Do you secure your animals in your vehicle?

[speedog]

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.

[Hallowed_point]

Yep sure do!

[dr_jared88]

I can't say I secure my dog but he stays in the hatch behind the rear seat of our SUV. He is not allowed up front and typically just says down so he really isn't a distraction. It would be a pretty freak accident I would think to to cause him to come over the back seat to cause additional damage to an occupant.

Too be honest, I think the people with the little dogs on their laps hopping from seat to seat is way more of an issue.

[spike98]

I do not buckle my dog in either of our vehicles but he is restricted to the back seat and thats it. I did try buckling him in with a harness before but he would always get tangle in the thing and in a few instances almost choked himself. I do however understand the risk and as he is 16-18 lbs, i am fine with that.

[killramos]

No never have. From back of a pickup to front seat of a convertible my dogs have always jsut sat there.

I do understand that if something happened the dog would be toast though...

Edit:

I do actually kennel my cat but that's for protection of Upholstery

[E46..sTyLez]

RIP to the life lost, but I wouldn't start blaming accidents on loose pets. Other factors played a role in this collision I'm sure. You could easily make an argument against elderly drivers from this incident too...

I have a 115lb dog, and no..he is not secured in a cage etc in the vehicle with me. Of course everything is safer when secured, but you aren't going to secure a 40lb bag of rice or garden soil in a cage either are you?

I will however agree that your pet should not be on your lap when driving, that's just dumb. In fact, I'm willing to bet under certain circumstances, it would warrant a distracted driving fine etc.

[killramos]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez

I will however agree that your pet should not be on your lap when driving, that's just dumb. In fact, I'm willing to bet under certain circumstances, it would warrant a distracted driving fine etc.

[Kloubek]

Nope - I do not strap in my dog.

In my family CX9, he remains in the cargo area in the back. He knows he's not allowed to leave that area, and doesn't - hence no distraction running about the vehicle... though that wouldn't stop him from being a flying missile in the event of an accident.

When driving my offroader, he is free to go where he wishes - including the passenger seat. But unless he's super excited, he never interferes with my driving. At least, not via physical contact; his unique Staffy whining when overly excited is most certainly annoying and potentially a distraction.

He did try laying down in my lap when he was a puppy, but I put a quick end to that. You gotta use common sense....

[ercchry]

nope, im cool with it...

this is how she sits in the car



and in the truck we flip up the back seats and she gets the entire floor for activities... also cant even see out the window in the truck when its like that. she usually just stands back there with her head on the middle arm rest and licks my elbow

[Cos]

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[Canucks3322]

It fucking pisses me off so much when I see people driving with their god damn fucking dogs on their laps. ..

[speedog]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
RIP to the life lost, but I wouldn't start blaming accidents on loose pets. Other factors played a role in this collision I'm sure. You could easily make an argument against elderly drivers from this incident too...

I have a 115lb dog, and no..he is not secured in a cage etc in the vehicle with me. Of course everything is safer when secured, but you aren't going to secure a 40lb bag of rice or garden soil in a cage either are you?

I will however agree that your pet should not be on your lap when driving, that's just dumb. In fact, I'm willing to bet under certain circumstances, it would warrant a distracted driving fine etc.

This accident was the result of a driver being distracted by an animal on their lap. Yes, possibly the driver being elderly was another contributing factor but the driver did say to the police that she was paying attention to her dog in her lap and turned left without looking. Sight lines north-south at that location are very good unless the motorcyclist was excessively speeding (130kph or more) and even then, the sight lines are good. No skid marks from the motorcyclist - they hit the side of the senior's car at speed (50kph for that section).

With respect to securing companion animals as compared to 10kg bags of sugar - chances are that dog owners more often have a dog in their vehicle than a 10kg bag of sugar or a 40lb bag of rice. That said, any heavy items I transport in my vehicles are always in the very rear of my vehicle with as much vehicle structure (seats) possible between those items and myself. A 115 pound dog in a sudden emergency stop situation or roll over becomes a very impressive amount of uncontrolled mass - something that will easily snap a the neck of a human who is belted in.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Cos
+1

Also I never got how caging an animal was any safer. If anything, now you have a plastic and metal cage with a live animal it in floating around.

Secure the cage to a seatbelt or tie down points. The point is that an animal bouncing around in a secured small kennel space is less apt to be injured in an accident than if bouncing around in the cabin of a vehicle.

[01RedDX]

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[E46..sTyLez]

Originally posted by speedog

This accident was the result of a driver being distracted by an animal on their lap. Yes, possibly the driver being elderly was another contributing factor but the driver did say to the police that she was paying attention to her dog in her lap and turned left without looking.

My point was that the individual has a lot to do with it. For instance, I would never let a dog distract my driving. My little boy threw a half eaten mushy cheese string at my face before, followed by a yogurt tube, and I just starred straight forward until I could turn off into a parking lot to clean myself up. Some people realize how import safe driving is, some do not.

Plus, I already agreed dog on lap=retarded.

My dog has SHIT in the backseat while driving on deerfoot before! Still just kept on trucking until I could pull over.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/226639/ge...ut-of-integra/

[speedog]

Update - motorcyclist did lock up brakes for about 20' per news reports and I can verify this as I just drive through there and saw the skid marks. Apparently the rider suffered massive head injuries when he impacted the car.

[clem24]

I used to put a harness on a dog but after reading about them, decided against them.

http://dogtime.com/do-pet-seat-belts-really-work.html

There was a video of a slo-mo crash and in all cases, the dog fared much worse while strapped in, and in a few of the vids, the dummy dog actually got decapitated by the seatbelt/harness combo.

My dogs are in the hatch in my car. My little dog likely won't become a projectile as she's too small to come over the seat, but my big dog, not so sure. Safest place is definitely either a kennel, or as in the case of my old Subaru, a wire separator. This one mounted into factory holes through bolts, so no chance of it coming loose. However, the 'universal' fit ones (that only use the pressure to keep them in place), I would never trust in the event of a crash, and if anything, would probably serve as a projectile in the event of an accident.

In our minivan though, our dogs are right on the seat. I should probably put them in the hatch...

[codetrap]

In the truck bed, yes. Inside the truck no.

[heavyfuel]

I let my cat run around in my truck when I have to take him to the vet. Sometimes he gets on the dash and obstructs my view as I'm texting and/or eating at the wheel lol

[Masked Bandit]

We don't currently have an animal but I don't take issue with them being "loose" in the car if they are not sitting on the driver's lap. That's the situation that pisses me off, when you see someone (usually older person) driving around with a dog in their lap obstructing the driver. Just effin' stupid.