It’s important to pay attention to the road at all times, even if a dog is making a fuss in the car. A 44-year-old driver in New Hampshire suffered serious injuries in a crash that sent his Volvo tumbling over multiple times before landing upside down. State police say the man could have been distracted by a dog inside the vehicle as a potential cause for the accident.
Driver was not wearing his seatbelt, either
On Saturday, July 11, at around 5:00 p.m. local time, Michael Meucci, a resident from Salem, was driving southbound on I-293 around the exit to Manchester when he lost control of his Volvo SUV, according to a news release from official Facebook page of the New Hampshire State Police.
The driver, who “may have been distracted by an unrestrained dog,” was attempting to exit the F. E. Everett Turnpike off-ramp when it crashed, rolling over many times on the highway.
To make matters worse, Meucci was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and he was ejected from the car through the sunroof. The man was transported to an area hospital for treatment. The report does not say what injuries the man sustained nor if he is stable or in critical condition.
It is also unknown whether the dog sustained any injuries. Commenters on the Facebook post say the canine was found and taken in for medical treatment as well, but that has not yet been verified by the police at the time of writing.
That said, more than several users believe that both the driver and the dog should have been wearing seatbelts, with one commenting, “Tether your dog to the ‘car seat bracket.’ If you crash & die, at least the dog won’t fly out and/or run off or get in on the highway.”
Another said that no one should be allowed to have their pets on their lap while they’re driving, “So not distracted by a phone but what about these drivers that allow animals to sit with them while driving? Why isn’t that considered a distracted driver? Glad he didn’t hurt an innocent driver!”
