Buckle-Up Your Pet in Your Car – Pet Seatbelt

In many places it’s prohibited to take a pet with you in your car without a partition between the pet and the passengers. And that’s for a good reason: Did you know that the average Labrador has an equivalent weight of 1,800 pounds when it hits you after your car crashes at 30 mph? But some cars might not offer enough space for a divider, or it might not be convenient for you. That’s where a pet safety belt comes in handy.

Why It’s Clever

It’s strongly advised that you have something in place to protect you from the impact of your pet when you’re driving your car. Did you know that when your car hits something at 30 mph, when an object in the car hits the driver it has an impact equivalent to 30 times its normal weight? That means that your cat will be the equivalent of a person falling on your head, your Cocker Spaniel becomes a polar bear, and your Labrador feels more like a cow. Now, I don’t know how it feels when a cow drops on my head (not cow droppings – a complete cow!), but I can picture the result. Here’s some background reading on the risks.

Maybe you need to take your pet with you in the car only occasionally, not often enough to install a real partition in your car. Or you need the loadspace of your station car for other things. Or your car simply doesn’t have a loadspace at the back that’s suitable for your dog or cat – or pet goat, for all we know. On the other hand, you can’t use a normal seatbelt to restrain an animal.

This pet seatbelt seems to be a good compromise. It allows you to use your regular seatbelts, so no change to the car is needed, and it allows the animal to move, lie down or sit up while keeping it in place in a collision. Good for you, good for your pet. I’m sure that you can make a dog wear this, but I have no idea if the average Garfield will appreciate being wrapped in a harness. Let’s hope that they supply gloves with the cat-size model.

I’m curious to see how this will evolve. We’ve seen them in the shape of adults, children and babies – will cats and dogs be the next market niche for crash-test dummy manufacturers? Here's the answer - check out what happens to these crash test dummies:

Summary

Pet seatbelt harness protects your pet in a collision
Protects driver and passengers from getting hit by the animal
Avoids the pet jumping on the front seat, hindering the driver
The pet can still move, lie down or sit up
Doesn’t affect the other rear seats of your car
Doesn’t require adaptations to the car
Some models can also be used to walk the dog.

Tips

Check out local regulations to see whether this solution complies with them or whether they do require you to install a fixed separator between driver and animals.