Your Dog's Life Is Worth Many More Times Yours In The Meddling State Of New Jersey
Tickets for unseatbuckled humans in cars: "A measly $46 fine."
Ticket if your dog isn't wearing a seatbelt: "Penalties range from $250 to $1,000 and as much as six months in jail." (And that's for each offense. Two dogs, double the fine and jail time.)
Just wondering, what was the lobbying group behind this one?
via @WalterOlson
This actually makes a certain amount of sense. An unbelted human risks only his own life. An unbelted dog risks climbing into the driver's lap or under his legs and causing an accident.
Of course, it would make more sense if seat belts were actually designed to keep dogs restrained.
Rex Little at June 5, 2012 11:52 PM
I'm guessing these two rules were not made at the same time by the same people.
NicoleK at June 6, 2012 12:21 AM
Closer, closer to the edge.
John Paulson at June 6, 2012 3:37 AM
Texting and talking on your cell phone is still legal, though, yes? Because that's far less common than people riding around with their dogs.
Someone think of the children, err, dogs!
DrCos at June 6, 2012 3:40 AM
Texting and talking on your cell phone is still legal, though, yes?
Don't know about New Jersey, but it's not legal in California. I got stopped once because the cop thought I was talking on a cell phone. Fortunately it was in my pocket and turned off at the time, so all he did was apologize.
Rex Little at June 6, 2012 5:56 AM
I do have to say that I like dogs more than I like most people. So I'm all in favor of this! (Just kidding! Don't hurt me!)
Jim Armstrong at June 6, 2012 6:07 AM
Seatbelts on DOGS?!!!
Are you @#$%-ing KIDDING me?
While we're at it, why don't we just make them wear helmets and condoms, and require them to bark in Morse frikkin' code?!
They are DOGS. They stand in the back of our little SUV -- or are those illegal in New Jersey, too? -- and poke their heads out the window to experience and spread a little bit of joy. They lie down. They move around a little. Seat belt? Come on.
Politicians apparently think that, because they are elected to a legislature, they should enact new laws. We really have more than enough laws. How about a new law that says you can't have a net increase in laws. For every new one you pass, you have to repeal an old one. It's kind of like putting a seat belt on politicians.
Walter Moore at June 6, 2012 6:38 AM
I think this is the most ridiculous thing ever. My dog is very well behaved in the car, sticks his head out the window and when he's had enough of that he gets comfy and takes a nap. But I've always wondered what would happen if I was ever pulled over, how he would react. Or god forbid if I was ever in an accident and he was thrown out of the car or got loose in some other fashion. But those are my own personal concerns and I'll worry about that if it ever happens. Complete BS that someone would issue me a ticket for my dog riding without a seatbelt.
sara at June 6, 2012 7:13 AM
New Jersey makes a ton of money off of ridiculous traffic and parking infractions. Gotta fund all that corruption somehow, I guess.
MonicaP at June 6, 2012 7:24 AM
This reminds me of a former in-law who used seatbelts years and years ago for the two dogs that traveled everywhere with her. Of course, the two dogs were a couple of giant-sized stuffed animals and the woman was a total nutjob, but at least she'd be welcomed in New Jersey today!
Pricklypear at June 6, 2012 8:17 AM
Yes, well, let's not forget that dogs can't buckle themselves in.
(Besides, when you're out walking the dog, even smart dogs often have no sense when it comes to staying out of the road. That's why you're supposed to use a leash.)
And, just yesterday, was it, I saw something on the news about the force with which a dog can fly into the windshield in an accident. Not to mention that 31% of Americans drivers confessed to letting their dog sit in their laps. This is not safe for other drivers!
lenona at June 6, 2012 8:58 AM
Well let's see, a week or 2 ago I was driven off the road by a lady with a lapdog... I see them EVERY. Frelling. DAY! driving with the dog in their lap... I even saw a lady with a HUSKY in her lap last year. She couldn't possibly have been able to truly see around it.
The dog's behavior isn't the question. This is stupid HUMAN behavior. If you have a car accident, dog dies. Dog may also CAUSE an accident. Dog may also cause serious injury to you, when crushed against you by the airbag.
No matter what happens, Dog loses.
Don't you love your dog?
I don't give a frell what you do with your dog, but if it's in your lap, that is simple reckless driving. Unlike a cellphone or a sammich, dogs act independently and in ways you can't foresee, which leads you to occupying my lane while I'm in it.
I dun care how much the ticket costs, but it should be a 4pt violation reckless driving to not have the dog, or ferret, or cat or whatever restrained while the car is in motion, because it makes you a TERRIBLE driver.
"Oh, no, I'm fine driving that way."
The same thing the drunk driver that killed my uncle said.
There are certain behaviors that people engage in that actually do need regulation, and unrestrained animals in the car is prolly one of them.
SwissArmyD at June 6, 2012 9:26 AM
A dog cannot make an informed choice about wearing a seatbelt. A human can.
If a kid below 18 is without a seatbelt, then I am sure the adult driving is held responsible and the fine for that would be a lot more than for an unseatbelted adult. It is the same logic here. A dog is nothing more than a kid...it cannot make a conscious choice. An adult can make a conscious choice to risk his/her life but has no right to risk the life of others(both human and non human). It is just a way of beating some manners into people to show consideration towards others for whom they are responsible even if they don't care about themselves
Redrajesh at June 6, 2012 10:10 AM
The fine makes sense to me. It's a big safety hazard to others. I don't really care about the dog, but I do care about me when you
are driving with your dog on the same road as me.
It's not just being in drivers laps. Dogs in pickup beds can jump out in front of another car. I don't care if they're seatbelted (do seatbelts work for dogs?) but they need to be restrained in one part of the vehicle.
I don't see it as being any different than allowing kids to climb around the car interior like little monkeys. Not safe. For anyone. Dogs are no different.
momof4 at June 6, 2012 11:42 AM
"Just wondering, what was the lobbying group behind this one?"
NOW?
Radwaste at June 6, 2012 4:03 PM
Considering that seats are made for humans and not animals, then adding in that seat belts are also made for humans and not animals, I don't see a good way to belt them in.
Do they make a shoulder harness that would connect around the shoulders and hook to the shoulder belt rig; and a separate harness that goes around to the back end to hook into the lap belt?
Otherwise this would be totally deadly for the dog.
Jim P. at June 6, 2012 7:30 PM
I am remembering this from driver's ed so take it with a grain of salt (other have hinted at it earlier).
As a driver, you can be ticketed for anyone in the car under the age of 16 not wearing a seat belt. Those 16 and over would get the ticket themselves. The reason the age was 16 was because 16 was the minimum legal age as to when one could get a license and to get a license you had to understand seatbelts and thus someone who is 16 can make the choice for themselves.
Dogs cannot make the choice. And yes they have harness like Jim P. described. My brother has one for his dog who things she should ride in his lap while he is driving but she is way(!) to big for that.
The Former Banker at June 6, 2012 10:42 PM
I drove from Pittsburgh PA to Phoenix AZ with the last of my belongings (after the movers took the bulk of our things), my 6 ball pythons and 2 dogs. One, a 110lb Newfoundland/border collie mix, was in the back seat. The smaller dog, a poodle / terrier mix, was in the front passenger seat in a nest I rigged of blankets and pillows, so that if anything did happen, he would be cushioned from hitting the dash.
I made it to within 25 miles of my destination before I got hit by one of AZ's windstorms and pushed into a guard rail. The dogs were fine, because I had them in seats that were set up to cushion them. Belts would have probably strangled them, or broken their necks. If you really want to get picky, if I would have had room, I would have travelled with them in their crates, again carefully padded.
Anecdotal evidence, I know, but I can only speak to what I know myself. I would rather have the dog in a place where they can be comfortable and cushioned if something happens, than to rig them up in one of those harnesses, and be uncomfortable and get whiplash with the rest of us.
Kat at June 7, 2012 5:03 PM
Got to love those windstorms, had a mircoburst hit my property the day after I built a shed.
Watching the wind pick the whole tamn thing up and carry it off was one of the more bizzare things I've ever seen
lujlp at June 8, 2012 2:47 PM
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