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Pets in driver's lap is a bad idea
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Pet peeve, I don’t know, but there’s a driving peccadillo that’s particularly irksome to me: people driving with their dogs in their laps. It’s hard for me to understand how anyone could think that having another living creature crawling around between you and your steering wheel while you’re driving is a good idea.
I’ve written often about commuter’s need to pay attention to their driving, and to actually think about driving as an activity in and of itself worthy of exclusive concentration keeping distractions to a minimum. Now I don’t think this has achieved any “crisis,” level and I’m not calling for any new laws. But it is a concern and those who do it should think long and hard about it.
Last year this behavior did become a crisis for a colleague of mine. He was working an off-duty job, in full police uniform, directing traffic at a construction site. While performing this task, a woman lost control of her car and struck the officer causing a severe leg injury. This officer spent a significant time in the hospital and in rehabilitation afterward. It caused stress in his personal and professional lives, and a year later he still suffers from his injuries and financial ramifications.
Drivers should realize that although there’s no specific prohibition against having a pet in your lap, an officer need only observe that the pet is interfering with your safe operation of the vehicle for the driver to be stopped and issued a citation for driver inattention or even a criminal traffic violation if the circumstances warrant it.
Better than taking that chance, just use common sense and don’t drive with a dog in your lap. Although, considering some of the manners in which I see drivers drive, perhaps it would be better to simply let the dog drive.
For more info: Comments & Questions email: stevepomper@stevepomper.com or please visit www.stevepomper.com
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