[username604]

I was driving down in San Diego in my father\'s 03 Camry in fog. Between switching freeways on a ramp was a dog hidden in the fog. I tried my best to swerve on the single lane ramp without rolling the floaty Camry. It was pretty controlled and I avoided the dog but I\'m wondering if I shouldn\'t try avoiding an animal next time? Concrete barriers are a large price to pay for avoiding a stray dog that\'s probably dead now (stuck between 2 freeways).

[Soliditude]

Your question slightly implies that you hit the concrete wall after swerving from the dog, which, of course, I'm sure you didn't. And if you didn't, then you answer your own question: If there's a chance of not hitting anything and swerving away safely, why would you not do that? Nobody would run into an animal if they have a chance to miss it.

[rusty_g80]

Yes, I do as much as I can to avoid hitting animals. A car is just a replaceble piece of metal and plastic while the thing you hit is a living creature.

[E90_boostjunky]

i was driving to the mall earlier and at the last second i saw a branch laying in the middle of the road and ive literally never swerved so hard to the left (luckily no oncoming traffic was coming) but my gf was like REALLY, im like yeah i cant afford any scratches on my bumper right now lol

[DDS2015]

For me it's instinct to try and avoid whatever is on the road. Doesn't matter if it's an animal or road debris. It seems to be a subconscious act, and I don't even think when I'm avoiding the animal. If you have enough time to think about whether to hit it or avoid it then you should try your best to avoid it.

[darkw1sh]

Well the way i think of it is 1 its alive, 2 if i hit it it will cost a great deal of money to fix my car (friend hit a deer, fix was like 4.5k), and if i am faced with a decision like the situation my buddy experienced, I would hit the animal. If it is my life or its life screw the car its a piece of metal, screw the animal, I need to live and keep my passengers safe.


Situation that had happened with me and my buddy.

Driving to the lake 4 people in a Dodge Ram... mid turn a deer is staring at the headlights of the car and another car is coming head on, on the other side of the road.

We tried our best to miss it but we didn't. Although it was not dead I'm sure it had a lot of broken bones, as it was still alive when we stopped on the side of the road. Everyone was okay, but I'm sure the deer died not far from there.

[Foodle]

For small animals, I do the best I can to avoid them within the bounds of safety. If it's a choice between crashing the car or running over a squirrel, then sorry squirrel.

For larger animals, things get more serious. A deer can really mess up your car. A cow or moose can cause a fatal (to you) accident.

[The Wildcard]

I've heard from a highway police officer that anything smaller than a cat, you keep going. Anything bigger, you swerve.

[TroyDeJ]

i dodge everything as best as i can. if i cant i feel terrible if i kill a squirrel or something

[krhodes1]

IMHO, if the OP was going so quickly that he could not see something the size of a dog in the road in the fog, then he was driving too fast for the prevailing conditions.

We have A LOT of deer (and moose!) around here - if I am on a road where there is likely to be deer, and conditions are such that I cannot use my high beams, I slow right down. There should be no need of sudden swerves such that there is any possibility of losing control, even in a floaty Camry. Afterall, that dog could have just as easily been a lost child, or a drunk.

[mike3000fl]

when i first started driving i did this a lot in a 3000GT, which felt like it was on rails.

next vehicle was a ford expedition and didn't quite swerve as well as the mitsubishi. that fucker almost rolled over and I had to detrain myself from swerving to avoid shit.

training yourself to swerve can really bite you in the ass when you aren't in a vehicle capable of swerving.

muscle memory and all that.

[Eric335]

i hit a cat doing 50 and i regret it everyday damn thing leapt out in front of me a 10 PM and went through 3 lanes, all of them empty, just to get hit by the ONLY damn car on the road for about 2 miles lol

only small hair patches left behind om bumper, so im good lol

[Cozy]

Swerve always unless it'll cause a fatality but a life is a life regardless of species IMO (I'm all for animal welfare) and I also love my car so I'd like not to damage it. A fox ran out in front of me at 50mph, just casually stepped out in front without looking and was one of those slow motion "Nooooo" moments. Luckily managed to brake and swerve right, clipping it with just the front left side of my bumper. I went back to check it was ok but nothing there so I guess it got lucky.

I've killed only two, a squirrel trying to cross 6 lanes of motorway which was hit by me and a few other cars & then a rabbit which again just bolted in the road 2ft in front of me so there was nothing I could do, I feel so bad still fo both though.

On another occasion I rescued a wounded rabbit from the road hit by someone, it had a broken leg else but sadly it died from shock on the way to the animal hospital.

My winning story was saving a baby squirrel from a busy road while on my push bike. I rode with it home, we fed it, made it a bed and I believe now resides as a tame animal at the local wildlife welfare shelter .

[nafoo]

A young kid died recently trying to avoid a buzzard. Swerved straight into an 18 wheeler.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/...lled-car-crash

Make sure to try to avoid animals if it is safe to do so. Life > damage to your car.

[fallintotherhyme]

is this a serious question? Who wouldn't avoid an animal to prevent injury and damage to yourself and your car.

/close thread

[gunnerxq]

No they die.

[listerone]

As cruel as it might sound I wouldn't swerve unless,perhaps,we're talking about a moose or something.Better the dog should die than anyone in my car,in another car or a pedestrian.

[tmo24]

Depends on if I can do it safely. My friend rolled his car trying to miss a dog. Ended up in the hospital and got surgery on his right arm. He had a scar 8 inches long, pains that will last his entire life, and a totaled car. He was lucky he didn't die. After knowing what he went through, I won't swerve unless I know for sure that I can do it safely. Especially with my daughter in the car. At that point, it's the dog's life or my family. I will chose my family everytime.

[Michael Schott]

The correct answer is: it depends.

It depends on the size of the animal, your speed and most important, the traffic around you.

Let's say you are only a busy divided city street, a dog runs in front of you and traffic around you is heavy. You have no choice but to hit the dog assuming due to traffic it's dangerous to brake hard. But if you are on a lightly traveled country road and a dog runs into the road, if you are not traveling too fast, you may be able to avoid the animal.

[NoMods]

depends on size of animal, if it was a person i usually speed up.

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by tmo24

Depends on if I can do it safely. My friend rolled his car trying to miss a dog. Ended up in the hospital and got surgery on his right arm. He had a scar 8 inches long, pains that will last his entire life, and a totaled car. He was lucky he didn't die. After knowing what he went through, I won't swerve unless I know for sure that I can do it safely. Especially with my daughter in the car. At that point, it's the dog's life or my family. I will chose my family everytime.

What did he roll?

[E90 87ss]

If I'm going to cause an accident absolutely not. I had person tailing me in my moms jeep several years ago and there was a group of turkeys crossing... couldn't panic stop in time + the person behind would have rear ended me... maintained speed and luckily the turkeys were small enough that they went under both SUVs... This really isn't a moral issue; it is a safety issue...