Well I would guess that he would get thrown against the back seats of the car. It doesn't follow that he would get thrown up into the air and over the seats. In a crate a dog would still get thrown around, that doesn't stop its just they don't end up over the back seats. As said I think I may look into getting a harness but I will not cage him or put up a dog guard. In case of emergency I would want to be able to get to him either through the boot or the passenger doors.
Touch wood, I don't have the need to take him out in the car that often and after 32 years of driving I cannot ever remember having to brake that severely (touch wood again).
Of course it's one of those questions where there are lots of hypothetical scenario's. ie What if you had a shunt in the back which rendered your boot catch unopenable and because you shunted into the car in front your engine caught fire???? I'm sure this type of thing has happened. There would be no way of getting the dogs out. I will continue to be an optimist and take reasonable precautions but you cannot be prepared for every eventuality.
Before i got Billy, i always had Alfie in a harness on my back seat and 9 times out of 10 he was fine but occasionally he'd get himself in a tangle and i'd worry he'd end up breaking a leg trying to free himself I tried having Billy in a harness next to Alfie but billy cried the whole time because he could hardly move so i put a soft crate in my boot for Billy but it got a little too small for him and he still hated it so my only option was to put a guard up and have Billy in there so thats what i did and i tried putting Alfie in there too and surprisingly they both fit, i would prefer to have a fitted crate in the boot for them but i have yet to find one that would fit and leave enough room for them both
Anyway i no longer feel the need to keep checking they're ok and not tangling themselves up and Billy no longer cries so i'm not distracted by them while driving so although i do worry a car could hit into me and the boot might be dificult to open or might fly open etc etc its the best i can do to prevent them distracting me and/or hurting themselves/me if i need to break sharply
The amount of times i see little dogs running around in the back of cars though or with their heads sticking out of the window.... i do think that shouldn't be allowed
I think you're right Lacey, as long as they are prevented from coming forward in a hurry - a pup is one thing, but my boy weighs around 6 stone, and there's no way I want him hitting me, or anyone who might be sitting on the back seat if he was in the boot.
People are horrified at the idea of a child with no seat belt (although I still see it ) but most of our dogs weigh twice that!
I have a problem with dog guards.....I have yet to find one which fits properly (and doesn't fall on top of the dogs whenever I go over a bump ) , which doesn't make the boot space smaller and doesn't interfere with the side airbags.
Having 3 dogs in the boot, I can't have crates as even with fitted ones, they would be like sardines in a tin. The only way I have just enough room for them is if I push all the back seats right forward.....but the proper Scenic dog guard is a full length one for this model and you can't move that forward too, so making moving the seats forward pointless. It would make it very snug in the boot for my three.
None of mine like sitting on the back seats in a harness, the dogs look uncomfortable and get tangled up.
So apart from buying a new larger car, which I can't afford to do, I am more or less stuck with either dogs loose in the boot with no guard, or a badly fitting guard which has to be tied to the headrests of the back seats and possibly interferes with the rear side airbags.
The only thing I can say is that the boot is deep enough and the seats are very high (especially with the headrests up) that I doubt in an accident the dogs would fly over the seats anyway, well unless maybe I rolled the car completely.
my dog guard is specifically for my car make and its fitted really quite well, i was worried it'd fall on them but i check it regularly to make sure it hasn't come a little loose. I don't have side air bags though and i only have 1 lab and a little dog so thankfully they fit in there with room to lay down and move about but if Alfie was a big lab then i doubt they'd fit so well Also without the guard, Billy would jump over the back seats and end up on my lap
I think its just finding a way to secure them as much as possible to make them and you/your passengers as safe as possible
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I tried having Billy in a harness next to Alfie but billy cried the whole time because he could hardly move 
so i put a soft crate in my boot for Billy but it got a little too small for him and he still hated it so my only option was to put a guard up and have Billy in there so thats what i did and i tried putting Alfie in there too and surprisingly they both fit, i would prefer to have a fitted crate in the boot for them but i have yet to find one that would fit and leave enough room for them both 
