Hi there

My hubby, who is a police officer says there is no law currently stipulating how your dog is transported in your car.

However the dog should be under control at all times, if your attnetion is drawn to the dog and you cause and accident or have one, you can be prosecuted for dangerous driving.

 

thanks for that I do restrain them but i have to have the spread them between the two back seats and and the boot, at least i know i am not breaking the law, I needed to be sure otherwise I would have been camping in a cell instead of a field given the week I am having so far :roll:

 

I never knew that Nat, I thought it was the law to have them restrained.

FROM THE HIGHWAY CODE;

43: 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 if you stop quickly.


If a dog on the back seat is loose and you have a head on impact, then the dog could certainly injure if not, kill you.

 

I always thought they had to be restrained as well, CJ and Cindy travel in crates, neither will put up with the harness`s that attach to belts, Cindy chews thru the seat belt to get free 8O , and CJ gets himself so twisted up he can`t move :roll:

 

RJJ....
You say they are restrained, maybe if you say how it will help ?

I think the main concern would be if it was a 2 third / 1 third seat break down set up ( if that makes sense ) and a human was on the 1 remaining third.... that might be deemed as ' uncontrolled ' as injury could occur.

HTH

 

Hi Tammy

A dog bouncing around, moving from one seat to another, this would cause you to be distracted, basically if you have to keep checking in your mirrors to se what your dogs are doing, then your dogs would be out of your control if thta makes sense.

The Highway code believe it or not is recommendation, there are no laws based on the highway code it is at its name suggests a code of conduct on the road, all laws pertaining to vehicles have to come under the road traffic act.

PS: Good to see you back Rhoni :wink:

 

Sorry Nat if that was coming across that I was questioning what your husband said, I truely wasn't.

I just put the HC section, for reference only. Really to backup what you said.

 

When I 1st got Molly, she was never restrained in the car, but having witnessed an accident where the dog was positioned loose on the back seat, I soon changed my views which resulted in a change of car to an estate model and the purchase of a crate for the now 2 girls to travel in,

I must admit, it is much nicer to be driving with the knowledge that they are both as safe as they can be, and I can concentrate on the more important task of driving safely

I have also heard of an accident where the dog was not restrained, and upon opening the doors to free the passengers, the dog escape into the path of passing vehicles to be run over & killed

 

I would imagine it's up to you to make sure they are safe and not distracting you, secure them however they travel best and can do themselves/passengers no harm.

Even if they're secured, if they're not happy and thrashing about then they could still cause enough of a distraction to impair your driving, and I'm sure you could still be done for driving without due care...

 

Sorry Nat if that was coming across that I was questioning what your husband said, I truely wasn't.

I just put the HC section, for reference only. Really to backup what you said.

Hi Tammy, nope didn't take it that way hun :wink: :lol:

 

Is there not a law trying to be passed to say they have to be crated or harnessed or have I made that up and dreamt it~?? :roll:

I have to say pre work mine were loose in boot with guard, now for work I have crates and harnesses and feelfar better that they are restrained more

 

I heard that too, Carroll. I heard it two or three weeks ago from the trainer who takes Charlie's and Topsy's dog classes.

I am not sure if it is in force already, or still a proposal.

Personally, I use a doggie seatbelt for Charlie and usually a small crate for Topsy (though she too uses a harness if going in the car without Charlie).

Remember that if you have to brake hard then a loose dog is not just a danger to themselves, but also to everyone sitting in front. Imagine, for the sake of argument, 30+ kg of labrador being launched forward at 70 mph. Imagine the possible damage that could do, not just to the dog but to the driver and/or passengers.

Helen.

 

The amount of little dogs I see bouncing around the car is unbelievable! And what about those dogs who have virtually half their upper body sticking out the window 8O As funny as it looks it makes me cross :evil:

 

I too thought it was the law to have them restrained. My two girls travel with harnesses through seatbelts on the back seat. I would never let them loose in the car and I can't believe how many people do. Sonia, just like you it makes me mad when I see people lettting their dog stick their head out of the window, I just saw one yesterday and the window was completely open. Madness! Don't they think? I would have thought it would be common sense, obviously I must be wrong...

Just wondering, when you use crates in an estate car, do you secure the crate or is it just loose in the back? I just wonder when dogs are loose in the crate and the crate is loose too, if you break dosen't it move and the dogs in side get wobbling. Sorry if this sounds stupid, I have always wondered and never tried.

 

My crates have been specially made for my car so are a snug fit with no room to move,if I were to use normal square crates I would buy the straps to secure it in the boot.

 

Just wondering, when you use crates in an estate car, do you secure the crate or is it just loose in the back? I just wonder when dogs are loose in the crate and the crate is loose too, if you break dosen't it move and the dogs in side get wobbling. Sorry if this sounds stupid, I have always wondered and never tried.

Mine is a "made to measure" one , it fits very snuggly in the boot, and it has 2 compatrments; 1 for each dog... only trouble is, if I changed the car, it probably wouldn't fit another make/model...

I had similar thoughts to you on standard crates moving around

 

I used to tie the crate down with bungie straps, wrapped very tightly. No movement at all. Now I just have a dog guard and I lock the boot. They are all pretty good travellers anyway and dont mess around in the back - even when all put in together.

 

Nope definately not a law passed at the moment, absolutely 100%.

Whether there is a bill being put forward i don't know

 

After reading this thread I am really confused now. When I got Bo 4 wks ago his owner told me he travelled without a dog guard. So he came back from Bolton to Wiltshire as good as gold. He makes no attempt to clamber over the seats even if he see's other dogs. She told me she didn't like dog guards because if someone crashed/shunted into the back of your car and crushed the boot and you couldn't get the boot open the dog could be trapped. I guess that also follows if you have got dogs in crates in the back.
Personally I wouldn't want my dog on the back seat of my new car, it's used for things like grandchildren. My husband and I share a car between us and we would be forever having to take the crates out of the car and putting them back in. If restraining your dog becomes law I'd opt for a harness that could be attached to anchor points in the boot. :?

 

So if he travels unrestrained, what happens when you have to brake in a huge hurry on a fast road?

 

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 :roll: 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 :roll:

Sorry for rambling

 

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 :roll: ) 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 :roll: ) , which doesn't make the boot space smaller and doesn't interfere with the side airbags. :roll:

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. :roll:

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 :roll:

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