To think that's it's bloody dangerous to have a dog "loose" in a moving car?

[MamaMaiasaura]

Just really what the title says. Driving behind a ford ka and dog bounding around back seat and between driver and front passenger seat. Crap driver too. So AIBU?

I saw a Jack Russell driving a white van yesterday. He was remarkably good.

I do think it's funny when the car is parked up and the dog is sitting in the driver's seat though.

I don't get why you wouldn't use a harness etc, surely you wouldn't want to risk the dog being badly hurt or killed in an accident?

I once saw a dog go through a windscreen in an accident, smash the windscreen of an oncoming lorry who very luckily didn't hit anything coming the other way. I keep my littlies in cat boxes and the big guys go in the boot with a soft guard. I am lucky I suppose that I have a huge car, but I wouldn't have big dogs if I was unlucky enough to have to drive a KA.

My old girl only ever went unrestrained in the vet visits in her last few months. She just lay on the back seat and whined every time.

When she was younger it was full harness and attached to strapped in seatbelt, plus given the sit command.

And there was usually a human next to her as well.

It may be illegal, but I know a policeman who happily allows his dog to roam freely in the car, and often sit's on his partners lap in the front seat

YANBU - it is illegal because it is dangerous and bloody stupid. One emergency stop could lead to a dead or seriously injured dog.

can you get a harness that works in the boot ? ie no seatbelt in that region ?

Our back seat is taken up with high back boosters so no room for the dog to go there.

Oh i am guilty of this , but mine isnt a bouncer , he just lies down in the passenger footwell . My car is hairy ( well the inside ) and does have a slight wiff of dog about it , although at the moment it smells of sweet meadow hay due to a bale in the boot

My dog is like Houdini... He broke out of his crate that was in the boot... Then our Landrover had a loop on the floor of the boot that we tied his lead to... And he managed to bite through it. I can't even take him to the vet without DH to hold him down.

The rest of the time he's brilliant, but in cars - a nightmare!!!

Probably a damned sight safer than those drivers in our village that drive with their bleeding dogs on their laps.

I was pondering this just yesterday while sat in traffic behind a lady with a large dog (looked like a Labrador) who was sitting right where the gear stick is! I was wondering how on earth she was going to drive, but she drove off without any trouble as soon as the lights changed so I guess her car must have been an automatic. Still looked very dangerous though.

I am shocked it isn't law. It should be for the safety of dogs, dog owners and the general public IMO.

I supposed you'd expect me to restrain my large, teddy-bearesque GS would you? Just so that I could actually see the road/traffic/pedestrians And what about his companion (smaller GS, could clear the back seets from the boot in half a single bound because she moves like greased lightning) s'pose you'd want her restrained too, would you, just to stop them vying for position on my lap, hmm?

Only joking, of course it's bloody dangerous YANBU

I copied this from the Highway Code

"When in a vehicle make sure dogs or other animals are suitably restrained so they cannot distract you while you are driving or injure you, or themselves, if you stop quickly. A seat belt harness, pet carrier, dog cage or dog guard are ways of restraining animals in cars."

YANBU, I saw a woman on the M1 the other day with a small dog on her lap whilst she drove. I have a weimaraner and he is in a harness attached to a seat belt. I certainly wouldn;t want him slamming into me if I had to break suddenly or god forbid, crash!

Our dog goes in a crate (the fabric type) wedged on the back seat. Keeps the car cleaner too.

DD had a classmate with a JRT who used to perch on the dashboard of their van. One day her dad had to brake suddenly.

It is not the law, it just should be the law then. To not secure a dog in a car is a fairly stupid thing to do.

Yes Mutt I did wonder. Although it is common sense to restrain a dog or any animal, person or thing.

When we had cats we used to put them in their carriers and restrain the carriers with a a seat belt.

But how would my dog get to feel the wind in his ears when he sticks his head out the passenger window if he was restrained?

"But how would my dog get to feel the wind in his ears when he sticks his head out the passenger window if he was restrained?"

Tough! If I had a dog, its safety would be more important to me than windy ears.

He could feel the wind in his ears when he flew threw the windscreen.