Truck bed dangers cited again

Monday's fatal crash is renewing calls to restrict riding in back

While island motorists buckle up more than those in any other state, Hawaii is one of several states that allow passengers to ride unrestrained in the bed of pickup trucks.

Crash victims' memorial fund A fundraiser is being held at the Filipino Community Center today, and a memorial fund has been set up for four women killed Monday in a Kunia crash. Checks can be made out to Kunia Farm Workers Memorial Fund and left with any Bank of Hawaii branch. The "Operation Ohana" fundraiser takes place at the FilCom center in Waipahu from 5:30 to 9:30 tonight as part of a previously scheduled event in connection with a documentary on the Filipino experience in Hawaii.

Everyone from state lawmakers to national highway safety experts is questioning the rationale of having a seat belt law while people roam freely in truck beds. They say laws need to be changed before more people are killed.

"It doesn't make sense," said veteran state Rep. Barbara Marumoto, who has been pushing for a total ban on truck bed riding for more than two decades. "Logic has very little to do with the laws we pass, unfortunately."

Marumoto (R, Kalani Valley-Diamond Head) cringes every time she sees people riding in pickup beds, which is common throughout the year in sunny Hawaii. Her "greatest fear" happened Monday -- a deadly accident that she said could have been avoided if a ban were in place.

Four women were killed and eight other people were seriously injured when the pickup truck they were traveling in swerved to avoid an oncoming car and collided head-on with a cement truck in a rural area of Kunia, police said.

Nearly all of the victims -- workers from a nearby farm -- were thrown from the bed of the pickup truck.

"Considering every state but one has a law that requires people to be belted in vehicles, it makes no sense to me they can ride unrestrained in the back of a pickup truck that has no protection at all," said Susan Ferguson, of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "There's no restraints in the rear, and it's extremely dangerous."

Thirty states have some type of restriction on riding in cargo areas, but many of those fall short of a comprehensive ban, according to the institute.

The states without any type of restriction are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Many states, including Hawaii, prohibit young children from riding in the back. Several states allow truck bed riding for work, like farmers, or during parades. Colorado allows it only if the cargo area is enclosed on all sides.

Despite urging from police, emergency room physicians and transportation officials, measures that would have prohibited riding in cargo beds have repeatedly failed in Hawaii, with opposition from farmers and people in rural areas where public transportation is limited.

In 1997, Hawaii enacted a law banning children 12 and younger from riding in the beds.

"Before we had this law for children, there was a city ordinance to tether dogs in the back of pickup trucks. It almost appeared that people cared more about their pet dogs than they did about their children," Marumoto said.