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by ... on September 10th, 2007

...

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People are ALWAYS telling me if I'm on the highway and a dog runs across the road to MOW it down bec there'll never be enough time for sudden stops or safe swerves. What are my other options?

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Answers. 6 helpful answers below.

  • by Raddman on September 10th, 2007

    Raddman

    Thats a hard question that I think would have to be a judgement call depending on how fast you were going and how traffic was next to you..Swerving in traffic is not good and slaming on the brakes could cause an accident...Still a judgement call...It might be a deer and hitting one head on at full speed could be fatal to you!

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  • by Athrael on September 14th, 2007

    Athrael

    Depends on traffic and how much reaction time you have due to distance and your current velocity. If you can safely move into a lane other than the one the dog is, then do so. If you can safely slow down (without say a tailgater on your rear) then do so.

    In essence it is a judgment call and requires alertness and a basic understanding of the vehicle you are driving and its ability to "swerve" or stop or slow down.

    Some simple rules of the road will provide you with the time to react.

    Granted the posted speed limit is say 55, 65, 75 - however at night or during periods of time of reduced visibility (rain, light fog) one should drive at least 5 to 10 miles below the speed limit. If you are going up a hill or around a curve, you should slow down - might not be a dog in the middle of the road, but it could be a car, a person trying to cross the road. If you can not see what you are heading for then slowing down is always best.

    Remember that Speed Kills. Posted Speed limits are not there to be a personal nuisance to you, they are there due to the road conditions and the hazards that driving faster presents.

    All people are trained to leave a distance between them and the next car - why on earth so many refuse to do that is beyond me.

    I have been driving for 26 years. I have only hit one dog. It was a rural road, the middle of the night and the dog ran out just in front of me. All other times I have been able to slow down and safely "swerve" to miss animals, dogs, deer, cow, goats, chickens, cats, etc.

    The worse accident I have been in as a driver was when I backed up my work truck into a tallish stump.

    However there is always the chance that you will be in a situation where you have no other choice but to hit the dog. In that case once you have hit the animal you need to ease into a safe stop, on the side of the road and walk back and check on the animal.

    If its in the middle of the road and you can safely do so, pull it to the side of the road. If you can not do that, then you need to flag the rest of traffic or set up a system that notifies other drivers that there is something in the road and they need to slow down. I carry reflectors and flares (which everybody knows to carry in the trunk).

    Of course call Highway Patrol or local police as well.

    People will attempt to swerve around animals laying dead in the road - it is best to have a dead animal removed since swerving to miss even dead animals has caused accidents.

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  • by Galeanda on September 11th, 2007

    Galeanda

    That might be true if it's a huge cow and you MUST get it off the road. That was the recommendation we got from locals and police in Mexico years ago LOL!!! I guess they were speaking from experience. But for something like a dog, just you slowing down could give the dog enough time to get out of the way. And it so depends on how fast you were first going. We've had a dog survive a 25 mph hit and other than being dazed and walking weird, he was okay. I often wondered if that little bit of braking the man did, helped save the dogs life. If he had sped up and plowed into our dog, the dog would have been dead or severely injured. I say, it's insane to deliberately plow into a dog, and cruel. It will not guaranty your safety and will guaranty the dog's injury.

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  • by Ender is back.. And slightly confused. on September 10th, 2007

    Ender is back.. And slightly confused.

    Actually, it's best to slow down. If you consider that Force = Mass times Acceleration, if you speed up and "mow the dog down" you will actually be putting yourself at greater risk of crashing due to the greater force being applied. I, personally, would try and slow down as much as possible and swerve, unless there were other people whom I would be putting in danger. Then, I'm sorry, but the dog is going to die.

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  • by anonymous on September 10th, 2007

    anonymous

    I have been told that too and the idea is so horrid to me I don't think I could ever do it.

    Lets hope you or I never find ourselves in that situation. :)

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  • by slothmister on September 10th, 2007

    slothmister

    The best thing for you to do would be to keep a 2s distance from the car infront (4 if its wet and 8 if its snow/ice) so if heneeds to suddenly stop you should also have time todo the same thing.
    Unfortunatly there is nothing you can do about the cars behind or infront of you.
    At the end of the day the choice is either...
    1. A dead animal or
    2. A bunch of dead people and (of much lesser importance) a traffic nightmare for all the people trying to use the same expressway.

    Give the choices, I think we would all decide to kill then animal.

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