[gaijingirl]

I agree that he shouldn't sit on your lap for safety reasons, but I think he could get hurt just as easily sitting on your shoulder. It would not take much of a hard brake at all to send him flying.

If you don't want to crate him, why not look into a car seat or even just using a seat belt? I think that a seat belt in the least should be used. We have a booster car seat which allows Snickers to see out the window. His harness is strapped on with a belt also. Snickers didn't like having to sit in the seat initially. He used to want to get on my lap or be held in the car, but now, he loves the seat and he jumps into the car and puts himself into his seat without any help most times (except for doing up his buckle). It's so fun that he learned this.

If you have a newer car, the airbags on the passenger side will probably automatically turn off, (or maybe you can manually do it?) if it senses the passenger in the seat is under a certain weight. Mine turn off automatically and there is a dashboard like that tells me it is off.