The recent 'wild deer' posts have reminded me of several 'close shaves' involving oncoming drivers swerving violently onto 'my' side of the road to avoid pheasants, cats, dogs etc.
I've been able to anticipate their actions and slowing/positioning as appropriate, but I wonder how many collisions are caused by drivers over-reacting in trying to avoid causing 'roadkill'?
For my own part, I do what I can to miss dithering pheasants (with an 'h'!) et al, but never at the risk of losing control. I remember being severely admonished by my other half for flattening a cat on the approach to a blind bend - obviously she thought that a potential head-on smash was the better option :-(
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I'll avoid animals if I can but if I can't, tough. I remember a girl who spent a fortune on her Mini customising it in 'girlie' fashion - vivid pink inside and out. She swerved to avoid a dog and hit a lamp-post; car wrecked, (only TPF&T insurance) and she spent the next two weeks in hospital and more weeks on crutches. Dog ran off so couldn't attempt to sue the owner.
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If I have time I will brake to avoid running over a bird or animal, but wild uncontrolled swerves to avoid them have caused much death, injury and expensive damage. My father pointed this out to me in the 1940s after running over a dog in Ceylon. He took out quite a few monkeys too.
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LOL... about 10 years ago now I squashed a squirrel driving into Swanage one day, even now my kids chorus "This is where daddy killed the squirrel" every time we drive past ....
Seriously, I think many people's reaction, when something suddenly appears in teh road from teh nearside, is to swerve away from it i.e. into any oncoming traffic; at least I did manage to supres steh urge in the case of the late squirrel.
Driving through the New Forest on a daily basis animal dodging is a regular hobby, I really, really don't want to hit a cow!
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Would the same advice apply to children - squash one child but avoid a head on collision with a coachload?
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Its only a pigeon I thought, dont bother to swerve I thought, BANG, 150 quid lighter after the headlamp mounting bolts broke and it dropped out on the floor.
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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And splat went the last capercaillie on the British mainland...
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LOL. Now, who's going to start a Roadkill Recipes thread?
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I have this on good authority from a bloke who lived in a painted caravan pulled by a piebald horse.
A newly killed hedgehog, gutted and then encased in a mud ball and placed in a wood fire for three or four hours, then opened up and eaten tastes like chicken.
Not sure what wine goes with it but PU may know?
dvd
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Ah, I wondered if Wildebeest would come galloping out of the undergrowth for this topic.
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And splat went the last capercaillie on the British mainland...
You cant help such bad luck
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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I remember having a huge row with SWMBO because I once ran over (and killed) a cat which had darted across in front of the car. I had a tree lined pavement on one side, and an oncoming bus the other.
She actually said she would rather have dented the car than killed the cat. It rendered me speechless!
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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>>She actually said she would rather have dented the car than killed the cat.
I'd much rather dent a car than kill a cat; putting people's lives at risk is another matter of course.
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> It rendered me speechless!
The cat was'nt able to say much either.
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< Ex RF, Ex TVM >
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We used to have a big handsome black (ex)-tomcat, a fine animal. I once saw it late at night hesitating cautiously on the other side of the main London road where we live, looking up and down the street for cars. There were none, so the excellent animal darted across the road straight into the front wheel of a passing bicycle that had somehow escaped his attention, causing the rider to half fall off. They both vanished round the corner like bats out of hell, the cyclist cursing and waving his fist.
Great cat that. Went the way of all London cats though.
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I heard that hitting a dog (or similar/larger animal) at high speed can cause serious damage to vehicles.
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Quite agree that swerving to avoid animals is sometimes a very bad move. It obviously depends on circumstances.
To date I have hit 3 sheep, 1 deer, and 1 dog, plus assorted smaller creatures. The deer was young and didn't leave a mark on the car, the dog put a rather expensive dent in the car, as did one of the sheep. Other two sheep caused only minor damage.
Moral: It can be difficult to predict just how much damage a given animal will do - again, it depends on how fast the driver is going, how fast the animal is going, what direction the animal is moving in, the exact spot of the impact, etc.
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I heard that hitting a dog (or similar/larger animal) at high speed can cause serious damage to vehicles.
I have hit 2 foxes at shall we say "motorway speeds, officer" in a Skoda Favorit and no damage was done (to the car).
I used to drive alot in the early mornings and road kill became a speciality, nothing escaped me, except that kamakarzi cat.
Was offered $50 if I could nail a stray pig while I was cutting corn in Kansas. Pigs are more nimble than combine harvesters. While there we were lectured on the dangers of deer. One of my collegues then him a deer in the bosses new F350 Superduty much to his disgust. The boss however halved the cost of the collision when he did the same a week later before he got it repaired! We had ridgid trucks that we would pull pup trailers behind. One of my other collegues managed to kill a deer by running it over when it ran between the truck and pup. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Advanced Roadkill!
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I have hit 2 foxes at shall we say "motorway speeds officer" in a Skoda Favorit and no damage was done (to the car).
I hit a large female badger once when it ran under my wheels, nothing I could do. It certainly bashed in the front valance of the Skoda Estelle I was driving, but did no damage whatsoever to the running gear or above the bumper line. Quite a lot of Estelle body repairs can be done with the bare hands.
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I hit a dog (i think it was a dog) in my capri. I didn't see it as it was dark, no lighting and a black dog. my passenger only had time to shout before an almighty thud and the left side of the vehicle went over it. It felt I had gone over a speed bump.
I stopped and looked at my car, massive dent in the front panel and bumber and broken light. Couldn't have been doing more than 40-45mph.
Surprisingly no sign of the animal, we walked back down the road looking in bushes and even looked to see if if had wrapped itself round the axles.
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Aim low, expect nothing & dont be disappointed
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The cat was'nt able to say much either. ------------------------------ < Ex RF Ex TVM >
It was probaby catatonic ...
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Following on from the squirrel tale .....
I'd never seen a red squirrel in the flesh, in the wild until a few years back. Loads of them grey tree rats, obviously, but never one of the cute litlte red things. Then I moved to West Cumbria, one of the last English homes of the red (for now anyway). Bound to see one now I thought. After three years I still hadn't seen one - furtive little things they are. Then one day I was driving near Whinelatter Forest on a road not much wider than a single track and, as I came round a tight bend, there was my first ever red squirrel - sat bang in the middle of the road!
I cound't squash it could I? Not with the kids onboard! Not the first Red I'd ever seen. I braked (ABS engaged) and I swerved and it did it's bit by scuttling away. Woke the family up though!
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came across a duck once with ducklings in tow crossing a sharp bend , makes you think sometimes that were not the only road users , never come across a deer tho
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>>came across a duck once with ducklings in tow crossing a sharp bend , makes you think sometimes that were not the only road users , never come across a deer tho
The police actually closed the main road into Bournemouth for a few minutes a couple of months ago because a duck & entourage were trying to cross it and causing havoc.
When I lived in Basingstoke deer were a relatively common hazard, especially on the road to Alresford. Nowadays, commuting across the New Forest at 06:45 hrs., hazards have included ponies, cows, horses, donkeys, pigs, curlews, goats and a West Highland Terrier. Not all on the same journey thankfully ;-)
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"LOL. Now, who's going to start a Roadkill Recipes thread?"
A brother in law of mine once barbecued and ate the remains of a roadkill badger. Not as part of an ongoing lifestyle, he just decided to try it on the spur of the moment. Ever since I heard about this, I've always made sure to bring my own meat to any barbecues organised at his house.
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Last year I hit a fox at 70mph (me not the fox, although he was shifting) on the A1M in Durham area, driving my ex's 106. Took the sump off, plus most of the front bumper. I think if I had swerved to see it, which I didn't as I didn't see it till it was on me, I wouldn't be here writing this.
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Driving out of a game reserve in SA, I was confronted by a young bull elephant blocking my way. There was now ay round and he was at the bottom of a dried up waterway with a very rocky bit: ideal for taking sumps off.
After 20 minutes waiting , as he turned around nervously etc, he moved to one side, I started forward, hooted and he ran away.
I don't think the Mercedes I was in would have won the contest. The only road kill would have been me.. SWMBO and kids:-)
madf
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A former colleague of mine wrote of his Metro after he swerved to avoid a pheasant.
He needn't have bothered, it would probably have been blasted to pieces with a shotgun a few days later.
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... when the Metro season opened...
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Badger ham is very nice...........I hear.
MD
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> A former colleague of mine wrote of his Metro after he swerved to avoid a pheasant.
O Metro, wrap'd around a tree,
I've only this to say of thee:
I look and wonder, how absurd
To wreck the car, and spare the bird.
Although I'm sure his effort was better than that. }:---)
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Excellent WillDeBeest! :-)
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Excellent WillDeBeest! :-)
Yes, very good.
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....animal-vehicle collisions kill more than 1.5 million deer and cost insurance companies more than $1 billion each year in the United States alone.
....more than 200 motorists die and another 29,000 are injured in the United States every year in collisions with ungulates.
Thank goodness we do not have Moose on the roads in the UK.
On average an adult moose stands (1.5 - 1.8 m)(5 to 6 feet) high. Males weigh (850 to 1180 lbs.)(385 - 534 kg) and females (600 to 800 lbs)(270 - 362 kg).
I was warned explicitly by my friend in Maine about Moose when driving up from Boston.
Her info was very much like the following:-
Moose are hard to see at night. They are 6 feet tall at the shoulder and your headlights will often only reveal their legs, which are the same color as the pavement. Their height also means that if you hit one, the bulk of a moose will fall on your windshield and roof.
Don't count on seeing "eye shine." Moose eyes do reflect light, but your headlights won't reach that high.
Oh and they are not that easy to escape ;-((
Moose can swim as fast as two men paddling a canoe and run up to 56 kmph on land.
If you really really do want to see the effect on a vehicle having hit a deer try "hitting a moose on the highway" into Google. You have been warned and warned again - a messy full colour series of photos!!!!
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>>Thank goodness we do not have Moose on the roads in the UK.
Sadly, one less large risk.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/6977367.stm
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Be very, very careful what critters you run over especially overseas.
I've seen a Pug 404 that ran over a warthog - huge amount of suspension damage and a smashed sump.
I've smelt a Datsun 260Z that ran over a skunk - might as well scrap the car because you can steam clean as much as you like but the smell will still be there.
Kevin...
PS. Skunks can make very good pets if they've been de-scented.
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When I lived in Basingstoke deer were a relatively common hazard, especially on the road to Alresford.
Indeedy, friend of mine had a new Saxo written off on that road by a deer (best thing to happen to the Saxo really...)
I was behind someone who emergency stopped for a squirrel this week. I was not amused! Rather hypercritically though, I would slam on the brakes for a dog or cat.
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I remember teaching my girlfriend to drive before her lessons off the road in a large car park. There was a middle-aged couple feeding about 50 feral pigeons from the side of their people carrier, and my girlfriend accidentally drove straight through them (the pigeons). They were bouncing under the car making a horrible dull thudding noises, and scrabbling over the bonnet and windscreen trying to get lift off, and not a single one was killed or seriously injured. We made a sharp exit from the place as the other people look upset.
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drove straight through them (the pigeons). They were bouncing under the car making a horrible dull thudding noises and scrabbling over the bonnet and windscreen trying to get lift off and not a single one was killed or seriously injured.
What a pathetic pigeon strike.
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I would slam on the brakes for a dog or cat.
But release them again just before a wheel went over the creature I hope.
Much better to be rolled over than smeared.
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PS. Skunks can make very good pets if they've been de-scented.
'Scent' implies a pleasant smell...
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Hit a pheasant on the A34 on the way to Southampton about 2 months ago - was working away on business and staying in a hotel.
When I hit it I looked in the rear view for the evidence to come out of the back end, as it were, and was surprised to not see anything - must have knocked it into the edge of the road, I thought.
Arrived at the hotel, looked at the front to check for damage, to find the said pheasant still sticking out of the hole where the lower grille used to be. (smashed grille, fog light and parking sensors - not happy).
Didn't really fancy pulling a dead pheasant, which looked to be very lardy and well stuck, and which, by this time, had done 50 miles since its untimely end, out of the car with my suit on, so asked at reception if there were any maintenance staff with some gloves and a stomach. To my eternal shame, the nice young lady receptionist got stuck in, with me watching in total embarassment
:) - can smile about it now.
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Twas mentioned earlier about a "Roadkill Thread", well in an idle moment I "Googled" the subject and "Suprise-Suprise" there are loads of "Roadkill Recipies" and even a book!. - Imagine, if you combined one of the above with a "Manifold Cookbook", just how impressed your goodly Lady Wife would be, if you were to take here out for a nice long Sunday jaunt, then serve her dinner in a layby somewhere in the Country! Me thinks "Mega" Brownie- points may be forth coming!
For the "source" of the Grub, (to quote H. Fearnly-Wittinstall) - " On these winding country roads there can be some nasty accidents - and you wouldn't want to miss one"!.
Billy
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I've lost count of the number of pheasants I've picked up on the road. The odd hare, rabbit and deer too. Yum. Best bit about driving.
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following on with this point, what is the legal point if one hits an animal,assuming it's okish.
IF I telephoned for a vet, is the cost at my expense or the owners, and do you legally have to stop for all animals . Prehaps I'm fortunate to have only hit a couple of hedgehogs, a couple of birds and a rabbit.
general rule I'd swerve if possible, but not at the expense of others
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Road Traffic Act will tell you Wotspur. A Horse, Cow, Ass, dog, and fowl (from memory) requires you to comply with the RTA, i.e. stop exchange details or report to the Police.
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nice young lady receptionist got stuck in with me watching in total embarassment :) - can smile about it now.
I think that was a golden opportunity to start a fantastic new relationship with the nice young lady. Why else would she have done it?
I once disturbed a wood pigeon on a country road in the early morning. It flew up, clouted my o/s door mirror and busted the glass. I've given plenty of rabbits headaches early a.m. too.
Another early morning a pheasant flew out straight into the bumper of my Porsche Carrera 993, crazing the paint. Expensive re-spray...
Moral, don't start out until at least 9.00 am.
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break smootly and firmly keep it straight checking mirror, you sreve left, squirel goes right, you swerve right, squirel goes left and so on. KEEP STRAIGHT
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"I remember having a huge row with SWMBO because I once ran over (and killed) a cat which had darted across in front of the car. I had a tree lined pavement on one side, and an oncoming bus the other."
DP, I was present at an accident scene where woman had swerved for a cat on a 60mph road near here. She lost control, went into a tree and her passenger ( a nurse) died of head injuries at the scene. She had to be cut out of the wreck by the fire service.
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was always told not to swerve for anything the size of a dog or smaller for the exact reason oilrag states.
having said that was in a Mini Metro and hit an alsatian at about 50mph. alsatian came off better with a broken shoulder whilst the car was all stoved in at the front. reassuring BL engineering.
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I live on the edge of the country.. see foxes and badgers near road occasionally.
rules:
Slow down for sheep (unfenced raods), cows and deer. All very dangerous.
Big dogs - over spaniel size are dangerous. Slow down.
Run over smaller dogs and cats.. I ran over a paniel which ran across in front of me.. it fell under the middle of the car and rolled over underneath (I was doing 25ish mph in a 30 limit) and came out unharmed - several yelps and presumably burns from exhaust. As it ran away, no broken bones?
Pheasants break headlamps (been there).
As for swerving at high speeds.. a no-no.
Friend hit a black cow at night on unlit country road going round a corner. Car was a write off. Cow had a broken leg.. so maybe survived.
Humans are far more dangerous.
madf
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Cows (like Horses) don't heal very well at all! most likely scenario is that by the end of the week the farmer had a deepfreeze full of lean, tender steaks 'n' joints, whilst waiting for the insurance to pay out on "the best one in mi 'erd".
Worked on farms - seen it done! put all your "old scrap" in a field and "accidently" leave the gate open (blame local estate kids of course) an hope a couple fall foul of an accident as opposed to dying of natural causes.
oh! motoring link?.....er? ... ah! thier Horns don't work!
Billy
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