Name ____________________________________________ Date_____________

English Language Arts Period ___________

Homework due October 11, 2019

Drivers howl against laws to buckle in their pets​ ​By Stateline.org, adapted by
Newsela staff​ ​Image 1: A dog sticks its head out of a car window on a ride through Bear River Refuge in Utah.
Driving with an unrestrained pet in the car is legal in
most U.S. states, but traffic safety experts say that it is
dangerous. Photo from: Velvet Shearer/USFWS.

Those happy dogs hanging their heads out the car

window may look like the perfect driving
companions​. But they also present big dangers.
The dogs could fly out of the car if there is a crash.

"A 10-pound dog can turn into 300 pounds of force

at 30 miles an hour," said Richard Romer. He
works for a group called AAA. It provides roadside
help to drivers. A dog in a car can be dangerous if it is not restrained, Romer said. Traffic safety experts
agree. Yet allowing a pet to move freely in a car is legal in most states.

No Pet Holding In Aloha State ​Not in Hawaii, though. The Aloha State is the only one that does not
allow drivers to hold an animal in their lap. Three other states have animal ​cruelty​ laws. They make it
against the law to improperly ​transport​ an animal. These laws could apply to driving with an
unrestrained pet. But Romer said the laws are not ​likely​ to be enforced this way. Eight states and the
District of Columbia have distracted driving laws. They prevent drivers from doing anything that does not
involve operating the car. These things could distract a driver, leading to a crash. Interacting with a pet
might be considered a distraction. But only the D.C. law mentions pets.

Public Outcry Against Proposed Laws ​Passing laws to stop drivers from riding with pets in their lap
is harder than it sounds. In the past five years, nearly 12 states have considered such bills. But none has
become law. The bills have turned out to be deeply unpopular. "The public outcry was unreal," said
Garland Pierce. He is a lawmaker in North Carolina. Pierce wrote a bill that would have made people pay a
$100 fine for driving with an animal in their lap. It led to a flood of complaints. Dog owners were very
angry about the possible new law. "I got ridiculed. I got beat up bad," said Pierce. "I saw this as a highway
safety ​issue​. I had no idea that I was opening a can of worms."

Few Drivers Use Some Form Of Restraint ​Some pet owners use restraints to transport pets in their
cars. These include harnesses, crates and carriers. But many people prefer driving with their animals free.
A 2011 survey found that most people agreed that this could be dangerous. But few said they used some
form of restraint. The results can be serious. Sometimes they are even deadly. In 2016, a woman drove her
car into a pond after her dog jumped into her lap. She could not see where she was going. In November, a
driver with a cat in her lap crashed into a school bus. She injured herself and several others. The accident
also killed her cat.

No Data On Traffic Accidents Involving Pets ​The national government keeps data on traffic
accidents. It does not have information about how many crashes involve pets, though. It is unlikely that
states do, either. Even in Hawaii, officials do not track how many distracted driving incidents involve
animals. Honolulu police issued 38 tickets for distracted driving in 2016. In 2017 they issued 13. Some of
these tickets may have had to do with pets. Officials are not sure. In the past four years, two people in the
city of Honolulu have been punished for driving with a pooch in their lap or close by. One was a man. He
had a little dog in the passenger seat of his car. The other was a woman driving with a small dog in her lap.
Name ____________________________________________ Date_____________
English Language Arts Period ___________
Homework due October 11, 2019
One of her hands was on the wheel. In the other she had a cellphone. She was looking down at the phone
as she drove.

Prompt:​ Based on the article Drivers howl against laws to buckle their pets, should there be
laws to prevent people from driving with their pets unsecured in the car? Use relevant and
specific information from the article to support your answer.

L
Name ____________________________________________ Date_____________
English Language Arts Period ___________
Homework due October 11, 2019