Pet Passenger Restraint System
Sleepypod hired a U.S. Department of Transportation and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sponsored crash-test facility to test the crash-worthiness of its entire line of pet carriers along with a generic plastic pet carrier and a generic pet safety harness, using MAX, our weighted crash-test dog.
What happens when you do not safely restrain your pet?
MAX was placed in the car seat unrestrained and in the simulated crash collided with the barrier with such force that its head was crushed on impact. Fortunately MAX is a tough crash test dummy and survived, but a real pet would not be so lucky. This crash-test demonstrates that a pet not secured in the car can crash into whatever is in its path with a force many times it's weight. Our 12 pound MAX hit the barrier with 650 pounds of force.
Crash-testing of the generic pet safety harness yielded a strangled crash-test dog; the crash-test dog was propelled forward with so much force that the stitching on the harness came undone, the harness buckle broke, and the crash-test dog was caught by the neck in the harness which twisted and flung the strangled crash-test dog backward into the seat.
The unrestrained, generic plastic pet carrier hurled into a barrier before being catapulted upwards and landing on the ground with such tremendous impact that the carrier door broke off and the carrier’s plastic casing significantly cracked.
FMVSS No. 213
Crash-tests were performed at the speed of 30 m.p.h., which is the standard for child safety seats in the United States. There is no legal standard for the crash-worthiness of carriers or car restraint systems for pets, so we used the standard for crash-worthiness of child safety seats. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213 subjects child safety seats to the decelerations they would experience in a 30 m.p.h. frontal vehicle crash.
Sleepypod’s Pet Passenger Restraint System holds the car seat belt in place around our carrier so that in an accident the seat belt holds the pet safely in place, the body of our carrier is soft on the inside and firm on the outside to safely absorb the weight of the pet as it comes up against the seat belt. Each of Sleepypod's pet carriers passed the 30 m.p.h. frontal crash-test. The high speed video shows that Sleepypod’s carriers remained intact and without damage. The video also demonstrates the crash-test dog remained inside the pet carrier throughout the duration of each test. Before and after photo images of the Sleepypod pet carriers are almost indistinguishable.
IMPORTANT!
At Sleepypod, it is our intention to provide safer travel products for our customers. But we cannot, however, guarantee that injuries will not occur. Please read and understand the product instructions before using your Sleepypod in a vehicle. We recommend securing your Sleepypod in a rear seat rather than in a front seat in case of airbag deployment. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding safety.