The Estevan RCMP would like to remind the public not to drive with your pet on your lap. 

"You see it often, people driving with their pet on their lap is a distraction and you have a dog of various sizes sitting on your lap getting in the way your arms are meant to be steering the steering wheel, not working around a dog. Plus the dog is hanging out the window sometimes right in the drivers face obstructing the view of the side view mirror. Obviously you are probably not going to end up with a drive without due care charge just doing it, but should you get into a collision or something and determine that it was a contributing factor, you are likely to get a charge like that being the circumstances. If you have a fairly large dog and it is half on your lap and half on the other seat and you can't see out of the window properly and can't see the side view mirror correctly, that would be considered having the driver area overcrowded with an object such as your animal. There is more than one charge that can sort of stem from this kind of behavior," explained Constable Daniel Gaignard. 

"It was made a city bylaw preventing dogs from riding on drivers laps as well so you could end up with a city bylaw ticket as well. You're meant to be driving and not worrying about your animal and it's dangerous for the animal if you get into a collision the air bag can come out at something like 120 to 200 kilometers per hour which is a pretty big hit for an unrestrained animal. It's not safe not just for you but for the dog or any other pet of that manner, it's just not good for them. The safest place for your dog is in the backseat and even have them in one of those harnesses designed to hold the dog in place. At least in the back they are out of the zone where those front facing air bags are going to go off."