How do I travel with a dog in the car safely?

Two separate things are going on in a car with a dog in it. One is the driving risk — a loose dog that climbs into a footwell or onto a lap is a genuine cause of accidents, and the Highway Code addresses that directly. The other is what happens in a collision, where an unrestrained animal is thrown forward with enormous force. The available restraints deal with these two problems to very different degrees, which is worth knowing before you buy one.

Safety

What you'll need

• A restraint suited to the car and the dog
• A crash-tested travel harness (optional)
• A crate or boot guard (optional)
• Water and a bowl (optional)

Step by step

1. Understand what the rule actually says.Highway Code Rule 57 says animals must be suitably restrained so they cannot distract you or injure you or themselves if you stop quickly. It gives seat belt harnesses, pet carriers, dog cages and dog guards as examples. Breaching the Code is not itself an offence, but it can support a charge of driving without due care and attention and insurers do take it into account.
2. Choose the restraint by how the dog travels best, then by protection.A rigid crate secured in the boot is generally the best protection and the calmest option for most dogs, because it is enclosed. A boot guard contains the dog but does not restrain it within the boot. A well-fitted harness clipped to a seat belt keeps a dog on the back seat and is the practical answer where there is no boot.
3. Look for crash-testing rather than marketing.Very few harnesses and crates are independently crash-tested, and 'safety harness' on the packaging means nothing on its own. Where a manufacturer publishes a crash test standard and the weight range it was tested at, that is a real distinction.
4. Never clip a lead or seat belt to a collar.In any sudden stop the whole force goes through the dog's neck. Restraint must go through a harness with a broad chest plate that spreads load across the chest, or the dog must be in a crate.
5. Fit the harness properly and keep the tether short.Two fingers of clearance, and a tether short enough that the dog cannot reach the floor or be thrown between seats, but long enough to sit and lie down. A long tether allows a run-up in a collision, which is worse than a short one.
6. Secure the crate so it cannot move.A crate that slides around the boot is not restraint. Strap it to anchor points, or wedge it so it cannot travel forward. Nothing heavy should be stored on top of or behind it.
7. Keep dogs out of the front seat where there is an active airbag.An airbag deploying into a dog is severe. If a dog must travel in the front, the passenger airbag has to be switched off, and the seat set fully back.
8. Manage the temperature actively.The boot of a hatchback gets much less air conditioning than the cabin. Use sunshades on the rear windows, run the air conditioning to the back, and check the dog on long journeys rather than assuming.
9. Do not leave the dog in the car in warm weather at all.Not with the windows cracked, not in the shade, not for five minutes. A car interior can reach dangerous temperatures within minutes on a mild day, and the shade moves. If the journey involves a stop where the dog cannot come in, the dog stays at home.
10. Plan breaks and secure the exits.Every two hours or so on a long journey for a toilet break and water. Clip the lead on before the door or boot is opened — dogs bolting out of a car at a motorway service area is a common and avoidable disaster.

Tips

• A tailgate guard as well as a boot guard is worth having if the dog travels in an estate boot: it stops the dog leaving the moment the tailgate lifts.
• Put an ID tag on the collar with your mobile number for the journey, and check the microchip details are current before a long trip.
• If you see a dog in distress in a locked car, ring 999. Breaking into a vehicle yourself is criminal damage unless you can show a lawful excuse, and the police can attend and authorise it.

Common mistakes

• Clipping the seat belt to the dog's collar — All the deceleration force goes through the neck. It can cause severe injury in a stop that the dog would otherwise have walked away from.
• Assuming a boot guard restrains the dog — It keeps the dog out of the cabin, which addresses driver distraction, but the dog is still loose within the boot and unprotected in a collision.
• Leaving the dog for 'just a couple of minutes' on a warm day — Cars heat extremely quickly and dogs cannot shed heat efficiently. Heatstroke develops fast and is often fatal, and the shade you parked in moves.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask