Have you ever hurt or killed an animal with your car?
If so, was it a pet or wild animal?
Deer? Dog? Cat? Raccoon? Squirrel? Rabbit?
Did you swerve to avoid the collision? Did you leave marks on the road from locking up the brakes to avoid the collision? What did you do next?
How do you feel now, after remembering this happening?
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Unfortunately, I have hit a raccoon, squirrels, birds, oppossum, and a dog. I have always tried to brake, but refuse to put my family in danger by swerving. I feel bad, but unfortunately sometimes it's absolutely unavoidable. I did try to find the owner of the dog, but could not, so I moved it to the side of the road (it was dead, not just hurt).
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, a dog ran out in front of me and there was no way I could avoid running over it. I stopped and knocked on the door of the house it had come from. I felt terrible about it, and hearing a voice saying "I'll kill you!" as it approached the door from inside the house didn't make me feel any better. When I asked the woman who answered the door if she had a dog, she asked, "You ran over it, didn't you?" I said yes, and she went storming back into the house shouting at her husband, "You killed it! I told you to tie the dog up; YOU killed it!"
ReplyDeleteThat was the only pet I ever ran over; I hit a raccoon coming off the bypass once, but didn't stop to take it out of the road because I didn't want to be run over myself. But if I am ever so unfortunate as to run over someone's pet again, I would at least remove it from the road if there were no houses around.
Oh, yeah---hard to believe, but I hit a buzzard a few weeks ago as it was flying across the road, but it kept on flying.
I just run over em and keep right on going. If they're still in the road on my way back I hit em again.
ReplyDeleted ruts m, you mean sorta like injuns? LOL
ReplyDeleteA strat cat ran out in front of me. I did not brake, did not swurve, a stray animal is not worth my kids or my life. Did I feel good about it? No.
ReplyDeleteI have lost an animal to the road also. My old doggie 4 years ago. Now that hurts to talk about.
11:00 am How do you know it was a stray?? Did you ask it?
ReplyDeleteI came across a black cat on Haloween years back. I swerved to miss it, and did more than $1000 dollars in damage to my car.
ReplyDeleteI've never come close to hitting an animal after that, but I probably won't swerve next time. It can be too expensive and put human lives at risk, to boot.
I still have nightmares about the time I ran over a prarie dog while driving through Missouri, of all places. The poor thing squeaked and I can still hear it.
ReplyDeletei killed a squirrel once...it was not a pet...lol
ReplyDeletei didn't swerve, i remember mr. briscoe taught us never to swerve...this is the story though,
i couldn't stand for it to be left in the middle of the road so i got out and moved it off to the side...probably not smart (rabies and all) but i felt horrible...i am over it now...lol
I run over 2 geese 1 black lab and a camel. Before you complain the 2 geese were unavoidable the lab was wild in the neighborhood, he was under the tire before i realized it and the camel got hit in a sand storm.
ReplyDeleteI swerved to miss a kitten on rt 50 very late night. There was absolutely no light or other cars around me so it was ridiculously dark. Anyway, as soon as I swerved away from the kitten, I hit a raccoon. :( Its the only time (knock on wood) I've ever hit anything.
ReplyDelete"Did you swerve to avoid the collision?"
ReplyDeleteSwerving to avoid hitting an animal is folly. You never know what an animal in front of you will do. It can stop, change directions, or continue on its way quite unpredictably. Swerving doesn't actually decrease the odds of striking it. It does increase the odds of you crashing especially if you leave the pavement, are on a wet road, and or are on the brakes (especially panic braking).
"Did you leave marks on the road from locking up the brakes to avoid the collision?"
Locked brakes increase stopping distances compared to proper braking. Proper braking is getting on them hard enough to bring them to the point that they not sliding but slowing maximally.
The way you've worded the questions implies swerving and locking brakes are effective maneuvers for accident avoidance.
Perhaps we need to take a close look at how easy it is to get a license to operate a 2 ton projectile. Once you've lost control of that vehicle trying to avoid hitting an object that weighs less than 200lbs you've created a wrecking ball that is apt to cause serious damage to everything in its path. Swerving off road and/or locking the brakes increases the odds of this happening dramatically.
The only exception I'll make on the issue is for children. If it is an adult I'm going to be making snap decisions that include the likelihood that I'll be hurt worse than they will. If they're old enough to know better but don't it is only a matter of time before Darwin removes them from the pool.
Regarding the avoidance issue the best method is to pay attention to what is going on well in front of you down the road. Always look for someone to make a mistake ahead (that includes animals). If it is dark outside or foggy do not drive outside your braking distance. In other words if you can only see 100 feet make sure you can stop in 100 feet.
While driving at night constantly scan the road and shoulder (also the land to the side) for those reflections of your headlights in animal eyes. Treat them with the same concern as a car leaving a pub at 2 a.m.
Looking ahead for those potential issues you should also be considering escape methods. That includes making choices about swerving, braking, or both. Covering the brakes once you've identified a potential problem will mean you have a fraction of a second head start on braking should you need to. That can translate into enough distance to make an accident reduced to a minor inconvenience.
For you to be able to do all of the above proficiently you need to do three things:
Pay attention - staying focused on driving means not using the cell phone, not eating, not making eye contact with the person in the back seat while you're speaking to them, etc ad nauseum.
Becoming extremely familiar with YOUR vehicle - know how quickly it will brake from various speeds and how well it handles hard cornering. A bit of regular maintenance is a good idea to keep all of the above constant instead of variable.
Practice braking and swerving - repeatedly doing exercises like this in an empty parking lot or an untraveled road burns these procedures into your central nervous system and makes them occur more reflexively rather than as a slow considered thought process.
And one more thing - the left lane on a four lane highway isn't the dawdle lane. Get in, pass, and get the hell out. If other cars are exceeding the speed limit and you're not a cop it is not your duty to slow them down.
This has been a public service announcement from a motorcyclist that would like to have all other road users look at driving with concern for the well being of all motorists. It'd be nice to know unskilled preoccupied drivers are the exception rather than the rule while on the road.