Road Deaths that go un-reported.

kluivert

Travelling home last night and narrowly missed a cat. Going to work there this morning, there was an abnormal amount of road kill on the roads

I dont mean just birds, but cats and dogs as well.

It got me thinking that some people treat their pets like a member of the family and must be really upset to discover their beloved pet on the road being rolled over by a lorry or something.

I have never hit an animal but have hit a crow that went underneath the car once, I just remember looking in my rear view mirror and seeing a puff of black feathers.

Surely hitting a fox or something can do alot of damage to the car. Hopefully it nevers happens.

pvt.joker

The only thing Ive ever hit (as far as i know) is a small bird, sparrow i would guess. It just flew out in front of me driving at 100kmph and went under the middle of the car. Looked in the rear view mirror and i think it was barely alive and just flapping in the middle of the road

Id say a dog / fox could crack your bumper / smash your lights, not much more than that.
Now hit a horse or a cow or a deer, and you're in serious bother!

mikemac

Once hit by a bird while on a motorbike.
It’s like getting a punch in the chest from Mike Tyson. Had to pull over for a few minutes to recover as I was badly winded and could barely breathe.

Padraig Mor

I (accidently) drove over a seagull once......while it was flying!

I.S.T.

A few years back I arrived on the scene just after an articulated truck hit two horses on the N4. The truck jack-knifed and ended up on central reservation, the driver was uninjured but in shock. The horses were not as lucky though.

Slig

I drive a 4x4 so I intentionally drive over cuddly animals and children:D

But seriously, I drove over a sheep dog once (I was in an An Post van and he was chasing me) he ran away but I knew he was fcuked. I felt so guilty that I didnt sleep that night. I went back to the owners house to tell him the next day and when I came back to the van the same dog was pissing against the tyre:D.

I ran over another dog later in a tractor (definately died) and his owner gave off to me for driving too fast:rolleyes:.

The down side of this is that now everytime I see a dog running out of a house to chase my car I brake or swerve which is really stupid on small country roads!!

BrianD3

I have probably killed thousands of small birds over the years. Driving along country roads in the mornings they just fly right out at bumper level. Nothing can be done to avoid them.

When it comes to larger stuff I haven't hit much. Killed a couple of rabbits and lightly clipped a cat once (it ran off seemingly uninjured) Hit a crow once and broke my foglight, have also killed a coupe of woodpigeons. Not bad for well over 300,000 miles driven.

I see a lot of mangled dead badgers on the road in fact i don't think i've ever seen a live badger They come out in the middle of the night and get wiped out by trucks which are out at all hours.

I know some women drivers who are always hitting cats and dogs in urban areas. They are dopey idiots who drive too fast and don't pay attention.

BnA

My wife hit a deer a few months ago. She wasn't hurt but she got an awful shock. As it was just down the end of our road, my Father went down and checked to see if he could find the deer about half an hour later. He found him lying on the far side of the ditch. When he saw my father coming he hopped up and tore off up the field so he was probably ok.

She didn't actually hit him head on. It was more that he jumped out of the side of the road and ran into the side of her car.

Slig

completely off topic but, did you know that it is illegal to kill a deer with a car and take it home however if you do hit one and kill it whoever is in the car behind can have it for dinner:D

Run_to_da_hills

Cats will generally out last all other animals in traffic accidents because they are all supposed to have nine lives. I once killed a cat on a GSXF 600 Suzuki, I gathered that this one must have been on its last one.

kluivert

WOW.

Some serial road killers above ^^^^ .

Lots of meat on a Deer alright.

bennyc

I ran over a rabbit with my ride on lawn mower last week does that count in the motors forum.
Poor f%^^ker was in the long grass and too young to know to move. I was not cutting at the time but it kinda ran around for a few minutes and took off up the field thank god as the kids were standing watching.

staker

i mangled a pheasant once. there were feathers everywhere. some whack off it too.
caught it under the grill, in turn it flipped over onto the windscreen right onto the wipers and got stuck!! had to stop and take it off myself ffs..
my girlfriend was in the passenger seat and was really frightened. i knew i couldn't take it home as eating roadkill is only allowed if it's someone else's...... so an aussie told me anway!

tuxy

Yesterday I must of hit over 50 flys with my corolla's windscreen. Insects are living creatures too.

Slig

not when I'm finished with 'em:D

cavanmaniac

I think we have this the wrong way around.

I saw a bullock make shiyte of a 2CV in a collision once.

Bloody cows, maniacs on the road.:rolleyes:

razorblunt

Was a passenger in a car once when a pigeon flew out and hit the righthand side of the bumper, last seen spinning violently into a field, I lolled, it might have been ok but imagine what it was thinking...."What the f**k was that?"

My uncle used to work in Athy used to tell me about the crows that would eat too much corn from the fields would get to fat and then wouldnt be as mobile when flying out of the way of oncoming cars, he said there was dead birds everywhere.

Cmar-Ireland

Was driving through the Curragh last week and a girl in front of me hit a dog. The poor dog was still alive but it was plain to see it's back was broken in a few places.
I can't imagine it survived.
Still feel pretty upset when I think about it.

On a lighter note, I was driving years ago and hit a bat. Didn't realise at the time, but when I arrived at my destination and got out of the car I got a strong smell of something cooking. Turns out the bat was cooked crispy as it was sprawled across one of the headlights!!!
Took a bit of scraping to get it off, smelt a bit like a cooked chicken

bigpinkelephant

Slig wrote: »

I ran over another dog later in a tractor (definately died) and his owner gave off to me for driving too fast:rolleyes:.

The down side of this is that now everytime I see a dog running out of a house to chase my car I brake or swerve which is really stupid on small country roads!!

It is the owner's fault for not having the dog confined in the first place, and he is liable for any damage done to your car by the dog.

You are mad to be braking or swerving to avoid the dogs- what if you caused an accident to yourself or others? You have to put your own safety first. Again the dog shouldn;t be allowed roam on its own in the first place.

Fozzie Bear

Killed a wren once with a fiesta. Did not know about it at the time. It was only when my da lifted the bonnet on the car one day to fix something that we saw it wedged into the mesh under the lip of the bonnet. Also welded a cats skull to the road last year. The dippy fecker ran out in front of me, stopped, went back and then changed his mind and went for it. I braked, swerved hard and just managed to get him! (i joke) I looked in the mirror and could see a flattened head and the rest of him sticking up in the air. Nasty.

My friend wrote off a fiesta van he had a few years back. lost it on a newly laid road surface and turned it over. He got a replacement festy and a week late he hit a flock of sheep with it! He was driving from Tuam to Galway city one saturday night when a flock suddnely appeared in front of him. They ran out an open gate from a farmers yard and into the traffic. He minced two of them and i think the car behind him also clipped a few too. He said the smell and sights were horrrific of mangled sheep. Made bits of his car too, 3g worth of damage at the time.

L1011

Lost a grille on a Grande Punto to a low flying crow

Other than that I've never knowingly caused road kill, but I think its the "knowingly" bit that counts there!

CantGetNoSleep

OP - check your front bumper, you probably kill a few hundred flies and insects each month

angelfire9

I killed a badger one night, was unavoidable the choice was between the badger and the oncoming car and the badger got hit! It did 2k worth of damage to my car, had to replace the front bumper, front headlight & foglight!

pebbles21

about 10 years ago i did a stint in dublin bus driving the small yellow imp buses,turning onto francis st with a bus full of passengers a fat pigeon smacks into the windscreen with an almighty thud,all the passengers go "ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"!simultaneously ,and i just keep driving normally then i hear some pensioner say "that f**ker doesnt give a b***ocks bout that pigeon,didnt even stop to see was he alright"!!!:eek:

vectra

I knocked downa Cow recently... Hold on.. It was my mother in law.. What a relief

** Joking **

lafors

The only good cat is a flat cat!

yayamark

jeez and i thought this thread was about fatal accidents that gardai try and cover up

:eek::)

Killed a few cats in my time

On the motorbike ive had a few small birds and wasps/bees hit off my helmet at about a 100mph. Jesus christ thats scary!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek:

Victor

You used to (still?) get a lot of grain trucks on the road between Cork and Macroom. The crows would be out on the road eating the spilled grain. When a car came along the young crows would fly off, while the older, smarter ones would just hop across the white line great for the crows ... except for when there was a car coming the other way as well. SMACK! :eek:

I've seen a lot of young animals dead around the city over the last few weeks, including a hedgehog. They're just of of the nest or whatever and aren't used to traffic.

The you see eall the dead tyres on the side of the road - tehy try to make it across during the night, but they never make it.

junkyard

I came across a dead Labrador the other morning going through Mayfield, it was like a crime scene, blood everywhere, the poor thing must have been hit by a truck. Tbh anyone who leaves a dog loose on the road should get jail.

Slig

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

It is the owner's fault for not having the dog confined in the first place, and he is liable for any damage done to your car by the dog.

You are mad to be braking or swerving to avoid the dogs- what if you caused an accident to yourself or others? You have to put your own safety first. Again the dog shouldn;t be allowed roam on its own in the first place.

Yup I know, but its instinct. If is see something in my peripheral vision coming straight out in front of me then I instinctively react. obviously I have never swerved into oncoming traffic or onto the other side of the road but I have mounted a ditch once.
The worst case was when I met two ladies out walking on the side of the road and I noticed one had a leash in her hand but no sign of a dog.
I slowed down and about 100 metres up the road this dog jumps out of a drain and starts biting at my front wheel. luckily I was able to stop but I got out and gave the little fcuker a kick that lifted him off the ground.

There are still a load of places around where dogs will just run out of a yard onto a main road to chase cars going past, I think its so irresponsible of the owners.

Victor

So you stopped so you wouldn't hurt the dog, but you kicked it instead? :rolleyes: