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Sunday, March 18, 2012

Rethink Your Dog Roaming Freely

Most of us will admit to firing off a quick text message or eating while driving. Those momentary distractions are all it takes to cause an accident. But there's an equally distracting problem -- one that comes with four legs and a tail.

My dog Lulu likes to protect her turf, and during car rides, her turf includes any and all sidewalks en route to our destination. The offending presence of our neighbor's orange tabby sends her into a tizzy.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), diversions that last more than 2 seconds increase your risk of crashing, so Lulu rides harnessed to the back seat. It's better for Lulu, it's better for me and it's better for that tabby.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It drives me crazy when I see a dog unrestrained in the back of a pick up. A while ago as I was driving home I could see a pick up in the other lane coming the towards me. In the back I could see a couple of kids hanging on and a white german shepperd. They hit a bump and the dog came out and rolled into my front wheel. I was going around 45 mph and the other vehicle was probably doing about the same. So that dog hit my fron tire in excess of 60 mph. There was nothing I could do to avoid him. When I stopped some of the kids came to see if I was alright. They said the dog got up and headed for a nearby field. I doubt whether he could survive.

Anonymous said...

I used to have my dog sitting in the front seat and he was the type that never bothered to even look out the window. However, now my new dog is in constant motion -- in the back window, over the front seat and back and forth. Now he rides in a kennel on the back seat where he is safer and I am not distracted. He might not like it, but for his safety, it is going to be that way.