# Should there be laws against letting your dog ride unrestrained inside your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384 "2011-10-21T18:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/21 "2011-10-23T02:44:37Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Wow I had no idea this was even an issue. > > I have one small dog who occasionally rides in the car but I’ve always made him stay in the back seat. He does get a little overexcited when we stop at lights but as soon as we’re moving again he’s still and a little shaky legged. > > Could be my driving though. 😉 Yabbut my friend regularly drives with a fully-grown golden retriever, a mutt that’s about 80 lbs, and some other dog that’s just a little smaller than those two. A lassie dog? i think? Anyway they are fairly big, and she drives like a maniac to boot. I worry when she gets behind the wheel! ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/22 "2011-10-23T02:54:40Z")
The assumption is that those drivers who let their dogs sit on their laps love and dote on their dogs. Maybe if it was clarified for them just what exactly would happen in the event of even a minor front-end collision. Air bag pops out; dog, while providing additional cushioning for the driver, gets mooshed and dies. When we are in my car I am very happy to have our little dog lying on the console between us, well away from the air bags. Still a potential projectile, though he wouldn’t have far to go in any direction. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/23 "2011-10-23T18:12:59Z")
Yes, at least the early air bags killed women, children, and pets. I think the advice is still not to let kids ride in the front. The console is somewhat like the front floor where my puppies ride. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/24 "2011-10-23T18:52:10Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Our dogs are trained to ride on the floor of the front seat. If there is an accident, they aren’t going anywhere and they are down out of the way of the killer air bags… > [@flatlined](#): > > This is why I always transport critters in carriers (carriers are seat belted in as well) or a seatbelt harness. Humans must wear seat belts. In case of an accident, I don’t want to be hit by flying passengers… In case of car accident how is an unrestrained dog going to react to the paramedics attempting to give medical treatment and/or remove it’s master (who might be critacly injured, unconcious, delusional, or dead)? Restraining a dog (in a harness or carrier) isn’t just for it’s own safety; it’s for the safety of the first responders trying to save the human driver & passengers lives. I voted for yes, it should be a law. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/25 "2011-10-23T19:24:09Z")
I was driving with my sister to another state; her husband was working a job up there, and she was taking a few things plus the 2 year old to stay with him for the couple months he was going to be working. She didn’t want to drive alone, so I went along; we also had a german shepherd in the back, and a .38 on the dash, so as not to circumvent any concealed weapons laws. We’re on the interstate, not speeding, and a statie pulls us over. He’s in his car a minute, then comes out with gun drawn, acting VERY on alert. He comes up slowly to the car, looks in the window, puts his gun away and apologizes. He said he thought he saw a kid hanging out the window; it had been the dog. The two year old was safely in her car seat and sawing logs. To this day, though, I wonder why even seeing a kid hanging out the window is cause for drawing a firearm. 😕 As far as OUR firearm went, he said that it would be better to keep it in the glove box and just warn any other cops if for some reason we were stopped again, lol. ANYWAY…it’s up to the driver to make sure they aren’t distracted. And any driver with a dog in the lap ought to automatically get a ticket for distracted driving, period. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384/26 "2011-10-23T20:41:46Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > In case of car accident how is an unrestrained dog going to react to the paramedics attempting to give medical treatment and/or remove it’s master (who might be critacly injured, unconcious, delusional, or dead)? Errr… the same way they’re react if a first responder showed up for a domestic medical emergency? > [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > I don’t need a law to stop me wanting 30kgs of dog turning into a 300kg missile should I be unfortunate enough to be in an accident. I bought a 60lb bag of concrete the other day. Should I have restrained it? Do I need to tell my groceries buckle up? Our 15 pound mutt usually curls up in the back seat for a nap. She knows better than to try to get in my lap while I’m driving. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-laws-against-letting-your-dog-ride-unrestrained-inside-your-car/600384.md?page=1)