Car restraints - 4 dogs 1 subcompact - UPDATE

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Well, I now have 4 dogs and 1 subcompact (Toyota Echo). The truth is I have not been restraining them and that is bad. They don't always stay in the back and more than once I have been focusing on the dogs rather than the road. So now that Zachary has arrived, I will in no time have a 60lb dog in addition to the 3 smaller dogs (betwee 30 -16 lbs). They will all fit in the car,and there are enought buckles for all of them, but someone is going to have to ride in the front seat, which concerns me because of the airbag. I can't realistically disable it because of liability if I have a human passenger (I don't have the ability to switch it on and off). I thought I saw a hard shell seat for a small dog that was made for cars with airbags but can't find it any more.

What have other people done - I can't be the only person with a clown car situation!!

 

UPDATE

 

I found the hard shell front seat car seat that I had been looking for. It only support dogs 20 pounds or less, but it will support Zoey. The site is Doggy driving - I can't post a picture (it wouldn't copy) but the link to the site is below.It is made to support the impact of the air bag and somehow the shape protects the dog from getting hit.  

http://www.doggiedriving.com/Home.html

 It is crazy expensive though,so I will have to consider all the great ideas that people have posted along with the seat and if anyone else has others I would love to hear them.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

You might though be the only one with a "clown car situation" and 4 dogs though  :o)!   This is a tough one as I see it.  The only option I've come up with is someone goes on the floor but I'm not sure how safe that is either.  It would be ok if you just had to slam on brakes, but not if you hit something.  My Sophie prefers the floor and  I'm ok with it in the Van, but not in our smaller car.  I'm not sure if it would work to put the smallest one in a small crate on the front seat and strap the crate in?  I don't know what impact the airbag would have on a crate!  Beyond that, I have no suggestions.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

My passenger side airbag turns off automatically depending on the weight of the passenger.  Maybe you could look into getting a coupler and get creative with a couple of the smaller dog harnesses.  Good Luck!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I'm not sure, but I can picture that clown car and it makes me smile.

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

I just have this mental image of trying to get them to sit in their own part of the car and get strapped in, lots of treats!

 

[Christine & Camus]

How about a rear facing baby car seat (you might be able to find one second hand) in the front seat that you could buckle your smallest dog into?

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Christine,

That could be an interesting solution - I might see if I can borrow my neighbor's (not currently being used) and see if there is a way to safely secure my smallest one into the seat.

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

I have a carseat that allows more then one pet, while looking for it I came across this information about pets and airbags.  Still haven't found the carseat though. 

Airbags were not designed for dogs or children. Airbags are designed for adult humans.
* A dog's head is too low and may be as much as 15 inches closer to the dashboard than a human's when seated in the front passenger position.

* Airbags deploy from the dashboard at approximately 200-220 mph. If a passenger is hit by an airbag before it is fully inflated, the passenger may sustain serious injury or even death.

* The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that passengers' sit at least 12 inches away from the dashboard. National Statistics show that airbags may help prevent fatality by as much as 35% when used correctly. However, there were a significant amount of incidents in which some passengers were seriously or fatally injured after being seated in close proximity to a deploying airbag.

* Should the airbag fail to deploy, the pets head can get forcefully jammed through the windshield or in the space located between the windshield and the dashboard. Provided the force of impact either one scenario may lead to severe injury or death.

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Thanks Tina - I don't know if I came across the same double car seat as you have - but I found a few. And one has several sizes and the largest which would accomodate my smallest two would take up too much of the back seat to allow enough rrom for the other 2 dogs to be strapped in. So still back to one of the dogs in the front seat. I know the stats about the airbag which is why I have been looking for an aibag safe front seat dog seat or restraint system. Maybe an airline rated hard shell carrier that can be secured with the seat belt..

I am one of those short humans and can not really get far enough from my steering wheel and still get my feet on the pedals to be safe from the airbag. Quite the choice - risk impalement from the steering wheel or death by airbag!

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

Cindy, if all four dogs fit comfortably in the back seat.  You could use this type of adapter system with two dogs attached to one seatbelt.  

http://petbuckle.com/products_harness.htm

 

If the dogs need more seat room you can use something like this.

 

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?adv=99656&pf_id=90XR

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Thanks Tina,

The extender is a pretty cool idea - that way they can lie forward instead of sideways. I guess it will depend on how big Zac gets. My car is certainly no bigger than the car shown in the picture - probably smaller.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

the front seat in my car does not engage the air bag unless it's over 40lbs - the light says it's off unless someone heavier than that is in it.;

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Lisa, I love all the air bag innovation. My car is 11 years old. I think it has the second generation air bag - a split second delay in deployment which prevents the airbag from killing the passenger by giving the shoulder restraint a moment to engage - which was a nice improvement over the original airbags. Fortunately my car runs like little gem and gets close to 40 miles an hour (I'm knocking on wood) so a new one with these super smart airbags (I'm so amazed by all the technology that they have in some of the safety devices now) is not in my future.