For decades, seat belts have been the single most important safety feature in any car. For people, the data is irrefutable: restraint reduces injury and saves lives. But for dogs, that same standard of protection is still catching up.
We set out to understand what safety really looks like for dogs in cars — and how seat belt systems can be designed to do more than simply keep a pet in place. They should also reduce the risk of injury.
💡 Did you know
According to NHTSA, unrestrained people are 11x more likely to die in a crash than those wearing a seat belt. That number alone tells us something critical: momentum kills. When a body isn’t restrained, even a relatively low-speed crash can be catastrophic.
So what does that mean for dogs?
Dogs are smaller. Their bodies are more fragile. And most are still traveling without any form of crash-tested restraint. The risk is real.
Key facts:
62% of all car accidents are frontal collisions
99% of frontal crashes aren’t fatal — when people are restrained
83% of fatal crashes are frontal — the most common and most dangerous crash type for unrestrained passengers, human or canine
Frontal crashes create extreme forward momentum — which is exactly what unrestrained dogs can’t protect themselves against. Without a seat belt system, they become projectiles, risking serious or fatal injuries from impact with hard surfaces in the cabin.
Even at low speeds, the physics of a crash are more violent than most of us realize. A “minor” accident may not sound alarming — but it’s often enough to be dangerous for your dog.
Our team looked at everyday driving scenarios and calculated the forces involved:
Hard braking at 30 MPH = ~900 lbs of force
Swerving at 25 MPH = ~900 lbs of force
Sudden highway braking = ~900+ lbs of force
To put that in perspective: 900 pounds is enough to collapse an adult human chest . Dogs, who are smaller and more fragile, would likely absorb that force even more severely.
That’s not a severe crash. That’s an everyday moment — a missed light, a hard brake, a moment of distraction — and it can be life-altering if your dog isn’t restrained.
To understand how different restraint systems perform in real crash conditions, we conducted sled tests at 30 MPH — a direct simulation of a frontal collision.
Using custom-built dog ATDs (anthropomorphic test devices) equipped with sensors in the chest, spine, and head, we captured both peak force at the moment of impact and sustained force over the duration of the crash .
The results were striking:
Unrestrained dogs experienced up to 19,000 pounds of peak force — the equivalent of twelve full-grown giraffes
Even with crates or harnesses, performance varied widely depending on the scenario and the restraint design
These are not hypothetical numbers. They’re real, measured impacts — and they show why restraint systems need to be designed with actual force data in mind, not just containment.
The physics of car accidents is uncompromising. According to Newton's First Law, an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. In a car crash, this law means your unrestrained dog will keep moving at the vehicle's speed until something stops them—often violently.
Newton's Third Law states that for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. In a car crash, this could mean your dog being thrown forward and then backward, leading to severe injury or even death. Without a dog seat belt, any accident will cause you dog to be launched forward.
Injuries in car accidents typically occur in three ways:
Seat belts and other safety systems in vehicles help to reduce these injuries, slowing down the process and allowing for a less abrupt stop.
Beyond the critical safety aspects, there are other reasons to secure your dog in a seat belt:
At Bark Belt, we built our system with one primary goal: to reduce the risk of injury in the kinds of accidents most likely to occur — frontal impacts at everyday driving speeds.
Bark Belt is engineered to:
Arrest forward momentum
Limit head and chest impact
Maintain structural integrity through the full crash event
While no system can prevent injury in every crash, the data makes it clear: restraint matters , especially in the scenarios that happen most often. That’s where seat belts — and properly engineered dog restraints — make the biggest difference.
As a society, we wouldn't dream of starting the car without buckling up our children, and it's time we extend the same care to our pets. A Bark Belt is a simple, effective way to ensure your furry friend's safety on the road. By understanding the facts and physics behind the risks, we can make informed decisions to protect all members of our family, no matter how many legs they have.
The next time you're gearing up for a drive, remember: your dog's seat belt isn't an accessory, it's a necessity. Buckle up, drive safely, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing you've taken every precaution to protect your loyal companion.
