Belt Up

spen666

Cycling to work yesterday, I saw several cars with dogs in them. In no instance was the dog restrained. In one case dog was sat on front seat, in another laid across rear parcel shelf.

It set me wondering: -

a) are there official figures of the number of dogs that are KSI in RTCs

b) are thereofficial figures of the number of people injured as a result of being hit by animals thrown across a vehicle in an accident

c) have I too much time on my hands whilst cycling?

Mike Healey

spen666 wrote:

Cycling to work yesterday, I saw several cars with dogs in them. In no instance was the dog restrained. In one case dog was sat on front seat, in another laid across rear parcel shelf.

It set me wondering: -

a) are there official figures of the number of dogs that are KSI in RTCs

b) are thereofficial figures of the number of people injured as a result of being hit by animals thrown across a vehicle in an accident

c) have I too much time on my hands whilst cycling?

You have the same time on your hands as on the rest of you, unless you are entering the event horizon of a black hole, where the time on your hands may vary as your body is stretched out by the tidal force effect of the gravity. it would also be advisable to be riding a titanium frame as the modulus of elasticity of titanium is higher than that of other frame materials.

Midnight + 28min. Good God! Is that the time? Relatively speaking

idaviesmoore

spen666 wrote:

Cycling to work yesterday, I saw several cars with dogs in them. In no instance was the dog restrained. In one case dog was sat on front seat, in another laid across rear parcel shelf.

It set me wondering: -

a) are there official figures of the number of dogs that are KSI in RTCs

b) are thereofficial figures of the number of people injured as a result of being hit by animals thrown across a vehicle in an accident

c) have I too much time on my hands whilst cycling?

As a dog lover this poses an excellant research topic. I'm going to have a look around and see what I can find.

I think we've all seen the advert when the unrestrained rear passenger turns into a flying rhino during an emergency stop

Hornetto

spen666 wrote:

Cycling to work yesterday, I saw several cars with dogs in them. In no instance was the dog restrained. In one case dog was sat on front seat, in another laid across rear parcel shelf.

It set me wondering: -

a) are there official figures of the number of dogs that are KSI in RTCs

b) are thereofficial figures of the number of people injured as a result of being hit by animals thrown across a vehicle in an accident

c) have I too much time on my hands whilst cycling?

I work in the vehicle safety industry, so I also notice this sort of thing (dogs or any unrestrained item on parcel shelves, people not wearing seat belts, etc.). In answer to your questions:
a) I very much doubt it. Injury levels in crashes for national statistics are recorded by the police. If nobody in a vehicle is seriously injured in a crash but a dog dies, it will not be classified as a fatal accident. The injury will be recorded as "fatal, serious, slight or uninjured" but only for human occupants. The only way that this sort of information would be recorded is if someone (like the RSPCA for example) commissionned a study to specifically look into it. I would doubt that this would happen as the costs of the study are far more likely to outweigh the benefit of having a study. They'd be better spending the money on an advertising campaign to raise awareness.

b) Again, it is highly unlikely. National accident statistics come from police officers filling out standard forms where injury causation is not investigated. Only detailed crash studies carried out by skilled investigators are likely to look into injury causation. In any case, the cause of injury would most likely be recorded as 'contact with other occupant' or 'contact with loose object within vehicle', so you wouldn't get 'hit by animal'.

c) I think about all sorts of things while cycling, so no! I think about things like that too!

downfader

The last time I was in a pet shop (over 10 years back now) I did notice special dog "seatbelts". It was basically a body harness that attached to the seat. Quite simple and qiuite cheap. :?

I'm not a big dog lover but cant see why dog owners wouldnt want to protect their pet.

OffTheBackAdam

Well, the number of people who still drive around with their kids jumping all over the car or standing up between the front seats, it doesn't surprise me too much that few, if any, pets are belted up once in a car.

downfader

OffTheBackAdam wrote:

Well, the number of people who still drive around with their kids jumping all over the car or standing up between the front seats, it doesn't surprise me too much that few, if any, pets are belted up once in a car.

Had to cycle past a school yesterday and noticed that exactly. One worrying scenario was this woman in a people carrier who was letting her "little darlings" climb in and out of the sunroof. :roll:

BTW your avatar is most awesome! 8)