Cat Causes Car Collision with Power Pole
April 29, 2008
MODESTO, Calif. – Traffic came to a screeching halt last Friday, but not due to Central California rush hour volume, rather a frisky feline was to blame.
Modesto police responded to an accident, where a car collided with a power pole. The incident was blamed on the driver’s cat, which was travelling on the woman’s lap.
The unrestrained cat apparently scratched the driver and caused her to drive straight into the pole.
With the pole downed, the street was closed and traffic was detained for more than an hour, a Modesto police sergeant told The Associated Press.
The accident drives home the point State Representative Bill Maze (R-Visalia) is currently making with legislation that would make it illegal to hold animals while driving.
AB 2233 moved from the Assembly Appropriations Committee to the floor on Wednesday.
The bill prohibits drivers from “holding a live animal in his or her arms, or upon his or her lap,” including dogs, cats, birds and rodents.
While statistics are not available for California on how many accidents are caused by distracting passenger pets, the American Automobile Association recently released a study ranking pets among the top in-car distractions.
Surpassing eating, drinking and cell phones, pets and loose objects were found by AAA to be the third most distracting variable to drivers within their own cars.
Although California’s legislation does not specify how a pet should be restrained, Bark BuckleUp is a California group pushing for nationwide seatbelt legislation for pets, much like the “Click it or Ticket” program for human passengers.
Christina Selter, the group’s founder, says the number one reason a pet should be restrained while traveling is that pets can become projectiles – where even a low-speed accident at 30 mph, a 60-pound dog can cause an impact of about 1,200 pounds.
She also says on the group’s Web site, barkbuckleup.com, in the case of a collision, having pets restrained would prevent them from getting out of the vehicle and running into traffic, potentially causing another accident.
In recent months, this is the second accident caused by a pet as reported by Pet Pulse. The previous accident involved an Oregon man whose Chihuahua, named Taco, became lodged under his brake pedal. The trapped pooch caused the driver, Scott Calderon, to crash through barricades, a chain-linked fence and a guardrail sending his minivan flying off a local highway and into a ravine.
The Portland region had recently been flooded, forcing the bridge to be closed. Calderon and Taco walked away from the accident, after rescue workers spent two hours rescuing them from the river embankment.
Tell us what you think about “Cat Causes Car Collision with Power Pole” below. Share your favorite videos by clicking on the ZootooTV tab. Send us your story ideas by e-mailing us at news@zootoo.com or by calling us at 877-777-4204.
Robin Wallace, Pet Pulse, The Associated Press and California Aggie contributed to this article.
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I once got a ride from a friend of a friend who decided to bring her ferrets (loose) in the car. It was a ride I will never forget! Please do not ever let any animal loose in your car if it is small enough to lodge itself under the brake pedal!!! Even if it's "just a quick trip" or you're "just going down the block."
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Poor cat.
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Anyway, on with the story. Well, I can't tell you how many people I have seen allow their pet on their lap while driving. It is just as bad as seeing a person on the phone chatting away. However, you can be distracted in all kinds of ways i.e. changing the radio station, eating, leaning over to grab something off the floor, the person next to you talking or acting like a jerk, a spider crawling in your mouth...shall I go on?
It is rare to see someone have a cat in the car unless they are transporting the animal to the vet or going on a trip and most people put their cat in the cage. Dogs, however are any where in the car. If one is to bring their dog with them perhaps keeping him/her in the back seat. This doesn't really work all the time. I couldn't tell you how many times our dogs just sneak behind us and lick our face, sniff our hair or, nibble on my husband's ears.
The point is, everything is a distraction while driving.
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would be next to impossible to constrain such an animal in the back seat of a car. A well trained animal won't create a distraction most of the time, but....
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Seat Belt Harness, Carriers with seat belt hook for them and more. So use the Zootoo site and find out how to keep your pet safe while traveling. This away we won't be reading about your in the Zootoo News.
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