Should unbelted dogs be illegal?

We're always joking here on Top Gear that certain big power cars are capable of terrifying your beloved pooch. But should you be made to belt up Lassie as per the law?

A new poll out today - admittedly, not the most all-encompassing poll - reveals that 60 per cent of drivers reckon a dog harness should be compulsory when you're driving. Now, this poll, from GEM, was put to 500 drivers, and considering there are many millions of drivers in the UK (estimated at nearly 40m), it's not...universal.

But it does raise an interesting point. David Williams from GEM put it bluntly: "If a motorist travelling at just 30mph, in the case of impact, an unrestrained average sized dog weighing 50lbs would be projected forward with a force equal to a baby elephant." That's quite an impact.

So we'll field this one out to you dear readers. Should it be a law that dogs be harnessed when in a car, or do different rules apply? After all, there's an estimated 8 million dogs in the UK. Them's a lot of potential baby elephant-sized dents in the dashboard.