Man’s best friend could get booted from the pickup truck bed under legislation moving through the Georgia House.
House Bill 290 by Rep. Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, would outlaw unrestrained animals – including dogs – from riding in the pickup truck bed.
It would apply only, however, to travel on the interstates, not rural roads so that image of Americana lives.
Violators would be subject to a $15 fine.
The bill passed the House Motor Vehicle Committee on Thursday with three dissenting votes and after objections from some rural lawmakers, Drenner said.
“The fine is not designed to be a deterant,” she said. “It is more about educating people on the potential cause of accidents.”
The Georgia Transportation’s Crash Analysis, States and Information Notebook ranked objects or animals in the roadway as the sixth leading cause of vehicle crashes in the state, Drenner said.
“The stats do not differentiate being hit by or falling out of a truck,” she said.
The bill, which still has to clear the full House and Senate, has met with “some resistance from rural legislators where the practice is much more common,” Drenner said.
The bill makes exceptions for animals that are secure containers, cross-tethered to the vehicles or in a truck with sides and tail racks at least 46 inches high.
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