Using dog car safety products when travelling with your pet is of utmost importance. Here is why…

Dog Car Safety Products and the Law

To begin with, properly restraining your dog (or any other animal you are travelling with, for that matter) is a legal requirement. The Highway Code’s Rule 57 clearly states that as a driver, you are responsible for suitably restraining your dog (or other animal) in your vehicle to prevent it distracting or injuring you – or itself – during emergency stops or accidents.

This is not a rule made up to annoy both owners and their pets, but a rule necessitated by the fact that any loose object (and this includes your pet) becomes a high-speed projectile in the event of a sudden emergency stop or collision.

A dog weighing just 10 lbs, for example, would, in the event of an accident at 30mph, be thrown forward at such speed that it would exert a force of around 500 lbs. An 80 lb dog would, under the same circumstances, exert a total force of about 2400 lbs.

This phenomenon is known among safety experts as the ‘canine cannonball’ effect – and it leads us neatly into the next, and probably most important reason to secure your pet properly before setting out in the car: the risk of injury and potentially even death.

The Canine Cannonball

Being hit by something exerting forces equivalent to anything between 500 and 2400 lbs (or hitting something at such forces) has the potential to cause serious injuries and even death to yourself, other passengers or indeed your beloved pet. In other words, your pet’s life may well depend on being properly restrained in your vehicle – and so may your own or that of one of your children.

Finally…

Last, but by no means least, there is, of course, also the risk of an unrestraint pet distracting you or other drivers and subsequently causing an accident.

What would happen if your dog was to suddenly decide he wants to sit on your (the driver’s) lap? Would you be able to maintain control over your vehicle and keep an eye on the road while trying to remove him?

Similarly, while your dog may love to stick his head out of the window, this is not only dangerous for him but also a distraction for other drivers – so don’t allow him to do it (surely, you wouldn’t allow your children to hang their heads out of a moving vehicles’ windows, so why let your pet do it?!)

Again, properly restraining your pet using dog car safety products can prevent accidents and subsequent potentially serious injuries or death to yourself, your pet and others.

Petshop Direct

We carry a wide range of high-quality car safety products for pets, including seat belt harnesses, pet carriers, dog cages and guards by major brands at competitive prices. To learn more about available products & and how to use them safely, call us on +44 (0) 20 8169 0099 today.