People who do THIS

Grand Junction has enough nutty anti-vaxxers to keep our hospitals packed to the rafters for the foreseeable future, but add to that lunatic drivers like THIS, who drive with their dogs on their lap, and it’s enough to make you want to tear your hair out.

While it’s not illegal in Colorado to drive with your dog on your lap, it is insanely dangerous, idiotic behavior. When asked about this behavior, the Grand Junction Police Department said,

“If you see someone driving dangerously, you’re welcome to call non-emergency dispatch and report it, including a plate number and vehicle description, if available. While it [this behavior] does constitute dangerous driving, a police officer would have to witness it to write a ticket on the spot for this behavior, and it’s easy to miss.”

I don’t hold out much hope for police curbing this behavior in real time, though. The day I saw this, there was a police car two cars behind me and he didn’t pull this guy over. But for future reference, the G.J.P.D.’s non-emergency dispatch number is (970) 242-6707.

Can we work to curb this insane behavior and increase safety on the roads for everyone? When you see someone doing this, try to safely get the license plate and description of the vehicle and report it to authorities, or at least safely take a photo send it to AnneLandmanBlog, so we can shame people who engage in this egregiously stupid behavior.

  6 comments for “People who do THIS

  1. Not sure how you make the leap from antivaxxer to a driver with a dog in their lap but all things considered rather see the dog on their lap than untethered in the back of a pick-up. Logically speaking the latter is much more dangerous to the dog than the former! If your point was more dangerous to other drivers-maybe but should a dog jump get thrown out of a truck bed mayhem will likely ensue as well!

    Oh by the way you are aware that “full to the rafters” is a bit deceiving since it has already been published that most of the cases in ICU’s are not CV19 associated and the burden has been made worse because floors have been shut down due to lack of staffing! Just the facts Ann just the facts

    • The hell with the dog. What about US? BTW, hospitals have repeatedly said they are fully staffed.

    • I agree, things could always be worse, and or without details. I still appreciate the blog. Having young children in back seat strapped down and screaming is one total distraction that I am glad I did not have to live with with my children growing up. It rather doesn’t bother me at all to see a dog on a drivers lap, much less distracting or disturbing as those that have a phone in one hand.

  2. Even worse is a cat underfoot—do you press the brake pedal or the cat to stop? I have seen people with auto lapdogs, but they haven’t hit anything when I saw them. It does seem you are asking for trouble. We generally only prosecute crimes and even traffic violations when someone or something is injured. There are violations like speeding where we prosecute for the act even if there has been no damage to anyone or anything. But we don’t prosecute many people who speed indicating society does not see it as a very serious thing. Is this as bad as speeding? How many people actually do it? How many accidents are caused by it? Do you prosecute the dog or the dogowner or the driver? Will everyone have to cage or tie up their pets in the car? It seems that careless driving (a violation) or reckless driving (a misdemeanor) would be appropriate charges if a pet causes or aggravates a problem.

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