Don’t get distracted by unrestrained pets on a road trip
Summer is a season of travel. More people hit the road during the warmer months, whether to visit friends and family, explore new places or go on outdoor adventures. And the good news is, many summer travelers take their pets along. But, are pet parents taking enough precautions to keep everyone in their car safe?
Drivers often think nothing of adjusting a GPS system, changing music or petting a furry passenger while driving, but the implications of taking eyes off the road, hands off the wheel or minds off of driving, can be very serious.
Distracted driving, and a failure to pay attention to road and traffic conditions, cause 25 to 30 percent of police-reported traffic crashes, which add up to roughly 1.2 million crashes each year. In addition, roughly 20 percent of car accident injuries involve distracted driving.
Distracted driving is of most concern in summer, when it typically reaches its peak, as more younger drivers take to the road and more people in general take the opportunity to travel, explore or visit family. Traveling with pets compounds this concern, as unrestrained pets can cause distractions and make accidents more dangerous.
If there is nothing restraining a pet in a hard stop or car accident, the pet can become a projectile, and potentially collide with fellow pets or human passengers.
Such a collision could be catastrophic, regardless of a pet’s size. A 10-pound dog in a 50 mph car crash, exerts 500 pounds of force. Meanwhile, an 80-pound dog in a 30 mph crash, exerts 2,400 pounds of force.
Unrestrained pets may also fall or jump out of open windows, or flee the car in fear after a crash, potentially becoming lost, injured or worse.
A quality, rigorously tested pet restraint can make all the difference in preventing distracted driving, and keeping human and pet passengers safe during an accident. Interestingly, an American Automobile Association (AAA) survey found that, while more than 80 percent of drivers admitted that they recognize the dangers of driving with an unrestrained pet, only 16 percent used pet restraints.
Pets should always be restrained in a back seat to prevent them from injury if an airbag is deployed. If the owner cannot restrain their pet with a reputable, tested car restraint, the next safest option is to place the pet in the footwell behind the front seat.
Smaller pets are safer when fully contained in a restrained carrier, while larger dogs should ride in a car safety harness that does not connect the pet with an extension tether. Pets should be unable to slide forward far enough to “submarine” or drop off the seat, at any point during a collision.
