curse of the fluffy bunny wabbit
Discussion
Had a bit of a scare at the weekend that hasn't quite left me.
country lane, driving steadily - about 50MPH - lots of hedges but s straight road.
Car coming the other way, when car is about 20 yards away, out jumps fluffy bun-rab infront of me.
Immediate reaction is to brake-swerve, which was overpowered by the need to keep straight and not hit the other car. These weren't conscious reactions, as it was all over before I realised what had happened. Went over the rabbit but saw it dash away in the rear view so seemed unharmed, and car went on its merry way.
Thing is, after that, every time a car approaches I imagine something jumping in front of the other car, and it swerving into me, and it won't go away!
even this morning driving to work.
scary thought.
country lane, driving steadily - about 50MPH - lots of hedges but s straight road.
Car coming the other way, when car is about 20 yards away, out jumps fluffy bun-rab infront of me.
Immediate reaction is to brake-swerve, which was overpowered by the need to keep straight and not hit the other car. These weren't conscious reactions, as it was all over before I realised what had happened. Went over the rabbit but saw it dash away in the rear view so seemed unharmed, and car went on its merry way.
Thing is, after that, every time a car approaches I imagine something jumping in front of the other car, and it swerving into me, and it won't go away!
even this morning driving to work.
scary thought.
Hand up all those who have swerved to miss an animal on an otherwise empty country road, and then thought "why the hell did I do that?"!
<raises hand>
Thankfully your instinct served you well, hopefully mosdt other people would do the same too, remembering that they're also subconsciously avoiding hitting the oncoming car too.
<raises hand>
Thankfully your instinct served you well, hopefully mosdt other people would do the same too, remembering that they're also subconsciously avoiding hitting the oncoming car too.
On my way down to daaarset with the OH, I noticed a large rock in the middle of the road. I made sure it went between my wheels so as not to cause damage to le automobile (no space to go around it). When I looked in my rear view to make sure I had got well past it, the rock grew ears and a fluffy white tail and hopped off. 
I nearly had an accident when I saw it.
I nearly had an accident when I saw it.
tigger1 said:
Hand up all those who have swerved to miss an animal on an otherwise empty country road, and then thought "why the hell did I do that?"!
<raises hand>
<raises hand>
Swerved, locked up, slid past one pheasant before now... Also managed to slide past a bunch of rabbits once who thought my headlights were rabbit-magnets...
Hell, I've swerved to avoid a rat type thing that ran out into the road (think it was a stoat on later reflection) with two babies in tow.
Friend of mine crashed into a roundabout once, basically went straight on when round would have been better.. His story was a fox ran out and he swerved to avoid it, neglecting to avoid the central part of the roundabout..
Ive only hit a couple of rabbits unintentionally.. one was at about 75mph in a nsl at night and another ran into the drivers wheel, Due to the wheel being spokes i remember seeing the rabbit fly up and into the wall.. not right nice but it should have been looking where it was going!
Story 1:
Many years ago (too many to mention), I was driving down a residential side street when a cat shot out from right side ... Brakes, screeching, blue smoke, the lot.
The cat actually crossed in front of the right wheel and out the middle of the left side. Must have lost at least 2 lives that night.
Story 2:
Driving down country lane with proper foot paths. There was a family walking along the right side of the road with their dog. Kids decided to run across the road, no problem, way up ahead, just I get to them, the dog, unleashed, decides to join them. Almost BBQ meat....So, remember to keep those kids leashed up, to stop the dog following them across the road
Many years ago (too many to mention), I was driving down a residential side street when a cat shot out from right side ... Brakes, screeching, blue smoke, the lot.
The cat actually crossed in front of the right wheel and out the middle of the left side. Must have lost at least 2 lives that night.
Story 2:
Driving down country lane with proper foot paths. There was a family walking along the right side of the road with their dog. Kids decided to run across the road, no problem, way up ahead, just I get to them, the dog, unleashed, decides to join them. Almost BBQ meat....So, remember to keep those kids leashed up, to stop the dog following them across the road
BO55 VXR, that first incident wasn't in Aldershot in '87 was it??
Exactly that happened to my cat - I opened the front door, he got
spooked for some reason and belted out into the road. Scrreech!!!!
When I looked car was stopped, tyre smoke was rising andthe cat was
away up the street
Steve
Exactly that happened to my cat - I opened the front door, he got
spooked for some reason and belted out into the road. Scrreech!!!!
When I looked car was stopped, tyre smoke was rising andthe cat was
away up the street
Steve
bryan35 said:
Thing is, after that, every time a car approaches I imagine something jumping in front of the other car, and it swerving into me, and it won't go away!
even this morning driving to work.
scary thought.
even this morning driving to work.
scary thought.
Don't let it become a negative scary thought, remember it is infact irrational and not going to happen.
I had similar thought patterns after I narrowly avoided a boy racer swerving into me. He was approaching fast and over taking a queue, coming straight towards me on my side of the road like a chicken run, then swerved back to his side, lost control on the wet surface and crashed on my side just behind me, a total mangled mess. I found a lucky gap it seems! If I'd been going a few mph slower I would have had the full force in my off side!
After that I had negative visions of other cars swerving into me, especially boy racers approaching quickly, but of course it doesn't happen. It just takes a couple of weeks to re-establish normal positive thought patterns again.
just trouble said:
Encountered a similar situation with a cast member from Watership Down and had to swerve several times before I hit it.Tricky little suckers some of them 
JT
nice one!
Reminds me of the time i was a front seat passenger in a friends car, when he nearly caused us to have a shunt from car behind, because he did an emergency stop at 30 to 0 in as many feet to avoid..... a sparrow!
Needless to say -It was the last time i had a lift with him!
Hit a cat once, on DC was being overtaken at the time so swerving was out of the question. I do know some people who will always swerve for "ïnnocent" small fluffy animals regardless of the risk to people - they have strange priorities.
Over here on Oz you get the roos - they're a big problem around dusk and dawn. Hell, they're a problem all night long. They jump into your lights deliberately at the last second; if you swerve, they jump into your new path again. Hence repeated swerving and continual braking is required, plus practical vmax=80km/h during crazy hours near bushes/trees in remote places.
Friend of mine went nuts at the roos last year after one too many suicide attempts and chased the damn thing off the road into the desert. In a volvo. He came back 20 mins later frothing, sweating and shaking...
Also flocks of emu like to run in convoy with you sometimes :-)
In my car the bonnet is just the right height to swipe away the legs and leave the roo sitting in the cabin with me... yikes
dave
Over here on Oz you get the roos - they're a big problem around dusk and dawn. Hell, they're a problem all night long. They jump into your lights deliberately at the last second; if you swerve, they jump into your new path again. Hence repeated swerving and continual braking is required, plus practical vmax=80km/h during crazy hours near bushes/trees in remote places.
Friend of mine went nuts at the roos last year after one too many suicide attempts and chased the damn thing off the road into the desert. In a volvo. He came back 20 mins later frothing, sweating and shaking...
Also flocks of emu like to run in convoy with you sometimes :-)
In my car the bonnet is just the right height to swipe away the legs and leave the roo sitting in the cabin with me... yikes
dave
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