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My dog almost got hit on the road. She almost never even goes near the road and is pretty much content to just lay on the porch, so I've never felt the need to keep her on a leash when I go out on my front porch, but there was some ######'s dog across the street wandering around loose and she saw it and just took off.

Those bastards didn't even slow down! They just kept on driving! What the ###### is wrong with people?! What, were they just doodles###ting along and didn't notice the white dog on the black road? Come on. One thing's for sure, I'm going to be lot more careful from now on.

Maybe they were drunk or on drugs? It sucks that they nearly hit your dog, but at least she's all right.

They couldn't've been! It was just average daytime traffic, just driving along, just refusing to stop just because there was a dog on the road. It wasn't like they were weaving around all over the place, or something. I couldn't believe that they weren't even slowing down! Maybe they didn't need to stop, but they at least could have slowed down considerably. I am so glad she didn't get hit.

While it is the diver's job to avoid accidents and that one is likely an idiot who handled it badly, you may want to consider this from a different view point.

It's the dog owner's responsibility to keep the dog out of the road in the first place.

This viewpoint may seem mean, but it is the truth. I know too many people who let their dogs run loose and all over. When their dogs are in the road, they get mad at drivers for trying to use the road as it was designed to be used. They fail to fathom that it could be remotely their fault for letting their dog into the road in the first place.

While it is good that your dog was not hit, it is at least partially your fault that the dog was in that situation.

*shrug* Some people are just malicious sh!ts.

This post has been edited by Sniper Kitty: 12 October 2008 - 03:22 PM

Shlimazel, on Oct 12 2008, 12:59 PM, said:

Actually, I know someone who's dad drove drunk all the time, he said it didn't matter what time it was. It was just as likely for him to drive drunk at 1 PM as it was for him to be doing it at 1 AM.

My cat did get run over about a year and a half ago. The people weren't even drunk. They were just malicious pieces of poo, as sniper kitty implies.

Just to let you know that someone feels your pain.

Yeah, don't get me wrong. I'm glad your dog's okay.

I will almost always slow down to avoid even a wild animal (unless I've got a tailgater), but I'm just pretty pessimistic about the subject because of the people that live in my area.

I know many people who would maintain/increase speed to hit a wild animal like a raccoon or opossum. Heck, a lot of my friends fall into this category. I don't get it, but they've done it.

I know a significant number who would maintain/increase speed to hit a cat in town (we have a stray problem around here so the may not be domestic). I'm not friends with these guys because they're fairly serious rednecks.

I even know a few who would at least maintain speed to hit a (probably domestic) dog. These are the rednecks that'll hit a guy's dog, or trash his truck if they see it in a bar's parking lot. I don't mean to imply they need to know the owner in order to hit a dog, but if they do (and they don't like him) they'll try harder. Needless to that these guys are walking sh!t, but I know more than one of them.

With that in mind, I've almost lost a dog and a cat (once each) because I live just outside of a small town so we've got a few animals that wander around as they like. Two of my friends have lost two animals each (3 dogs and a cat), and it's pretty much become an understood fact that a lot of people are sadistic and/or stupid.

I guess my feelings on this are, I'm glad your dog's alright, but I pretty much expect the worst in people when they're in a car. Oh, and I'm sure Wisconsin's not the only place blessed with these types of people.

One of the worst wrecks I've witnessed came from some idiot deciding to slam on his brakes to avoid a cat in the road and getting rear-ended by a small semi (day-cab, single axle box trailer; still a semi though). As a general practice, it's probably best to break yourself of the habit of going for the brakes whenever you see a furry animal in the road. On the highway, that s### could get you killed.

Anyway, just as a practical question, if the dude didn't hit the dog, why would he slow down? Personally, I don't often slow down to avoid things I'm not going to hit, and certainly don't slow down because I didn't hit something.

-Pufer

Pufer, on Oct 12 2008, 11:35 PM, said:

Nah, don't worry about that. I tried to say that I only slow down. Meaning I depress the brakes lightly to reduce my speed (if necessary) to a prudent rate over a reasonable distance (for example: from 45 to 35/30ish over a few seconds). I didn't try to imply that I double-foot stomp the brakes, throw my hands in the air, and invoke a higher power every time I see a furry caterpillar on the road. Besides I've got a few squirrels and chipmunks on my karma record to prove otherwise. Though, nothing the size of a cat or larger, yet.

But seriously. I agree that panicking is the worst possible move (as I'm not an idiot), but that's not what I was trying to say I do. If I've got a fair number of yards, time, and nobody behind me (as is more often than not the case on county roads) I feel perfectly justified in not smearing a skunk into the road. I mentioned a "tailgater", but I should have said "unless I have someone behind me".

Hey, I've been in a wreck. So, I know (in a way) why to stay in control or myself.

My first story time:

One of my friends and I were in a mini van coming into an intersection on a hot and humid day at around noon about three years ago. We were going about thirty five, I was riding shotgun and looking out the passenger window until I decided to look forward just as we were nearing the traffic lights. I tend to do that, no matter how futile, even if I'm not driving (I never fully trust other drivers). It was then that I noticed that a SUV was not quite where I thought it should be in order for my day to continue as planned. I had just enough time to utter a single (honestly) calm word: "f ######." (had to add an "f" to avoid total censor-based confusion) Next thing I knew a several seconds had gone by, my face felt like it'd been slapped straight on, and my shoulder felt similarly, though more dull. It even took me a few more seconds to, belatedly, realize that the world had become blurry because my glasses were no longer resting on my face.

A few confused, relieved, and concerned minutes later the police, fire department, and all the other accident scene usuals were present playing their respective parts. At that point I was doing my part in explaining that I literally "had no real idea what happened", while being most concerned with restoring my vision. After being abandoned in favor of more informed witnesses, I finally found my glasses in the hands of a fireman. I almost laughed because I could tell before he even said a word that he, for his own part, had found them under his foot. I really didn't mind terribly that he'd not seen them in time, but it was still enough for me to feel even more victimized by the whole situation.

To summarize the events and results: It had turned out that my friend had innocently chosen a very poor time to wipe a considerable amount of sweat from his eyes and brow, which resulted in two totaled vehicles. The driver of the SUV, as it happened, was alone on her cell phone innocently chatting away as a mini van came out of nowhere to obliterate the left rear section of her SUV. So with generous amounts of broken glass chips, a crumpled fore section and bent frame on the mini van, and an equally damaged SUV, I learned what it's like to be in a legitimate car crash at little personal cost to myself.

I feel confident in saying that I am both well aware of the benefits of wearing a seat-belt, and well aware of the dangers of colliding with an other car. That said, to this day, I'm not one of those passengers who reflexively stomps a foot on the car-mat when ever their confidence in the driver's reaction time fails them. I just don't generally panic like that. I've never slammed the breaks without good cause, and I doubt I will. I could, but I doubt it.

For good measure, I tell one more short story:

I was sitting in the back of a car last winter when a different group of friends and I were heading to a neighboring city to check out a theater. It was dark, and we hit some ice covered in powdery snow coming into a turn. To be mercifully short, this ended with our hitting a snowbank at about fortyish (I think) miles an hour. No injuries to speak of, except the driver's pride took a serious shot. After some effort we pushed the car out, and headed on our way a few minutes later. That time I only said: "s###." as the snow exploded over the car.

To tell the complete truth, my emotional reactions to such things usually mostly strongly manifests in some nervous laughter soon after the fact. That pisses some people off, but oh well.


Also, on a bit of a side note. I may have painted a somewhat stronger-than-intended picture with my previous post.

Edit: Ugh, those stories might be hard to read, but I'm tired so they are what they are.

This post has been edited by Sniper Kitty: 13 October 2008 - 01:34 AM

Even if you're a total piece of s### and self-absorbed and don't care about anyone but yourself, it would still make sense to avoid an animal (especially one as large as a dog!) if for no other reason than it could damage your car or you could get hurt.
But I guess some people are more than selfish, they're downright cruel.

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There's some truth in that, of course, but I don't let my dog run all over. She took off running and went across the road, which is something she's never done before. I mean, ever. I don't just let her out to wander, I'm right there at all times, but she's so layed back I usually don't need to worry about anything. I was completely surprised when this happened.

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That's disgusting. People have no sense of responsibility.

That's really sad, man. I think if I saw that car again, they'd be getting some nice, big scratches on the hood. That spelled out CAT KILLER. Hey, you kill my cat, I think it's fair.

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You're right about that, people are generally complete ######s when they're in a car. How stupid people can be pisses me off.

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Are you challenging Pufer's position as Head Storyteller? Just kidding.

Shlimazel, on Oct 13 2008, 09:59 AM, said:

Hell no.

Sniper Kitty, on Oct 13 2008, 12:16 AM, said:

I wasn't actually responding to your post. What I said was merely a general response to the topic.

-Pufer

How big of a dog is it? I know I'm not going to slow down for anything small enough not to damage my car. If it was a big enough dog to do damage, it's worth slowing down, if not, it's just natural selection if the animal gets hit. Heck, cats and squirrels I might even speed up.

Plenty of accidents are caused by drivers slamming on the breaks or swerving to avoid some dumb animal in the middle of the road. My sister nearly hit oncoming traffic to avoid a squirrel one time. It's just not worth it. If it's a domesticated animal, it's the owner's fault, if it's a wild animal, it matters even less.

I hope you learned your lesson about leashing your dog. I bet if the dog had caused an accident, you'd be liable for damages. Think about that one.

mrxak has said it all; I hate it when small animals come into the path of the car I'm driving. I will slow down if it'll put blood on the bumper, cause vehicular damage or if it's domesticated. I sure wouldn't appreciate it if someone hit my cat, but it is the owner's fault for not putting it on a leash or inside. Sure, I might jerk the wheel instinctively as well, but if it's a prairie dog, I'll let him have it. I don't slow down for prairie dogs or squirrels; we have too dang many of them.

On a side note, I've straddled two tarantulas in the past month who were crossing the highway. Big, hairy tarantulas. I wonder what's up...

This post has been edited by JacaByte: 16 October 2008 - 07:34 PM

JacaByte, on Oct 16 2008, 05:30 PM, said:

That sounds like a euphemism for something kinky.

*facedesk*

How would that even work?

I'll straddle your tarantula any day.

JacaByte, on Oct 16 2008, 06:30 PM, said:

A tarantula is the only thing that I've ever run over with my car (that I know of; I'm sure I've hit various smaller bugs in my time traveling the roads). By the time I noticed the poor little bastard in front of me, it was too late for me to try to miss him.

-Pufer

Pufer, on Oct 17 2008, 10:00 PM, said:

So you'd brake for a huge ugly spider but not for a cute little kitten? You are seriously screwed up.

I wouldn't have braked, but I would've moved over in my lane to avoid it. If I can avoid hitting a kitten, tarantula, or any other living thing, I will. I'm just not going to kill myself doing so. I feel bad when a bug hits my windshield on the freeway, but I'm not going to stop driving because of it.

-Pufer

Ironically, I've never harbored much concern for arthropods.

Sniper Kitty, on Oct 18 2008, 02:19 AM, said:

I don't get it.
If it's ironic, it's Alanis Morissete ironic.

I'd do my best to swerve and avoid something like that, but I'm with Pufer in the "I wouldn't kill myself doing it" camp.

The problem is, is that most people react to things after they've happened...

Like health and safety regulations, it's very expensive to put into practice all of them and because most people think "oh, it won't happen to me..." most bussinesses won't pay for a certain thing to take place (work gloves for lifting for e.g) unless an accident occurs.

What I'm saying is this is your fault... I hate stories that start with an accident waiting to happen... You are responsible for your pet, if you are stupid enough to let a near death experience for your dog, force you into actually helping him then more fool you...


I personally would do my best to avoid hitting an animal but only if I don't endanger myself or other road users.