Guniea Pig Car Safety And Carriers - What Is Safest?

BlueBird

BlueBird

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I am about to buy a new carrier but I'm concerned about car satefy in the event of a crash. Doing some research I'm horrified at how poorly some of the pet carriers tend to fair in a crash test. The videos of tests at this link make for uncomfortable viewing. (And most of these do pretty well!!) 2015 Carrier Study Results - Center for Pet Safety

I have looked at a sleepypod which seem to be the right size for a couple of pigs and do well in these tests but the £200+ price tag up me right off! I'm also wary that most of these carriers are designed for cats and dogs not guinea pigs. Rabbit societies etc seem to give you different advice to the manufacturers of these products clearly designed for cats and dogs.

So my questions are this:
  1. What carrier is safest for pigs without costing me an arm and a leg?
  2. Is it safer to have them on the seat (like in the crash tests) or have them wedged into a footwell as I believe some rabbit societies suggest? (Foot well is less far to be flung but aren't these crumple zones that are the first to go in a serious crash?)
  3. Is a bigger carrier best or a "snug" one. Smaller carriers would give less distance to be thrown in a crash. But is being crammed in like sardines a bad thing?
  4. Should both pigs be in the carrier or separate and if you have a bigger herd what is the maximum you should put in one a carrier before getting a different one? Should herds ever be split for car travel?
Obviously in a serious crash it is likely pigs might just die of shock if not the impact but I don't really want to see my pigs flung through my windscreen just before the airbags kick in. :bye: I'm pretty sure that would give me nightmares for the rest of my life. I don't travel with them often maybe once every 3month but I want my pigs to be as safe as possible when I do.
 
I can't comment on safest carriers or anything like that, It's honestly not anything I've heard of anyone using to be honest.

But I am a car seat safety technician/trainer so from a safety point of view the safest place in the car is the middle back seat (As it's furthest away from any impact) then after that it would be behind the passenger seat. The front passenger is the most dangerous place to be in a crash so if you are concerned about it I wouldn't put them there, especially with an active airbag - it comes out at around 200 miles an hour and would do more damage than good to them.

Technically speaking yes it would be safer to have only one pig per carrier, but I honestly wouldn't look into it too much. Unfortunately if you were to be in a crash the piggies would more than likely be injured or even be in severe shock from it.

The only time I ever have my pigs in the car is to take them to the vets, which is about 2 miles from my house. I put them both in the same carrier and seatbelt them in the back behind the passenger seat. I just have a standard carrier, and I keep them together so they're more calm.

I'm not sure if anyone else on the forum might have any information regarding carriers for the car, I honestly didn't even know such a thing existed!
 
Beans&Toast said:
I can't comment on safest carriers or anything like that, It's honestly not anything I've heard of anyone using to be honest.

But I am a car seat safety technician/trainer so from a safety point of view the safest place in the car is the middle back seat (As it's furthest away from any impact) then after that it would be behind the passenger seat. The front passenger is the most dangerous place to be in a crash so if you are concerned about it I wouldn't put them there, especially with an active airbag - it comes out at around 200 miles an hour and would do more damage than good to them.

Technically speaking yes it would be safer to have only one pig per carrier, but I honestly wouldn't look into it too much. Unfortunately if you were to be in a crash the piggies would more than likely be injured or even be in severe shock from it.

The only time I ever have my pigs in the car is to take them to the vets, which is about 2 miles from my house. I put them both in the same carrier and seatbelt them in the back behind the passenger seat. I just have a standard carrier, and I keep them together so they're more calm.

I'm not sure if anyone else on the forum might have any information regarding carriers for the car, I honestly didn't even know such a thing existed!
Click to expand...
Thank you so much Beans&Toast! At least that answers one of my questions. I'll definitely be telling my fella to be sitting in the back with them now. LOL!
 
I've been involved in two accidents where piggies have been on board. In the first accident my car was shunted across four lanes of traffic, I had the guinea pig in a small carrier in the front passenger side footwell. I hit my head on the steering wheel and was knocked out for a short while. The guinea pig seemed completely oblivious to what had gone on. In the second accident we were stationery at traffic lights and my car was hit at high speed from behind which sent my car into a 180 degree spin. I had two pairs of piggies, in two larger carriers on the back seat, held in with the seatbelts. I thought the guinea pigs were dying immediately after this collision, as they were on their sides and their legs were moving in the running motion (like they can do as they pass away). However, they weren't and had just been knocked off their feet. They appeared very shaken up immediately following this accident and one of the guinea pigs was very quiet for a couple of days.
 
Scribbled28 said:
I am about to buy a new carrier but I'm concerned about car satefy in the event of a crash. Doing some research I'm horrified at how poorly some of the pet carriers tend to fair in a crash test. The videos of tests at this link make for uncomfortable viewing. (And most of these do pretty well!) 2015 Carrier Study Results - Center for Pet Safety

I have looked at a sleepypod which seem to be the right size for a couple of pigs and do well in these tests but the £200+ price tag up me right off! I'm also wary that most of these carriers are designed for cats and dogs not guinea pigs. Rabbit societies etc seem to give you different advice to the manufacturers of these products clearly designed for cats and dogs.

So my questions are this:
  1. What carrier is safest for pigs without costing me an arm and a leg?
  2. Is it safer to have them on the seat (like in the crash tests) or have them wedged into a footwell as I believe some rabbit societies suggest? (Foot well is less far to be flung but aren't these crumple zones that are the first to go in a serious crash?)
  3. Is a bigger carrier best or a "snug" one. Smaller carriers would give less distance to be thrown in a crash. But is being crammed in like sardines a bad thing?
  4. Should both pigs be in the carrier or separate and if you have a bigger herd what is the maximum you should put in one a carrier before getting a different one? Should herds ever be split for car travel?
Obviously in a serious crash it is likely pigs might just die of shock if not the impact but I don't really want to see my pigs flung through my windscreen just before the airbags kick in. :bye: I'm pretty sure that would give me nightmares for the rest of my life. I don't travel with them often maybe once every 3month but I want my pigs to be as safe as possible when I do.
Click to expand...

From what I know and have seen from a different (Danish) study about pet carriers which deals more with secured and unsecured positions in a car, i.e. on car seats (secured and unsecured), is that carriers that are lodged in the footwell of a car are by far safest. Any carrier lids should be fastened extra (not just with a seat belt and their normal clip) to prevent them coming off in any but the most severe impacts. I have already integrated the results of that study into the recommendations of our travel tips guide.

@Scribbled28 , I am going to add the link of your study to our travel guide.

Here is our travel guide: Travelling with guinea pigs
 
Scribbled28 said:
Thank you so much Beans&Toast! At least that answers one of my questions. I'll definitely be telling my fella to be sitting in the back with them now. LOL!
Click to expand...
Obviously anything can happen in a crash bit statistically around 47% of crashes are front impacts, so the back is safer - (for humans and furry creatures :P)
 
Wiebke said:
From what I know and have seen from a different (Danish) study about pet carriers with deals more with secured and unsecured positions in a car, i.e. on car seats (secured and unsecured), is that carriers that are lodged in the footwell of a car are by far safest. Any carrier lids should be fastened extra (not just with a seat belt and their normal clip) to prevent them coming off in any but the most severe impacts. I have already integrated the results of that study into the recommendations of our travel tips guide.

@Scribbled28 , I am going to add the link of your study to our travel guide.
Travelling with guinea pigs
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Wiebke! I knew I wasn't going crazy thinking the footwell was the best place for pigs in a car journey. And thanks to Beans&Toast they will always be behind the passenger seat.
 
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