they are in their harnesses, and attached to the latch in my car via their own "seatbelts."

Always secured our dog in seatbelt; haven't had a pet in 6+ years.

Just remembered: When growing up, family friend had unsecured dog in car, accident occurred causing dog to become a projectile, resulting in friend losing an eye.

I've had seat belts for my dogs, too, but you're right, I seldom bother when it's just a short trip and not on the highway. That's something I need to rethink, too. The only incident, a sudden stop that could have caused the pup to go flying, happened not far from home, very lucky he was belted in.

All 3 of my dogs have been 45+, they have sat in the backseat and I hooked their walking harnesses via straps to the closed seatbelt. I saw a TV program about many of these type of this set ups failing, since most straps don't cover the abdomen/lower bodyand wide enough straps to spread the force over a larger then 1 inch strap. Does anyone know of a good choice for effective dog seatbelts, or should I simply plan in a airline sturdy crate?

My dog isn't used to being crated. I could probably get him to tolerate it for the ride, but the crate I have is so big that it would obscure my vision out the back of the car and I think the crate itself would move around. Its not an airline crate.

This morning I used the seatbelt harness one and put my dog in the passenger seat. He wasn't sure what to do with himself. I parked the car and went inside to get coffee and when I came out it looked like he was gone! But he was lying down on the drivers seat. So he can still move around quite a bit with it on.

My dog is in the car almost every single day. I'm eager to hear answers to this.

Either with a harness or crate. I must tell you about my friends accident. It was on a rural hi way when a guy high on drugs crossed the center and hit them. He was killed and in fact thrown out on the hiway. My friend had their 3 poms in the cab of their 1 ton dodge Dooley. They were not restrained.

The truck was totaled. My friends stupidly do not wear seatbelts and he was badly injured. Both would have been killed if not for the airbags.

The poms were not injured. The airbags also saved them AND the fact they were not thrown out.

I had to go get the Poms at the hiway patrol. They were quite happy sitting in the backseat and the officer had the heater blasting to make sure they were warm.

This is a wake up call for restraining dogs. It could have easily gone the other way.

A couple had an accident and their dog was thrown from the car, but not injured. The couple had to be taken to the hospital but they were much concerned about their dog. Anyway it was quite cold out and the poor dog ended up freezing to death. It happened on a stretch of highway that was not near any homes and even though a lot of people heard about it and were looking for it, the dog had nowhere to go and he died in a day or two.

Thrown out due to an accident and then being hit by other vehicles. How awful for that poor dog.

I have a wagon and my dog goes in the cargo area. But she never sits down and stands the entire time. She a pretty big dog, 65 pounds. So how do these harnesses and doggie seat belts attach? Could I get one that would work in the wagon area?

with a video that demonstrates it. I think the dog isn't really supposed to be standing- its more dangerous. But mine likes to move around a lot, and he's also 65lbs.

http://www.ruffrider.com/

I'll buy one as soon as I can.

leash that is made of a rubber tubing material that stretches. We attach the leash to the seat belt, he can move but he could not fly out of the car or into the front seat if we did get hit.

She gets stressed out, throws up, drools, then urinates and poops. But I'm going to have to rethink having her loose in the car. Maybe a harness would work out. The other one prefers staying in her crate and is an angel the whole trip.

On June 19, 1999 at about 4:30 pm, King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Lovell, Maine. Driver Bryan Smith, distracted by an unrestrained dog moving in the back of his minivan, struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5. According to Oxford County Sheriff deputy Matt Baker, King was hit from behind and some witnesses said the driver was not speeding, reckless, or drinking.

King was conscious enough to give the deputy phone numbers to contact his family but was in considerable pain. The author was first transported to Northern Cumberland Hospital in Bridgton and then flown by helicopter to Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston. His injuries—a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip—kept him at CMMC until July 9. His leg bones were so shattered doctors initially considered amputating his leg, but stabilized the bones in the leg with an external fixator. After five operations in ten days and physical therapy, King resumed work on On Writing in July, though his hip was still shattered and he could only sit for about forty minutes before the pain became worse. Soon it became nearly unbearable.

King's lawyer and two others purchased Smith's van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. The van was later crushed at a junkyard, much to King's disappointment, as he dreamed of beating it with a baseball bat once his leg was healed. King later mentioned during an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he wanted to completely destroy the vehicle himself with a pickaxe.

During this time, Tabitha King was inspired to redesign his studio. King visited the space while his books and belongings were packed away. What he saw was an image of what his studio would look like if he died, providing a seed for his novel Lisey's Story.

In 2002, King announced he would stop writing, apparently motivated in part by frustration with his injuries, which had made sitting uncomfortable and reduced his stamina. He has since resumed writing, but states on his website that:
I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be.