Australian Woman Cited For Riding Motorcycle With Her Dog

A woman riding her motorcycle with her dog was cited by police in Queensland, Australia recently and the whole thing was caught on camera. The motorcycle cop who saw the woman and her furry companion immediately chased after them as he was wrapping up a separate traffic stop.

Teenage fraudster buys a Porsche with ill-gotten money.

The dog, which looked to be a fairly good size, was strapped to the woman’s chest. It kind of looked like the pooch was the one at the handlebars and the human was in fact the passenger.

Even though the officer kind of laughed as he walked up, he still explained to the woman she couldn’t ride with her dog on the motorcycle like that. Apparently, it’s considered obstructing the rider’s view as well as improper control of the bike.

Plenty of people will disagree with those conclusions, but police were serious about the infractions. Instead of just giving the female motorcyclist a verbal or written warning, she was fined $376 “for ride with animal between arms” according to a press release from Queensland Police.

In that release, Senior Sergeant Shane Panoho from Sunshine Coast Highway Patrol, which made the bust, explained why having the dog strapped to the rider’s chest was so problematic: “We know how attached some people are to their pets, but its best to apply a paws-off approach when it comes to our roads. The rider had purchased the harness online and did not think through the safety implications, particularly if the dog was to react to other road users, pedestrians or animals.

“This could place the rider and her pooch in harm’s way or put other motorists at risk. Although the dog seemed to be comfortable on the bike, we urge riders to practice safe and responsible behaviour on our roads.”

We seriously wonder if anyone’s allowed to have fun Down Under these days?

By the way, we agree with the slogan on the taco shop by where the motorcyclist was stopped: “The only bad taco… is the one you didn’t eat!” Truer words have never been written.

Image via Queensland Police Service/Facebook