Californians who get caught driving with pets on their lap may be fined $35 by police.

Assembly Bill 2233 by Assemblyman Bill Maze moved to the Senate on a 44-11 vote.

"You have a potential major risk of an auto accident when you have a live pet that can be around in your face, in the steering wheel, down on the floor under your feet," Maze said, according to the Mercury News.

Several of Maze’s fellow Republicans, including Assemblyman Martin Garrick, received the bill with hostility. A spokesman for Garrick said Garrick "thinks if he wants to have his dogs riding in the front seat with him, then that should be the case." He also added Garrick was certain he could perfectly handle his own dogs in the car, so that such a bill is unnecessary.

Despite the Republicans’ opinion, most Democrats agree with Maze and are planning to put the measure on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

Schwarzenegger already signed a driver-distraction bill that, beginning July 1, forbids drivers to talk on cell phones without a hands-free device.

The new bill allows motorists to figure for themselves which method they should use to secure their pets in the car.

The Department of Motor Vehicles of California has already suggested that motorists use pet carriers secured in a vehicle.

Maze said he thought of introducing the bill when he saw a woman driving with no less than three dogs on her lap.