Is your dog indestructible? Of course not. 

The Center for Pet Safety in Reston, Va., wanted to be sure that any products used in the transportation of dogs in people's cars actually did what they were designed to do.

An Associated Press article published in the Alamagordo, N.M., Daily News tells how the center designed crash-test dog dummies and put them through their paces and studied what happens in accidents.

"The rare study of travel products marketed to animal owners was released earlier this month and will be followed by tests of car crates, carriers and barriers. Lifejackets are on the short list of product to be tested as soon as funding is found."

The dummy the center designed is an anatomically correct, 55-pound boxer with the same center of gravity as a real pooch. It's been stuffed with computer equipment to collect data.

You can read the entire story here.

My Kate was a terrible car traveler. She had severe motion sickness so I never entertained the idea of "strapping her in" with a harness. I just drove as carefully as a could and hoped for the best.