GODDAMNITSOMUCH

[fastwin]

i ran over my first animal when i was a teen. it was a chipmunk. i tried to swerve, but of course it jumped under my tires. i felt bad.

my grandfather, who was riding shotgun, told me to never, ever, ever, swerve to avoid anything smaller than your tires. the chances of having a serious accident are just to great.

since then i have hit a LOT wildlife, and perhaps a stray cat or two...never swerved or stopped for one of them.

but i still feel bad when it happens.

I remember when my soon to be ex-wife and I went to Fredericksburg, TX for a bed and breakfast thing years ago and coming back into town from a restaurant out in the hills we were the first on the scene of a bad pick up wreck caused by a white tail deer. It had jumped into the road in front of a pick up driven by a young doctor from nearby Kerrville. He veered and went straight into a huge live oak tree. DRT. Dead Right There. It was witnessed by folks driving in the other direction. Made our drive home a little more attentive.

[Kopfjager]

fast crash into deer

[herm]

^thats brutal 

and way bigger than the tires..

[Speedbag]

Goddamn deer!!!!!!! 

[cokey]

about 4 yearsago coming back from our weekly Friday meets in LI, west bond on the LIE.. of course his part if the road the lights had burned out, I see my lights shining off of something in the middle lane.. going about 60-70 (in the srt) I realize its the side chrome of an suv.. damn thing was sideways with no lights or hazards on.. I had engh time to swerve..  about 30 feet after I pass it I hear tires screetching and bam.. another car hit it.. this was around 1 am..  ride safe guys

[duccarlos]

Similar thing happened to me on I-95. It was pouring with barely enough visibility. Just ahead I see a car had spun out and was sitting across the far left lane and half of the right lane. There was a car in the right lane, so I could not turn over and the car behind me had already turned into the medium. The driver, senior, was sitting in shock in his car just staring at the incoming headlights. I was just about ready to kill him when I noticed that I can just enough room to tuen into the medium and onto the grass. Did my stuntman move and ended up in the grass. Immediately called 911 and told them that the guy would die if someone didn't come out to help. I didn't stay to watch so I have no clue what happened to that poor man.

[aussie]

 if any animal wonders onto the road and you can hit the brakes safely then thats fine, but on a Highway thats crazy and just damn dnagerous. I once hit a kangaroo in my car, it was a wet road and I wasnt about to try and swerve, I was doing 110 kph, and jeeps are not known for there handling !!!

[Jarvicious]

Was the driver of the car wrong for having stopped in the middle of the road??  Absolutely. 

Should the biker have been paying more attention to his surroundings (especially with a pillion).  Absolutely, but at the same time it's people like that cager that force us to be as attentive as we are. 

I was out with a buddy a few months ago (me with a passenger) on a curvy road when we came across some jackass in a Subaru parked in the middle of the lane (just past the apex mind you) taking photos of an owl on the damn power lines.  There wasn't enough honking and/or screaming in my reportoir to convince that guy how pissed I was.

We all ride/drive regularly and most of us know people that have been in accidents (other vehicles invoved or not) so we have the good fortune of knowing just how dangerous being on the road is.  All we can do is stay away from ma and pa jackass behind the wheel and make the best of it.

Riding a bike is like working retail:  everyone should have to do it just once to realize just how tough it can be. Ok....that may be a stretch

[TiNi]

since then i have hit a LOT wildlife, and perhaps a stray cat or two...never swerved or stopped for one of them.

sorry herm, but your post reminded me of this guy from raising arizona 
runs over a cute bunny without even slowing down



i agree with mr.inc on this as well... the moto rider should have been watching more closely, especially with a passenger

rip  

[El Matador]

Somewhere in the middle of rural Virginia, running down the BRP, Desmolu and I came upon a car parked right in the apex of a blind corner, taking up all of our lane and half the other. One pure reflexes saved us there. They were taking pictures.  If I hadn't been sure there was no way for me to talk to the person without trying to force my size 11 racing alpinestars boots down their throat, I would have stopped to express my displeasure.

[nicrosato]

Jesus, I would have approached this with the maturation that age brings. I would have pulled in front of him, stopped, and politely informed it that it was against the law to stop on the BRP,  and that no patriotic, law-abiding American would break the law. Moreover, it was dangerous to stop mid-curve.

Now, if my polite tone and persuasive logic did not bring agreement, I would have removed my helmet, grasped it by the chin strap, and smacked him with it.

[FastAndLight]

fast crash into deer

This happened to my buddy over 4th of July weekend.  Luckily, we had just slowed down to about 30 and he low-sided instead of going over the top.

In our case the deer jumped out at his 3/4, so he couldn't see it when it first came into the road, but since I was behind him I saw it and simply thought to myself, "oh shit, this isn't going to end well".

It didn't, as when the deer got almost even with him, it jumped right into / in front of him.  He sort of laid it down and I saw him, his bike, and the deer slide into a ditch off the side of the road.  I tried to get there fast enough to kill the deer since it looked like it would be good eating and we were going to have to get the pickup to get his bike home. Anyway, I was too slow and the deer ran off.  He got up with just some minor road rash. Bike is in the shop with easily repairable damage.

Damn deer. Stupid animals evolution hasn't yet trained to avoid roads.