There is a dog driving that car!
By lisado
@lisado (1227)
United States
June 3, 2007 6:39am CST
I never understood how people can drive their car effectively when they have their dog sitting on their lap. It drives me nuts!! They are so busy talking to and paying attention to the dog that they aren't paying attention to the road, at least not totally.
And what about the dog's safety? What is the airbag deploys? It'll not only crush the dog, but that would have to be hard on the driver, as well. I've seen car seats for dogs, which I never went so far as to buy, but my dogs always rode in the back seat when I drove. I wouldn't let them in the front, passenger seat, even, as they would try to get on my lap because it was allowed at home.
Anyone know if there is a law agaist a dog being on the driver's lap? Do you think there SHOULD be one of there isn't??
3 responses
@celestemichelle (429)
• United States
8 Jun 07
I agree. I don't know how people drive with a dog in their lap. One woman I knew took her dog hiking with her a lot, and to keep the dog still in the car, the dog wore a harness that she was able to slide the seat belt through. I thought that was a great idea and wonder why I haven't seen more pet owners use them.
The harness was used in place of the dogs collar. It was simple, and went around the dog's neck and behind the front legs, connected by a strap over the chest. The design was good not just for car rides, but when the dog pulled on the lease it wouldn't choke itself because the pressure was on the front of the chest and not the neck.
@lisado (1227)
• United States
15 Jun 07
They make actual "car seats" for small dogs, but I have seen the harnesses in the store like you are talking about. They were slightly expensive, though, so I imagine some people just didn't want to put the money out. My pets are like my kids. Some people don't look at them that way and figure if they die they can just get another.
@lisado (1227)
• United States
28 Jun 07
I don't know how people can drive with their dog running all over. I know my kids can be distracting enough and they're strapped into their car seats! I can't imagine if they were hopping all over the place.
When I took my dogs they weren't ever tied in, either, but I made them lay down in the back seat. They were always good about it. Well, not at first but falling into the floorboard a few times when I hit the brakes pretty much fixed that for me. They learned to lay down after that so they wouldn't fall into the floor.
@celestemichelle (429)
• United States
15 Jun 07
I'm one of those "it's just a dog people", but I still don't need my dog running all over the car while I'm trying to drive.
My mom doesn't leash her dog in the car, but he either lays down in the floor or the lap of a passenger, so isn't a problem.
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
3 Jun 07
I learned my lesson about dogs in the front seat when the rottie saw a cat that he really wanted to "play" with. Thankfully there were no cars around when it happened or I would have had a pretty nasty accident. Even the small dogs can cause problems if they get too excited or start barking and scare the driver. I don't even what to think of what would happen if the air bag went off.
@lisado (1227)
• United States
15 Jun 07
That was my big fear. You hear all of the time about how kids shouldn't ride in the front since they could be killed by the airbag, but no one ever mentions all of the dogs I see in the front seat. I imagine it could kill the small ones easily. Well, I guess my second fear was that they would jump out the window, so I made sure to keep the windows up so their body wouldn't fit if they tried.
@Sir_bobby88 (8231)
• Singapore
3 Jun 07
Yea it is very dangerous to let a dog to drive the car .... there should be such a law implement since we humans are so foolish to risk our life yea
