# Question about lunch wagon safety **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693 "2018-10-09T14:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/1 "2018-10-09T14:38:38Z")
Are there laws exempting lunch wagon employees from using seat belts while the vehicle is travelling down the road? I have passed them on the freeway and have seen people not only moving about in the back, but actually cooking food. I know that time is of the essence, but this seems a bit unsafe to me. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/2 "2018-10-09T15:09:32Z")
When I had a motor home we would occasionally use the oven while traveling. Never tried the cook top but it sure would not have been advised! Just walking back and forth was tricky if there was the slightest change in speed or path. There were no seat belts provided for the couches in the back. This was in the early 1970s, though. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/3 "2018-10-09T16:25:33Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > When I had a motor home we would occasionally use the oven while traveling. Yeah, Federal seat-belt laws do not require belts anywhere other than the front seats. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/4 "2018-10-09T17:20:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Yeah, Federal seat-belt laws do not require belts anywhere other than the front seats. That may be true at the federal level, but seat belt laws are primarily a state issue. Some states require seat belts be worn in the back seat at least by children up to varying ages. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/5 "2018-10-09T17:23:43Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > That may be true at the federal level, but seat belt laws are primarily a state issue. Some states require seat belts be worn in the back seat at least by children up to varying ages. Seat belts are one thing, but standing up, walking around and even cooking food while the vehicle is in motion on the freeway is quite another. Are there laws regulating these actions? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/6 "2018-10-09T17:25:30Z")
Is this about what are more commonly called food trucks? Another working vehicle with a lot of unbelted riders in back is the ambulance. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/7 "2018-10-09T17:26:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Seat belts are one thing, but standing up, walking around and even cooking food while the vehicle is in motion on the freeway is quite another. Are there laws regulating these actions? If there were why would large charter buses have a bathroom in the back? If you had wait until the next stop it would be better to just get off & use the facilities there instead of stinking up the bus. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/8 "2018-10-09T17:44:25Z")
Federal regulations only apply to the manufacture of, and sale of automobiles. And, currently, all vehicles are required to have 3 pt restraints in all the seating positions. **Seat belt use** falls under state jurisdiction. [And, currently,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States) 29 states require all passengers to be belted. as for commercial vehicles: [PART 392—DRIVING OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES](https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=1&ty=HTML&h=L&mc=true&=PART&n=pt49.5.392#se49.5.392_116) §392.16 Use of seat belts. > [@](#): > > (a) Drivers. No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle, that has a seat belt assembly installed at the driver’s seat unless the driver is properly restrained by the seat belt assembly. > > (b) Passengers. No driver shall operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, and a motor carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle, that has seat belt assemblies installed at the seats for other occupants of the vehicle unless all other occupants are properly restrained by such seat belt assemblies. Then there is this from [Mobile Cuisine](https://mobile-cuisine.com/under-the-hood/food-truck-seatbelt-safety-reminder/) > [@](#): > > Almost every state has put in place regulated seatbelt use for food trucks. Everyone on your food truck staff must has to wear a seatbelt while traveling in your food truck. eta: buses are, so far, exempt. Ambulances have restraints for all passengers, including patients. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/9 "2018-10-09T18:01:05Z")
How do they manage fryers in a food truck, with all that hot oil sloshing about? ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/10 "2018-10-09T19:01:46Z")
[with a lid](https://fastfoodtruck.com/accessories/) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/11 "2018-10-09T19:19:33Z")
IANAL, and I’m sure it varies from state to state, but I’m not sure that it’s even legal to ride in the dwelling part of a mobile home while it’s moving, at all, even if it does have seat belts. Which is not, of course, to say that it’s not done regularly by many people. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/12 "2018-10-09T23:19:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > IANAL, and I’m sure it varies from state to state, but I’m not sure that it’s even legal to ride in the dwelling part of a mobile home while it’s moving, at all, even if it does have seat belts. Which is not, of course, to say that it’s not done regularly by many people. Indeed. For isn’t the road-cooked-burrito sweeter than the house-burrito? And an ILLEGAL road burrito, well…who could possibly resist that siren call, with undertones of the forbidden lending extra savor to every bite? 😃 I thought the whole POINT of having an RV was you/your guests being able to hang out and cook and yak and whatever while it was driving. Guess I’ve been doing it wrong/illegally all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/13 "2018-10-09T23:48:55Z")
The point is _supposed_ to be that you drive the RV to some destination, park it there, and then set up camp in your newly-relocated house. Unless you think that you’re supposed to use the fold-out porch and pop-up loft on the road, too? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/14 "2018-10-10T13:45:02Z")
Yikes. Imagine driving merrily along the highway at 55 mph or whatever speed your RV is capable of, with your loved ones lounging, cooking etc in the back. Now imagine having to come to a sudden unannounced stop. It won’t be pretty. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-lunch-wagon-safety/822693/15 "2018-10-10T13:56:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > IANAL, and I’m sure it varies from state to state, but I’m not sure that it’s even legal to ride in the dwelling part of a mobile home while it’s moving, at all, even if it does have seat belts. Which is not, of course, to say that it’s not done regularly by many people. Superstar musicians, wrestlers, actors, etc. seem to treat their well-appointed tour buses as rolling hotel rooms. These probably fall under whatever exemptions may be made for more typical buses (public transit, school buses, etc.).