For this blog post, I wanna start to talk seriously about safety. Seriously about it, maybe a little rant and say exactly where responsibilities lay. Okay, yes, when I was a child, I was quite often not safe at all (you can interpret that statement two ways). For instance, in a relative’s car, I was allowed to poke all of my legs and feet out of the window to refresh my five little hot piggies. It was all a bit of a giggle on a hot day. There were no seat belt laws back then, so yes I did poke my arse to the window a few times too.
Now I look back and my mind has images of what could have happened, but thankfully for me it didn’t and all is well. As an adult I’m totally making sure all are strapped in, safely secure or I’m walking, even if I’m not the driver (as I’m not being guilty by association). A local lass… (actually I’m not going to share about that, just that she died).
Well, you can guess that with all the things I know, I ask you to please. pleeeease keep all of yourself and all of others within the vehicle at all times or stop until they do. Same with dogs. Even though they love sticking their heads out the window to catch the breeze, it isn’t safe, so please don’t allow it!
Nowadays it’s the UK law that says, dogs have to be either harnessed into the seatbelt or behind a safe screen. It’s not just for the sudden stops that could hurt them, but also who is keen on the idea of one being flung at them or their passengers when the car needs to brake? Dogs can be such a distraction too. I mean my daughter’s big dogs love to lick anyone sitting on the back seat. The pet barrier means nothing to her fur babies. {{{giggling}}} Not sure a driver could cope with that on the front seat! I just imagined a dog licking balls and what driver could cope with that? Also yappy mutts must be at the least irritating. Paws making marks on the seat and scratches on the paintwork. The thought that a big dog could turn round and be sticking their bum in your face, well what do you think? Lastly, what if the normally docile hound goes ballistic, bites the driver…
So basically, remember: The driver has the duty of care to keep all the occupants of the car safe (dogs included), but everyone needs to be as responsible as able too. Kids and dogs will not be, cannot be held responsible.
Note: I’ve shared other Driven ranty posts, so check ’em out using my [Search… ]
Over Soil 
I hate seeing dogs untethered in vehicles! I’m also uptight about prople driving with their arm resting completely outside the car window. First of all, WHY?? Second, I lived above an orthopedic ER nurse and she described the various resulting crushed arms she’s seen when cars were sideswiped.
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