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1. Jiggers
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   How stupid are you guys to have a dog on your lap while you drive? That's as bad as talking on the cell phone while driving. I hope there's a law for that soon. I saw a guy who almost couldn't see past his dog while crusing thru the intercetion this afternoon..No common sense!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

2. DP
   Member Profile

   

   "How stupid are you guys to have a dog on your lap while you drive? That's as bad a talking on the cell phone while driving."

   —Or having the dog hold the wheel so you can text message.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

3. JoB
   Member Profile

   perhaps the dog was driving?

   Posted 1 year ago #         

4. sillygrrl
   Member Profile

   Yes, and the other day there was a guy driving over the west seattle bridge with dog in lap and cell phone at the ear!!! now that takes "dangerous" brains!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

5. Pablo Loco
   Member Profile

   the other day I stopped at a red light and glanced at the car next to me and I kid you not the old lady had a dog in her lap, an open book in one hand while talking on her cell with the other. Wondering if we might need a reading while driving thread as well?

   Posted 1 year ago #         

6. chrisma
   Member Profile

   

   it was at least a decade ago. pre-text messaging and cell phone. I was traveling on I-80 through Iowa and passed a man reading a newspaper while driving at night, using the cabin overhead light, going at least 60 mph. I guess it's nice that he was only trying to do two things at once. :-)

   Posted 1 year ago #         

7. guidosmom
   Member Profile

   

   Last year I saw a lady on 35th and Barton, with her dog on her lap, on the phone, and cutting an apple with a knife, all while driving!

   Posted 1 year ago #         

8. Jiggers
   Member Profile

   

   JoB..I bet the dog drives better than its owner.

   Posted 1 year ago #         

9. JoB
   Member Profile

   jiggers..
   i can't tell you
   i draw the line at letting mine drive

   Posted 1 year ago #         

10. AlkiCabCompany
    Member Profile

    

    Who else is gonna drive while I eat a taco? Besides, she is better at spotting small things in the road like squirrels and such. Good thing I am the one with the foot on the pedal or she would gun it and drive the car up the tree. But anyways, I did teach her to use the turn signal which is more than I can say for most West Seattle drivers.

    Posted 1 year ago #         

11. metrognome
    Member Profile

    there is an old story about a severely visually impaired guy who thought it was ok to drive ... as long as he had his seeing eye dog, which would bark once if he was too close to something on the right and twice if it was on the left. Not sure what the dog would do if the guy was gonna rearend someone.

    an excerpt from the Mar 15 P-I:

    Q: Today I saw a driver with cats on his dashboard. Is that legal? What about people who drive with a dog on their lap? Is that legal?

    A: Troopers say no to both cases....

    There isn’t a specific state law that prohibits those scenarios, though Startup said they’re covered by second-degree negligent driving. That’s the statute that troopers used to ticket for texting while driving and using their cell phone on the road before those actions were specifically outlawed.

    The fine if caught driving with a dog or cat on your lap is $550, Startup said. In one famous case, author Stephen King suffered life- and career-altering injuries after a minivan driver distracted by a dog struck him.

    Troopers aren’t concerned if the animal is secured in a carrier, not distracting the driver.

    Here’s the text for second-degree negligent driving from RCW 46.61.525.

    (1)(a) A person is guilty of negligent driving in the second degree if, under circumstances not constituting negligent driving in the first degree, he or she operates a motor vehicle in a manner that is both negligent and endangers or is likely to endanger any person or property.

    (b) It is an affirmative defense to negligent driving in the second degree that must be proved by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, that the driver was operating the motor vehicle on private property with the consent of the owner in a manner consistent with the owner’s consent.

    (c) Negligent driving in the second degree is a traffic infraction and is subject to a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars.

    (2) For the purposes of this section, “negligent” means the failure to exercise ordinary care, and is the doing of some act that a reasonably careful person would not do under the same or similar circumstances or the failure to do something that a reasonably careful person would do under the same or similar circumstances.

    (3) Any act prohibited by this section that also constitutes a crime under any other law of this state may be the basis of prosecution under such other law notwithstanding that it may also be the basis for prosecution under this section.

    http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2011/03/15/can-i-legally-drive-with-a-dog-or-cat-in-the-car/

    Posted 1 year ago #         

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