Crash test doggie: Man's best friend could be worst enemy in a car accident

 ​Our tests showed that an unrestrained pet sitting on the back seat of a car can hit the dashboard with enough force to cause serious injury, even at a collision speed below 20km/h," said NRMA Insurance Head of Research Robert McDonald.
"Most people using the commonly available harnesses are doing so in a genuine attempt to keep their pets safe.
"(But) most harnesses, while effective at restraining pets, are not safety devices and do little to prevent injury in a common low speed crash."
NRMA Insurance used weighted dog 'dummies' to test harnesses in 35km/h and 20km/h impacts.

Even a low speed crash can have terrible results
But 23 of the 25 popular harnesses tested failed because of the weak plastic buckles, similar to those to clip backpacks.

Dog car harness test results - most readily available harnesses below.

Purnia 'Roadie'.                                           Pass (No Longer Available)
Ezy Dog Drive                                              Pass
Sleepypod 'Clickit'.                                      Pass
Animates 'Car Safety Harness                   Fail
Black Dog 'Car Harness'.                            Fail
Masterpet '2 in 1 Car Harness'                  Fail
Rudducks 'Car Harness'                              Fail

Many popular harnesses were tested. The two harnesses that didn't fail were the Purina Roadie harness (which costs about $40) and the Sleepypod Clickit harness (which costs about $140) and also has ISOFIX attachment points, the same type used to restrain child seats in Europe and still pending final approval in Australia.

"An effective harness is critical when travelling with a pet as it keeps the animal safe and restrained and avoids the driver being distracted while driving with the animal moving around inside the vehicle," said Mr McDonald.

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