# Pick Up Trucks - Lake Shore Drive **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340 "2010-08-15T17:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/1 "2010-08-15T17:51:32Z")
Under what conditions is it OK to drive a pick up truck on Lake Shore Drive? Seem to recall it was OK if it was not registered as “commercial” and it had a bed cover. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/2 "2010-08-16T04:16:02Z")
I believe the current\* de facto\* test is whether it has B class plates. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/3 "2010-08-16T07:13:19Z")
Forgive an ignorant, non-Chicagoan this, but why WOULDN’T pickup trucks be allowed? Considering how many of them are private vehicles nowadays it wouldn’t seem like that big a deal. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/4 "2010-08-16T16:25:33Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Forgive an ignorant, non-Chicagoan this, but why WOULDN’T pickup trucks be allowed? Considering how many of them are private vehicles nowadays it wouldn’t seem like that big a deal. Unless something has changed since I last lived in Chicago there several streets on which trucks/commercial vehicles are not permitted to drive for more than 1 block (or is it 2?). Boulevards, for instance (vs. streets, avenues, etc.) are a no no. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/5 "2010-08-16T18:40:53Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Forgive an ignorant, non-Chicagoan this, but why WOULDN’T pickup trucks be allowed? Considering how many of them are private vehicles nowadays it wouldn’t seem like that big a deal. I think it’s just a matter of aesthetics (sights, sounds, and smells). After all, LSD is the “front yard” of Chicago. By the way, trucks of all sizes ARE permitted on a short stretch of LSD, from McCormick Place to the entrance to the Stevenson Expressway. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/6 "2010-08-17T02:10:21Z")
Chicago’s boulevards were built to be pleasure drives, a place for lightweight carriages and those new bicycles. So teaming traffic, heavy wagons, and streetcars were forbidden. This prohibition was carried forward to forbid trucks, which were then solely commercial vehicles, and extended to Lake Shore Drive when it was built. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/7 "2010-08-17T19:31:03Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > Chicago’s boulevards were built to be pleasure drives, a place for lightweight carriages and those new bicycles. So teaming traffic, heavy wagons, and streetcars were forbidden. This prohibition was carried forward to forbid trucks, which were then solely commercial vehicles, and extended to Lake Shore Drive when it was built. That said, are pick up trucks not allowed on LSD, regardless of how they are registered/equipped? ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/8 "2010-08-17T23:35:19Z")
Unless they’re owned by the park district or its contractors. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/9 "2010-08-18T02:35:20Z")
I’m pretty sure that pickups with covers and RV plates are allowed. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pick-up-trucks-lake-shore-drive/550340/10 "2010-08-19T01:37:13Z")
A buddy of mine got a ticket for driving his pick-up on LSD back in '91 or '92. It was even a smallish Toyota pick-up; not like a big F-250 or something. The signs said “No Trucks,” and, at least at the time, police interpretation was pretty literal.