What happens to a dog in a crate in a car crash
Submitted by CathyandAudrey on December 19, 2011 - 3:54pmI was just in a discussion about car safety and auto restraints for dogs, and a frequent reason for NOT buckling a dog in is because some feel it's safer for the dog to be in a buckled in crate instead. Look at what happens to a crate in a crash!
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Cathy and Audrey 
the video did not work for me...
I don't crate winston in the car (ours is too big anyway). How do you recommend we travel with our bullies then to keep everyone involved safe?
Shannon and Winston :)
My swimming bully buddy!
A car harness
that uses the car's restraint system, either the seat belts or car seat tethers. There are soem that are crash tested to child saftery seat standards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYms1d6oyz8&feature=player_embedded#!
Cathy and Audrey
thanks!
I'll definitely look in to getting one for Winston. I've always been a bit paranoid about traveling with him "loose" in the car.
Shannon and Winston :)
My swimming bully buddy!
watch that crash test
and you will not want him loose in the car ever again! The first crash looks like the dog did have a long leash buckled into the car's seat belt clip, but it was too long to secure the dog at all.
Cathy and Audrey
I will definitely watch the video...
all the video players and you tube are blocked here at my office, but I'll watch them tonight when I get home. I know our old roommate had a seatbelt harness contraption for her bully to wear. I'll have to talk to her about where she got it.
Shannon and Winston :)
My swimming bully buddy!
Difference crates
I would like to see examples of other type crates and where and how the crate is strapped in the car. This example only use a fiberglass crate and a backseat with a seatbelt restraining the crate. Unfortunately nothing is perfect and we do the best we can...but I think we all know that some kind of restraint is important to have and not loose in the car.
Now with that said, I do let Mackenzie ride in the front seat at times, loose. After watching that, when we go home for Christmas I'll put him in a crate instead.
I would like to see that too!
The ONLY information I can find is again a European crash test and the crate is awesome! I do not know if it is availble in the US.
I think it's important for people to realize these 'travel crates' are not safe! The 'travel' part of the name is misleading, giving people the impression they are designed for car safety, and they just aren't.
Cathy and Audrey
Good video - however.....
It looks like it was produced by the company selling the other restraint system - so its a marketing ploy they way they 'set' it up.
(ever see those infomercial they way the make the other product look soooo bad?
We have Gizmo restrained to the child's safey clips, however its only a single point system, that then connects to her harness. Could we be safer yet? yes. She isnt happy with the set up, and if it restrained her movement even more, she'd be less than happy.
(I know an unhappy Gizmo is better than a dead Gizmo though)
Restrain Yes, Kennels No... and for ya really nutty people (ya know who ya are) who have your pets on your laps while driving *slaps ya upside the head a few times*
Last steps taken May 26, 2014 -- Been rolling along ever since . . . .
Guilty as charged...
When Stella reached the adult stage, our car was too small to accommodate a crate, so we let her loose in the back seat. She usually weaseled her way onto my lap (in the passenger seat) at some point during the drive. There is no way she would tolerate not being able to lie down.
Now that she is blind, I sit in the back seat with her. Still not good, I know.
Celine with almost all harnesses she can lie down
The harnesses have a loop the car's seat belt fits through. The seat belts lock in an accident, and that's what keeps the dog from flying into the front seat.
Cathy and Audrey
it was an ADAC(German/European auto club) video
and it's a legit crash test performed using a car's regular seat belt with a travel crate and a harnessed dog vs a dog using this one brand of restraint.
There are other crash test videos with travel crates, and they are all the same. And mostly European. It seems like Europe is more advanced in pet travel safety than the US.
Using the child restraint tethers in your car is an excellent safe option! I have never seen using two tethers before. That is one serious car harness! I don't even know if they are available in the US.
Audrey's car harness has plastic buckles-and she will NOT be traveling in the car again until I get her one with straps and buckles that meet auto-safety standards. There was a video where the harness just broke and the dog went flying. Scary stuff!
Cathy and Audrey
answer for Deb's question
I've had 2 accidents that may help answer your question about different styles of crates.
Several years ago I did a Rescue transport and encountered black ice on the return trip. My 4Runner slid at about 55 mph almost head-on into a 4-5' high concrete retaining barrier and was totaled. I had a Central Metal wire crate in the back secured with nylon web tie-down straps. The crash stretched the webbing and deformed the crate a little into a parallelogram shape. The crate was repaired back to normal. I think a dog in the crate might have been rolled around a bit, but certainly not bounced around nearly as much as the video showed either the dog in the restraint harness, or the plastic crate.
Longer ago I got sideswiped by a speeding car (in the same 4Runner) enough to bounce the truck on it's wheels. That time I had a dog loose in the back and he got rolled around a bit, but not enough to injure him. Granted that collision wasn't as bad as what the video depicted, but it was enough to motivate me to put crates into the back and secure them. I also have learned to put either a thick pad into the crate, or a large blanket. It helps to keep the dog from being jostled around on a twisty road or during sudden deceleration.
is this like a regualar collapsable wire crate?
like the ones you get at PetSmart?
And can you describe how you tie it down? What kind of straps/buckles/where do you attach it in the vehicle?
Thanks!
Cathy and Audrey
crates
Love the Central Metal crates! They are very heavy-duty and well made - they use twice the thickness wire as normal folding crates and the pan is folded and welded steel. The crate will collapse and fold, but the hooks and latches are all doubles and have large spring tightened sliding clamps. I've had this particular crate for about 20 years and it looks almost brand new. It was pricy (over a $100 in the early 90's) but worth the investment.
The way I secure crates is by hooking the 'S' hook of the webbing strap to the tie-down hooks in the floor of the truck, then running the straps over the crate (with it looped under the 1st row of wires on each side at the top of the crate) then down the other side of the crate to the hook in the floor on the other side. Then tighten the strap. I run a strap at both the front and back of each crate. Some straps you tighten by pulling the loose end tight, others have a ratcheting mechanism to tighten and release pressure.
After the 4Runner was totaled, it was replaced with an older van. The van didn't have enough tie-downs and the few it had were poorly placed. We had to tear out the nasty carpet anyway, so hubby bought more tie-down hooks and drilled into the van's floor and bolted them in where needed. The hooks fold flat when not in use. I covered the bottem of the van with remnents of the padded rubber floor mats my Obedience Club used when they renovated their building. It is black with colored flecks and about 1/4" thick and makes a wonderful sound deadener too.
http://www.centralmetalproducts.com/ I use the 19 X 36 size, two will fit side-by-side in the back of most smaller SUVs.
Thanks Robin
First hand experience is the best, well not for you :(. Nice to know that our wire crates are doing a fairly good job, at least from your experience.
I use crate pads and often have a grooming table and expens over the top of the crates so there isn't alot of room between the roof of the car and the crates.
I have Midwest and Precision crates and strap down with bungies. I should probably check into some nylon straps with clips because the bungies could come unhooked. I have a Subaru Outback and there are tiedowns builtin that I hook to.
I can't
Watch anything like that, whatever it is.
I use a harness on my boys and I have a strap that runs through the rear seat on both cars, with a doubler on it so I can hook them up in either car.
Steve
Mean people still suck