Almost ran over a dog

[Heywood]

Re: Almost ran over a dog

If there wasn't enough time for me to brake and come to a stop before hitting an animal, then there wasn't enough time for me to evaluate how safe it would be to swerve out of the way. You would have to consider your speed, direction of travel, shoulder space (if a shoulder even exists), weather conditions, conditions of the pavement you're about to swerve onto (Didn't see that seam in the pavement? Too bad, you just jammed your tire into it sideways and rolled your firebird to save a squirrel), oncoming traffic (including pedestrians and bicyclists), and anything else that would come into play if you were to lose traction while making evasive maneuvers (telephone poles, trees, ditches, rocks...).

Just saying, before I (and I hope anyone else on the road) ever leaves their lane for whatever reason, they better be damned sure they can do it safely. All things considered I suppose I couldn't give two ****s what happens to you or your car, but I worry when I think about people swerving into oncoming traffic as an immediate reaction to seeing a chipmunk. IMHO, if that's your first reaction, then you're the ******* on the road.

[ssms5411]

Re: Almost ran over a dog

A driver should always know their speed and road their traveling on , also know if a vehicle is beside them and who's behind them and how far. Also keep at least a 2-3 second distance from the vehicle in front which equals 2-3 of the yellow lines which they are 6ft long and are about 6ft apart. While driving the driver should be looking in their rear view and side view mirrors every 5 seconds or less, if they don't know the weather conditions or how their vehicle reacts in at a certain speed they need to take it to a empty lot or road and pratice to know the vehicle, if not they shouldn't be driving the vehicle. Only swerve if you know you can do it in a safe manner, if not then either try to hit it at a angle to avoid the object hitting the window and try to safely pull over as soon as possible after the incident. I was refering to a person who would purposely hit a animal , knowing that he/she could avoid it. Say driving a big lifted truck and running over a rabbit with a tire when there was enough time to stop to let it go by. That was my only point. I have had to hit a rabbit, dog, mule deer , and a cat which I felt bad about all, only the rabbit died though , the rest went about their way luckly, I was able to slow down enough and bounce them off the plastic bumpers. The rabbit got caught under one of the front tires, only reason it died.

[12secondv6]

Re: Almost ran over a dog

12sec.V6 when I drive up north where my older brother lives , they have warning for elk which can get very big ,I always gets nervous driving the speed limit of 75mph through there on the highway, becuase it will only take one to total my car and kill me. I always here stories of another person hitting one and see the damage on the news.

OMG yes - an elk would cause devastating damage.

I'm always nervous about hitting a bear - we got tons of them here