For the companion animal owners out there - do you secure your animals in your vehicle when they are with you in your vehicle? Either kennelled or belted in with a harness?
The reason I ask is I've always had concerns about companion animals being unsecured in a vehicle - they can become dangerous objects in a collision and they can also impede one's ability to properly operate a vehicle.
This came to the forefront today with the death of a motorcyclist on 4th Street NW right next to the Calgary North veterinary Clinic - the motorcyclist was NB on 4th Street NW and had an elderly driver turn left in front of him. Guy basically t-boned the senior's car and died on the spot - know this because my niece was second person on the scene and assisted in moving the motorcyclist's body into a recovery position. Also heard from some neighbour who over heard the police interviewing the elderly driver who was in the process of taking their small dog to that vet and it appears that the senior was distracted by the dog in their lap resulting in them turning directly across the path of the motorcyclist who had no time to react.
So if the senior's small dog had been in a harness and secured to a seatbelt or had been in a kennel (also secured), would this accident have occurred? Difficult to say but the probability of the situation unfolding as it did would have been most likely been quite a bit different.
All I know is that most pet owners do not secure their companion animals when those animals are in a moving vehicle - my cats are in a kennel that is secured as best as possible when they are in my vehicle but my experience as someone in the pet industry has shown me that this is not the norm - go to any dog park and just watch how many dogs get into/out of vehicles and aren't secured in any fashion. Yeah, they might be behind the rear seat in a closed of area (which is somewhat better) but they still aren't secured and even a 30-40 pound dog is going to be represent an impressive amount of unsecured weight in a vehicle that is all of a sudden in an accident - an unsecured weight that can easily take down a wire barrier or do even worse damaged if in the middle or front of a vehicle. Put it this way, I wouldn't want a 22 pound of sugar coming at me if my vehicle was in an accident and many dogs are at least that weight or more.
Anyhow, my thoughts are with both the dead motorcyclist's family and the senior and their family as well - this was a tragic accident that probably didn't have to happen. All around crappy deal.