I used to let our dogs sit on the console, in the back seat, OMG! on the front passenger seat.

But I've wised up. We only have one now and she stays in the back seat harnessed and buckled in.

Take the pledge. http://www.barkbuckleup.com/

Putting your dog in the car without proper restraints is EQUALLY as irresponsible as carrying around your children with no car seats or seat belts.

My two biggest pet peeves - dogs in the front seat, and dogs hanging out windows/in backs of trucks, for the reasons you mentioned (I too, have seen what CAN happen to these poor animals).

Subsequently all of our dogs wear seat belts, they are all confined to the back seat (airbags kill dogs too!!) by both their belts AND a visual canvas barrier. If they are allowed to stick their heads out the window, they MUST have on their Doggles. They understand that one comes with the other, so I have one dog who just doesn't bother with the windows, while the other two will tolerate the Doggles happily if it means they get to surf the wind currents.

I've seen two separate dogs lose eyes to flying debris while driving with their heads out the window.

I think that seatbelts or kennels should be a requirement for any animals traveling in any vehicle. Watch the Mythbusters episode on flying projectiles from the back seat and you will see how quickly even a lightweight dog can end up not only injuring itself, but anything in its way as it flies through the air.

I have a two door and can stuff my four dogs, three of them 50-60 pounds, in the back seat with restraints and only two seatbelts, with double clipping.

I don't understand how people can drive with pets milling about.

I'm all for seatbelts and crates. Though I cringe when I see dogs loose in cars, when I ride in my boyfriend's car I let my dog stay on my lap. I shouldn't do that, he has a harness that I should make him use.

Even a low speed collision can cause the air bag to release...he'd be smushed. :(

My boyfriend's dog sits quietly in his lap looking out the window but it is so unsafe.

I got my dog a seat belt mostly because she used to fall over every time I turned a corner. :) She would also stand up on her hind legs in the back seat and stare at the person behind us. Now when she gets in the car, she calmly waits for me to put the harness on and clip it together. She does ride in the front (my car has an passenger air bag sensor, so the air bag doesn't turn on if whatever is riding in that seat is under a certain weight) because she complains loudly if I strap her in the back.

One of my parents' dogs, however, chewed through his seat belt within a few minutes of being strapped in for the first time...

Name it after a Rich Kid. WOW made her day or longer ??? (oh its not a bad law ), But the reason behind it.

My dogs NEVER travel in my vehicle without being in a crate. A hard plastic crate, as wire crushes too easily and things go through them too easily as well. Like glass. This happened to a friend of mine who had a serious accident with three dogs in the van, all crated. The one in the wire crate was the only one injured, by projectiles, broken glass and a partially crushed crate.

Seatbelts are better than nothing, but I wonder how many emergency personnel are willing to reach in and untether an injured, frightened dog. And then what. So much easier to unload a crate and put it to the side or into another vehicle. Dogs riding loose are going to be just that...loose and gone, if they survive the crash.

Crates are the safest.

That Govenor OR ANY OTHERS could make a lot of money for their StateS, by selling rich folks, laws with their names on them....LOL....(ok) silly but true.

My dogs have harnesses that get buckled in. They get so excited when I pull the harnesses out!
I've seen what happens when owner and pooch hit the windshield at 35 mph. Owner was in a coma for 2 days, dog was in an oxygen cage and coma for a week...seatbelt is definitely cheaper!

Dr. k, I seem to recall you bringing this subject up on Dolittler and you specifically said were going to go get seatbelts for your dogs.. There are good seatbelts out there that stil allow the dog to move but keep them from becomimg a deadly missile to the driver or passenger and at the very least preven them from going through the windshield!!

So how come your dogs are not important enough to you to put them in seatbelts.. I assume you and your son both wear them..
Yup I am calling you out on this one!!

i never drive without my dogs being restrained its dangerous for you and the dog and i would never put a dog in back of a pickup for road driving though i have let them ride when out in the pasture feeding cattle top speed maybe 10 mph.

I did buy one. And it's great. But I don't use it as often as I should.

Kitties need to be restrained, too! I put mine in a regular hard plastic carrier in the back seat, and strap the carrier in with the seat belt. I have to use the middle seat belt though since I have airbags on both sides of the back seat.

I often ride with 3 dogs in a small car. The two Cockers ride together in a Vari Kennel in the back seat. The Tibetan Spaniel rides in a Sherpa Bag strapped into the passenger seat by the seat belt. They are no distraction to me and I hope won't be thrown from the car in an accident.

My aunt's neighbor's small dog usually rode with her in the passenger seat. One day it decided to jump to the floor and the driver put out her hand to keep the dog in the seat. Even though she was driving a couple blocks from home in familiar territory at low speed, she wrecked the car and killed the dog when it hit the dashboard. Fortunately in this completely unnecessary situation, she did not hit anyone else.

I think all distractions should be against the law. Drinking coffee, lose animals, texting, talking on the phone. They should be heavily prosecuted when there is an accident like the one above. Certainly huge insurance rates would be deterrent enough.

Dr. Khuly, what would you say to your clients if they told you they were not giving a life saving drug to their dog "as often as they should"?.... Coulda, woulda, shoulda is no good after the fact. You of all people know accidents happen. How long does it take to put on a seatbelt...

I believe it took 10 years of repeated work to get the law past forbidding dogs "loose" in the back of open pickup trucks.

That said, I know of one person that allows their dog on their lap while driving---crazy and dangerous.

I personally know of one dog that died in the back of an "enclosed pickup" by impact with a loose lawnmower , after the truck collided with a TT. A lap dog passenger was saved , although the human 'mom' died, by slipping under the deployed airbag to the floor.

If I drive a long distance (and really it shouldn't matter to be honest), I put mine in a crate in the back seat, particularly for highway driving.

Hanging out the window? Never! A big no no for me.

I completely agree that pets should be restrained, but at the risk of being lambasted - I am that idiot who allows the dog to stand on the back seat while driving. (hanging head in shame)

So, does anyone know where I can get a giant doggy seatbelt? Because I desperately need to find one.

When it comes to my cats, they are always crated, and the crate is always strapped into the car with a seatbelt. My dog is another story. She is a Great Dane, a small Dane, but a Dane nonetheless. The only crates I've seen that are large enough to hold her will not fit into my car.

So, yes, I know I should get a seatbelt. I *tried* to seatbelt her on Monday, but that was futile. She will typically lie down along the back seat after a few minutes, but I know she should be restrained.

Yesterday was really bad. She tried to pull out her sutures, and I had to rush her back to the surgeon. She wouldn't leave the sutures alone during the drive; so, I had to put an e-collar on her in the car. So, I had a giant dog, wearing a massive e-collar, standing in the back of my car. It makes for a funny story, but I'm shocked I didn't get pulled over.

Posey: Try the chanpion seat belt system.
They have them in huge sizes as well. This is what I use and have found it the best I have tried ( one of many ).
http://www.usak9outfitters.com/

Are there any studies showing safety of dogs that were restrained during impacts? Not whether they were prevented from flying out the window, but rather whether they're actually safe in the event of an accident.

I know a dog who was wearing a seatbelt restraint harness when her owner's car was rear-ended. I think she ended up with back trauma; she acted like she was in pain after the accident and now when her owner gets out the harness she runs and hides. (Vet didn't find anything, but I don't think they even did X-rays.)

There are all kinds of studies about how a human body reacts to restraints during impact, and restraint systems have been designed and redesigned to accommodate them. Where are the doggy studies? Have they been done? What do they show?

For reference: I wear a seatbelt myself every time; I wear a helmet and body protector every single time I get on a horse. I'm a fierce advocate of tested safety protocols. I just want to know what testing has been done.

I can't fit a crate big enough to contain my dog, inside my car, but he does wear a harness, both to protect him in the event of an accident and to prevent him from causing an accident. I do allow him to hang his head out the window depending on the road, traffic and how fast we're going. He absolutely lives for the wind in his jowls, ears flapping in the breeze sensation and sometimes a dog just has to be a dog. We all take risks and do exciting things to make life more fun and interesting. For my dog, it's all about hanging his head out the window. I am looking at Doggles to protect his eyes. I'll feel silly but I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who will be driving around with a dog wearing goggles :)

I am also shopping for a new harness, the one from Petsmart is wearing out. I would like to get one that is designed to minimize chest and limb damage in an accident, but I can't tell which ones those might be just by looking at them and I'm not silly enough to buy based solely on the manufacturer's sales pitch. Any recommendations?

1. You come across the scene of an accident. An adult, a child, and a dog had been in one verhicle. None were wearing seatbelts. All were thrown from the car. All were dead.

2. You come across the scene of an accident. An adult, a child and a dog had been in the car. None were wearing seatbelts. All were thrown from the car. All still clung to life. The emergency medical responders worked vigilently to save the lives of the adult and the child. The dog was curled up on the ground, in pain, severly suffering from the external and internal injuries it sustained. The dog in it's quest for self preservation had attempted to dragged itself closer to the humans with the hope of getting the care it needed. Instead it caused additional internal injuries, and was left to suffer until the humans were cared for and the highway department started cleaning up the accident. By then, the dog needed to be put out of it's suffering.

3. You come across the scene of an accident. An adult, a child and a dog had been in the car. The adult and the child had been seatbelted in. The dog had been lose. The adult and child suffered injuries, but would be okay. The dog suffered injuries that ended his life. The adult and the child were heartbroken at the death of their beloved dog.

4. You come across the scene of an accident. An adult, a child and a dog had all been in the car. All had been seatbelted in. All suffered injuries, but all would be okay.

If you are driving down the highway and come across the scene of an accident, what scenario would you prefer to find?

If you are driving down the road and you are in an accident. Which scenario would you like the emerency responders to find?