Well I have always insisted that my passengers and I fasten our seatbelts even before they were compulory and that had nothing to do with how I drive LOL but I do know for a fact that I do not want to endanger myself, passengers or our dogs by risking one of them being thrown forwards and killing someone in the car as well as the dog for the sake of a small chance it may never happen!

I wouldn't be able to slep at night if something happened due to me being soft and saying "well the dogs don't like being restrained and cry so I won't secure them" or "the noise they make is a distraction" A) the dogs would get used to being restrained if done from the start as with our dogs and B) sometimes drivers have to switch off from distractions in the car - anyone who has had children chattering and argeing will understand and you don't hear of the drivers involved in an accident blaming the kids chatting in the back of the car, or bickering!

Precisely, so with that thought , why risk your passengers lives!!


Argh I see, why is that then,!!

Could it be the risk of you beign seriously injured or killed if an accident happened ... if you have no seat belt on, your risk of death is increased!!

Yet you cant see the same risk for your dog

Hiya Esme
There are a few options of keeping Monty 'restrained', but still giving him freedom.
Teagan is too big to sit on the back seat (harnessed in), so I have her in the boot, behind a dog guard.
I've got a fairly big car (CR-V), so she can sit/stand/lay down/change position comfortably, without being stressed

There is a middle seatbelt that comes from the roof, which I can also attach her harness to if I don't have the dog guard in.

If Monty is scared of the windscreen wiper, just don't use it!
Chris car doesn't have a back wiper, and it's annoying at first, but you get used to it lol

Because it is minimal and I don't wish to spend my life thinking I'm going to die or be seriously injured every time I get in my car, I much prefer a more positive spin on life.

For the amount of miles I do annually in my car I consider my risk of being in an
accident minimal. Last year I did 6000 miles and my average journey is probably about 15 miles in length so this also lowers the likelihood of a high speed accident because the majority of my driving is town driving with a maximum of 30mph in most places I drive.

Of course monty wasn't in the car for all of those 6000 miles and his average travelling time in the car to our walking locations is probably only about 10 minutes for an average weekday walk. At weekends we may go further afield.

Taking all this into consideration I still consider my risk of accident to be minimal and therefore minimal risk to myself and my dog and that is why I don't feel he needs to be harnessed into the car.

An accident can happen metres away from home - I do much less than 6000 miles a year but our dogs are in the boot of the Scenic with a secure dog guard and seat belt to keep them safe.

Id get a dog guard & stick him in the boot (& not use the rear Wiper) With the dog guard he cant jump over the seat. I never hasd mine restrained years , until one new years day firework went off & dog bolted to hide, under neath my legs.....................on the pedals!!!!!

I have just spoken to my father who is a retired police officer and read him some of this including the above quote.
He said you show a blatent disregard to the safety not only of yourself and your dog but to the safety of other road users and pedestrians. Your insurance could be void in any accident and you could then be facing criminal charges if someone is injured and that someone could be an innocent child.
He only hopes someone reports you before you do cause an accident and he hopes you realise your insurance premiums would then shoot up.
If you don't care about the risk to yourself and Monty then for goodness sake at least give a damn about someone else who could be injured.

You don't seem to realize that by watching him in your wing mirror & laughing he is distracting you & therefore the Road Traffic Act is being broken

You don't need to have an accident, if you brake quickly & your dog is not restrained, he could end up going into the back of a front seat & being seriously injured as well as injuring you.

If you don't give a damn for your own safety fine-but Monty has no choice in the matter

Well that's really nice to know that someone who knows nothing about me and has never even met me has apparently got me sussed by one thread on a forum.

I find your post incredibly offensive and downright rude. If you like i'll PM you my registration number and my postcode and the details of my local police station and you can report me if you wish.

Oh and while you're at it you better report the millions of other people who don't restrain their dogs in their cars.

To say that I don't care about other people or their well-being is absolute rubbish and you should know that.

Nor should you stress that its going to happen again, but so far that is two more accidents you've had than I have, yet that doesn't mean that I'm more likely to have one before you are....

What about if you had an accident and tried to get out of your car, but the dog ran out of the car past you and got hit by another car, caused another accident, which resulted in fatalities, yours, his, or the other driver?

I watched emergency a and e on tv yesterday, a woman was sitting at a roundabout waiting to go when another woman blacked out and smashed full on into her, she ended up with severe internal bleeding and had to have major surgery - she wasn't on a big busy roundabout either, what if that happened and your dogs head was in the way? He'd be crushed and you would forevermore think, what if?

At least if you have him in the boot without the wiper on, you know that should the worst happen you've done everything right by your dog and for your own safety, what if you get rear ended and its only a small bump but enough to send your dog flying into your seat, propelling you forwards, your body may stop but your organs won't necessarily, and you could end up dying, all so that you can use the rear wiper?

Don't mean to sound harsh, but the last thing in the world anything wants is for you to have an accident and have avoidable consequences if the worst were to happen.....