Are you aware...

A loose dog in a vehicle is a lethal weapon if the car stops suddenly. Dangerous to the humans and animal.
I always used correctly fitted safety harnesses for my dogs.

I was told it was illegal for exactly the reason shysal states. Even a small dog, such as a Yorkie, can knock a passenger out (or worse) if you are forced to stop suddenly or involved in a collision.

About time. Dogs get killed in cars too.
Drives me mad to see folkwith little dogs on laps whilst driving. Bloody lunacy.

Our dog is always restrained by a dog safety harness clipped into the care seat belt.

I discovered, to my horror, that my friend used to put him in her car with his lead tied to his collar and then tied to the car seat - I don’t want his head yanked off in a car accident.

People shouldn’t leave dogs in cars while they ‘pop’ to the shops - dog thieves take dogs from cars or outside shops for dog baiting, breeding, to sell, ransom or worse. A hugely underreported crime, AND police forces don’t need to inform anyone I was told.

Dogs must have some sort of harness.

Several years ago, on the M40, a dog jumped through a window of a car on the opposite carriageway. We hit it at speed and could have been killed. A frightening incident; awful for the owners, not to mention shaking us up somewhat.

We have our dog on a harness,I was told it's now the law because there are more secondary accidents due to dogs not being on a harness ,when people come to assist you open your car door then your dog runs out and causes a second accident,makes sence really.

Why are we worrying about other people's dogs or other pets? More concerned about the numpties I still see using their mobile phones while driving.

MawB - we are worried because unrestrained dogs (animals) in cars can be the cause of accidents, and can seriously injure the occupants of the car if there is an accident. They will also invalidate the insurance if there is an accident as the OP has pointed out.

Mobile phones are also dangerous, but that is not what the thread was discussing.

my old neighbour never used to restrain his dog until one day it decided to sit on his knee when driving, then he made a dog proof area in the boot
I sometimes take my daughter's dog out, if for just a short distance I use a restraint on her harness the front seat [very small dog, can't reach me]. if anywhere else, I have a proper seat she sits in and is restrained on, she can either look out or usually goes to sleep. When with mum she is in a cage in the back of her van

My friend's DH has her on his knee whilst driving or she is allowed to sit like an unguided missile on the parcel shelf so that she can see out as she likes that!! I have told them, but hey ho ......!

My friend's DH has her on his knee whilst driving

Doesn't she find it uncomfortable, as for her sitting on the parcel shelf , words fail me.......

Forgot to add

Recently my Golden Retriever refused to go in my boot behind the dog guard (he was lame a while ago so suspect he hurt his leg somehow? So last time I took him out I had him in a harness clipped into the seat belt ... when it came to get him out, he came out too easily, so I assumed somehow he had put his paw on the buckle and released himself - no, he had eaten the seat belt clear off! Cost me an arm and a leg to get that replaced!! So beware of harnesses if you haven't used them before!

As responsible dog owners as I assume we are, we know that- but I dont see why we are getting so exercised about what others do!
So as I said in answer to OP
1)
yes
and
2)
No

If the mouse that has recently spent time in our glove compartment was to get out into the interior of the car while DH or I are driving, there will almost certainly be an accident.
I hope the authorities don't think it's a pet!

My cat is always in his carrier but it’s not restrained. Is that ok do you think?

Ellie Anne No, it's not ok because if you had to do an emergency stop, your cat's carrier would go flying. I found this out when I was going very slowly to do a tight turn into the vet's car park and someone stupid came out much too fast without looking.

I had to slam on the brakes even though I was only doing about 10 mph and my little cat in her carrier shot into the footwell and she poo'ed all over herself with shock!

Since then I have always looped the seatbelt through the handle of the carrier.

My late cat Hugo always managed to break out of whatever type of cat carrier I put him in, kennels at the vet and chattery too. He used to sit himself on the passenger seat and slept. He also had a habit of getting into the car unnoticed and came to work with me on many occasions. Presenting himself just as we arrived, or the supermarket, holidays, trips just about anywhere.

I only found out about this when we were visiting the RSPCA and Blue Cross centres earlier this year, looking to adopt a dog, and were told we'd need appropriate restraints in the car before we'd be allowed to take one home. I'm sure they said it was now the law.

I was speechless to see this when we were travelling north earlier this year

We were on a motorway, long tailbacks, nose to tail traffic. I took a photo of a driver with the window open, a dog standing on his lap with it's front paws on the door, it's head stuck out the window. As we all moved slowly along, the driver had one hand on the wheel. He held his mobile phone in the other. I sent the photo to the police who responded that they would take action about the phone but there was no action they could take over the dog.

Yes, of course we knew this. Duh!

More than 20 years ago (I suspect before this became common knowledge or law), my then Doberman puppy was in the back seat of the car, in town centre traffic, and decided to be car sick down my shoulder, in my hair and all over the gear lever and handbrake. Lovely. I was on the way to the vets for her inoculations, and once I got to the vets and into the waiting room, it was like the parting of the Red Sea on the part of the other pet owners as I carried her through the waiting ranks!

Yes, of course we knew this. Duh!

I didn't.

An unrestrained dog is that same as anything else not either restrained or behind a “boot guard”, in an accident it becomes “a missile” . That’s why we now have babies and children properly restrained in a car seat. Common sense really... and yes, when I have my daughters dogs in the car they are in the back with a correctly fitted guard.

We used to have our sheltie on the front seat with a seat belt - until I discovered he would be killed by the airbag if we crashed. I then found out about the insurance too. He is on his blanket on the back seat now, with his own seat belt attached to his harness. I am always amazed to see people with their dog loose.