A vehicle for use in an amusement park ride with upright passenger seating. The vehicle includes a vehicle body and a seat assembly including a seat pan provided in the vehicle body between a front end and a rear end of the vehicle body. The vehicle further includes a passenger restraint system with: (a) a lap bar assembly; (b) a lap bar mount pivotally supporting the lap bar assembly within the vehicle body to pivot about a lap bar rotation axis passing between the seat pan and the front end of the vehicle body; (c) a side leg shield; and (d) a shield articulating assembly concurrently pivoting the side leg shield about a shield rotation axis from an open to a closed position with a pivoting of the lap bar assembly about the lap bar rotation axis from a disengage to an engaged position.