August 21, 2008
No doggy driving in California
If you are planning to drive through California with your pooch, maybe to attend the OTHER Dog Show mentioned in today's earlier blog post, you should plan to bring the pet carrier.
The California state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would make it illegal for drivers to have a live pet on their laps.
Presumably dead pets would not be prohibited. Gross and weird perhaps, but legal.
Assembly Member Bill Maze pushed the bill through, calling it a safety issue.
"If you have an animal that gets in your face or gets tangled up in your steering wheel while you're driving, you can't properly control (the car)," he told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year.
All jokes aside, it is hard to argue with that.
The bill passed on a 21-17 vote. According to an Associated Press report, the bill will land on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk after some minor changes are worked out.
No word on whether the Governator plans to sign it.
California legislators have already banned the use of hand-held cell phones while driving in an attempt to limit driver distractions.
Fines for possession of a critter in behind the wheel would start at $35.
Comments
[August 21, 2008 1:29 PM]
Heather FroeschlI'm curious what VA laws are in this regard. Do you know if we can drive around with dead dogs on the loose? Seriously though, I'd like to know. How about crazed howling cats that hate being locked up and are content to sit up on the head rest on the way to the vet?
[August 21, 2008 2:24 PM]
Nona : →http://blogs.roanoke.com/thehappywag/Here is the Commonwealth, I am pretty sure you can drive with crazed, howling cats unrestrained in your car.
My daughter drove from Middle Tennessee to Southwestern Virginia with just such a feline (in a carrier) and I am reasonably sure no laws were broken in either state.
After seven hours of non-stop cat crying, she must have been tempted to litter the interstate with a screaming kitty (in a carrier), but she perservered and kitty arrived safely.
Tired, and a little hoarse, but safe.