily basis.

 

Really I did not know that. I'm from Washington and was wondering the same as OP.

 

As far as I can tell, Washington has no specific restriction regarding adults riding in the back of a pickup. However, the seat belt law prohibits anyone from operating a vehicle unless everyone under the age of 16 is in a proper restraint, which would exclude riding in the bed, unless it was equipped with seats and factory restraints, as was the Brat.

If this is the law then it's pretty much is ignored in the farming areas of Eastern Washington from what I saw when I lived in Oregon and traveled up there all the time. Kansas, where I live now, says everyone must be seated in the bed and prohibits anyone under 14 from riding in the back of a truck at all. There is an exception though: kids can ride in the bed if they are in a parade or working out of the back of the truck (for instance, feeding cattle). Again, from watching people around here this law is pretty much ignored, unless a sheriff sees a bunch of kids in a pickup bed out on the highway.