Jun 4, 2012
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Garden State drivers who fail to buckle up their cat or dog could face criminal charges as well as fines totaling up to $1,000, according to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
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“You should not be driving down the road under any circumstances with a dog driving the car,” said Elyse Coffey, a spokesperson for the New Jersey MVC. “We don’t want dogs driving with the steering wheel and we don’t want cats who sit on the dashboard.”
State officials are teaming up with the NJ Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to enforce laws requiring motorists to “properly restrain their pets.”
The law forbids dogs from hanging out windows – and also from riding in the bed of a pickup truck.
Drivers who fail to do so could face fines from $250 to $1,000 – for each offense. They could also be charged with disorderly conduct under New Jersey’s animal cruelty statutes.
“As your family gets ready to embark on their family vacation, you take the time to buckle up your kids because you love them,” Coffey told Fox News Radio. “It’s also time to take a look at your furry family members.”
She said driving with a distracted animal in the car could be dangerous not only for the family pet, but also for other motorists.
Coffey cited a 2010 AAA survey indicating that 31 percent of drivers said they were distracted by their dog while driving.
“I hate to sound like we’re picking on dogs, but that’s normally the animal we’re talking about,” she said, noting that the law requires all animals to be buckled up.
“We’re not talking about dogs who will lay down nicely on the back seat,” she said. “We’re talking about cute lap dogs that sit on your lap and look like they are literally driving the car – or other dogs who hang so far out the window they could leap.”
A number of New Jersey motorists are calling the law ridiculous and overreaching.
“What nonsense,” one reader told the CBS television affiliate in Philadelphia. “I have an SUV that my dog rides in the back of. Why on Earth would I tie her down?”
“That is not overreaching,” Coffee said. “At any moment that dog could see something interesting and decide to jump out of the car.”
Another reader pondered, “Does that mean I have to buckle my puppy/kitten in an infant car seat?
Coffey said there are plenty of protective animal devices on the market.
“They are not constraining at all,” she said. ‘They simply prevent an animal – in case of a horrible accident – from becoming a projectile.”
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Ok it's now official New Jersey is almost completely Nazi Germany 1) state troopers dressed like nazi's 2) the forced seat belt laws 3) leaving your car running ticket 4 ) hollow point bullets which are completely safe and also safer then full metal jackets if you do 5 minutes of research , and stop listenining to dumb politicians, 6) dog and cats on sealt bealt restraints. If you don't think this is Nazi Germany , New Jersey is the only State in the country that has this dog and cat seat belt law , the only state with hollow point bullets and the only state with running your engine while you go in store law. They only care about control and making money for the state of Hitler , it has nothing to do with safety , that is what they want you to believe, if you believe that I have some nice kool aid for you to drink sheep.
Just another scheme for the state / towns to collect more revenue. Can't wait to retire and leave this money hungry state of New Jersey.
Utterly ridiculous… I love my dogs, I have crates for them which they are in most of the time if I am traveling with them in the car… but really, there needs to be a law now about dog restraints? This is getting ridiculous…
Personally I absolutely hate seeing a dog in the bed of a pickup truck because they could jump out… but in the car with the windows up, it should be your choice whether you restrain them or not. Valid points in both directions; that you want to keep them from flying around in the car if unrestrained and an accident happens, also valid that the dog would be more easily able to escape from the car if unrestrained in an accident.
We've always restrained Conny in the car. Originally we had one of the doggy seat belts, but now we just attach her leash to something, and have the boys hold on to part of it too. (They like that job!) When I first was bringing Conny home, she climbed up on to the rear dash of the car. She always tries to come up in to the front, and with my van, if she comes under the center console, she can get over to where the pedals are. So for her safety, and ours, we have to restrain her.
Oh PS, that doesn't mean I think there should be a law about restraints. However, if you can't drive and hold a phone, I don't think you should have a dog on your lap either.
I agree that dogs shouldn't be in your lap… and I hold nothing against anyone using restraints on their dog… I just don't think it is necessary to try to control people in this way, just seems like another way for the government to take over something so they can make money off of it…
This is just another ploy by the great (LOL) state of New Jersey to get more money from drivers! They still haven't gotten the texters and the cell phone users under control yet! What next, I say if my dog (Jagermeister) wants to stick his head out the window, what is it hurting (no one) more power to him. The government should lay off the pets! As for the animal activists, if the dog did not like to do it he wouldn't! Bullshit, that's all this is!
Unbelievable. Yet another way to steal money from hard working people. People who come up with this crap need to start worry about themselves more often instead of dictating to others. We have become a police state and are losing our freedoms daily. Who are these people to tell us what to do with our pets? People discuss taxes and how they should be higher for the rich and how low they are now without taking into consideration all the other B.S. we are forced to pay each year. With insurance requirements for almiost everything and fines for anything that involves fun, we barely keep any of our money.
I've worked in Insuance Claims for 31 years and have handled countless claims of pets impaled on gear shifts, ejected from vehicles, shattering windshields, injured and killed in many ways. They do cause distractions and typically do as a projectile and cause injury sometime severe to the occupants of the vehicle. Your car is not a playground , it is 5000 pounds moving between 35-70mph and responsible for apx 35,000 deaths per year. put your cats in carriers and seatbelt the carrier to the seat. Purchase a harness from a pet store, find a safe way to transport your pets or keep them at home and save their life.
I should have known better then to read the comments from a Fox News article. I don't know what pissed me off more the comments or the article.
On the roof you go, Seamus!
On the roof you go, Seamus!
Another way to make some needed money for the government officials….. My question is as follows: When and if you have an accident will our dear restrained pets be rescued also or left behind after the people are safely out of the vehicle and transported to the hospital? Who will make sure that our pets be taken care of in a horrific accident? I haven't heard anything about this in all this propaganda about this new law.
The buckle your pet law is just another frivilous law to allow the government to get their hands into my (and your) pockets. Do not think for a minute that this law is in place for the health of your pet. I am tired of the government making laws to protect me from myself. We are all bad bad people and we must be protected by big big government. Just enforce the cell phone laws and protect the people…this new law is just another freedom we have lost…Wayne, NJ.
The buckle your pet law is just another frivilous law to allow the government to get their hands into my (and your) pockets. Do not think for a minute that this law is in place for the health of your pet. I am tired of the government making laws to protect me from myself. We are all bad bad people and we must be protected by big big government. Just enforce the cell phone laws and protect the people…this new law is just another freedom we have lost…Wayne, NJ.
NJ needs to focus more on robbers and molesters! We are Paying tooo much money on taxs, auto insurance, medical insurance ect. Get a grip and start using your Police Force to stop Crime! Hear we go, just another MONEY MAKER! WHY IN NJ only? I know one thing, the harrness WILL BE ONE OF MY TAX DEDUCTIONS! iF YOU WANT US TO USE IT- then buy them for our dogs!
You people are Insane.Yes I agree with animals on drivers lap 100% major fine.Those people in my opinion should be jailed and lose of license.
Maybe when the auto or truck manufacturers install pet retrains in there vehicles will I then follow that , but for now Roy will lay in the back of my quad cab windows open and the whole back set to himself,
But i agree 100% with the stupid people that drive with there pets on there laps , Fine them BIG TIME !
Also Is it only NJSPCA police that will ticket you right! when was the last time you saw 1 of them.and there are like 5 in the whole state…HA!
AAA says 30,000 accidents a year due to unrestrained pets. If you want to save yourself the ticket there are many options out there. A cheap and very effective one is at http://www.buyclicknstay.com.
So, I have to pay a yearly license to the county to be able to keep my dog in my own private property, which I pay taxes on as well, to drive my car, which I also paid taxes and registration on, down a street made with my tax dollars, to receive a ticket from an officer (who is just doing his job I know) but nonetheless gets paid with my tax dollars because my dog wants to sit in the front seat and not cause any harm. Fuck off government. This hasn't happened in CA, but when it does…I'll follow the same guideline I follow with all these laws…not give a shit.