roadrunner

With all those with experience in this, what sort of damage would I expect on my scooby if I hit a small animal at 30mph?

rr - who doesn't condone going around hitting animals, actually I like them.

Tiggs

you'd probably hurt it a lot, possibility of post crash shock setting in as well- this can kill a small animal.

Tiggs

roadrunner

Tiggs - If thats the case I would quickly take it for some psychotherapy, then bill the RSPCA for my time

Anyhow, wanted to now what damage would happen to my scooby not if the animal survives or not

Tiggs

ahhh, my mistake- cause i was being serious of course

roadrunner

bro2 - IMHO, generally I wouldn't steer to avoid any animal as its far safer to run it down than go skidding off the road.

rr - soz to hear about your accident tough & please don't think I'm having a go at you, becuase I am

roadrunner

I TKforgive you Tiggs - just don't let it happen again today otherwise you will be banned for 2hrs

rr

Tiggs

what a funny world- just after my last post i went to the post box, cat ran in front of the car- i braked heavily and made a quick change of direction (didn't leave my side of the road)

now, if someone had been following me they could well have gone straight into the back of me but tuff luck- i saw the cat and hit the brakes- didnt even think aboout it.

cant quite imagine just driving on as normal and killing it (which i could have done)

Tiggs

roadrunner

Agree with you Tiggs - Don't swerve like a lunatic but brake & pray

dsmith

I hit something on a dark night on a very crowded A1 doing 75/80 (prob 65/60 at impact). It was in the narrow two lane part south of where the A14 goes off. Had no choice - caught a glimpse of something coming across the inside lane in front of braking transit next to me. Hit the brakes. No possibility of swerving. Caught the right front corner. so obviosulsy didnt quite brake enough.

I didnt stop and as soon as I felt the bump and worked out I could still steer etc I got off the brakes for fear of somebody hitting from behind.

At the first laybay a few miles further on. surveyed the damage. 1 obliterated cibie driving light. Cracked bumper. Bodyshop found the airbox inside the right wing was all cracked and the bumper cross member was bent and had to be replaced. That will be £1100 thank you sir.

Something would have been in the central reservation with most of a cibie lense in it. I hope (for its sake) it didnt survive.

Deano

roadrunner

Deano - I know what you did last summer

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

I beginning to feel guilty about all the dead bugs on my windscreen, should I swerve to avoid them ? I once found a dead bee on my grill, should I sue the local beekeeper ?

roadrunner

Dunk - this post is about animals not insects , neverless you do have a valid point. Best bet as you are still here with us all keep on doing what you do

rr

skiddusmarkus

I think the ultimate responsibility lies with the queen bee,the beekeeper just provides the poor little beggers with a roof over their little buzzy heads and then swipes all their hard earned honey.

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

What's the best course of action when encountering a bee in a headon situation ? Is it best to slam it into reverse to minimise the impact speed ? Or better to accelerate to ensure that it is put out of its misery asap & record a clean kill ? If it is the former, will it damage my diff ? I feel a sleepless night on the way

roadrunner

skiddusmarkus - informative piece of reading but can we keep to the topic Stats have shown that when you wonder from the topic all hell breaks loose. Me I'm trying to keep this orderly

Regards
rr

roadrunner

Dunk - My advice it let the bee decided. There is nothing you can do if the bee is suicidal due to over work. Don’t damage your diff for the sack of a crazed bee

Stay focused people

roadrunner

Come on - surely somebody has done it?

How much will it cost me if I ran over a cat at 30mph

SCOSaltire

alot if its my cat!!!

a m8 hit a pheasant once... new grill and radiator time

I hit 3 bunnies the other night, no damage that i could see

I hit a bird once with a wing mirror... 40 quid for a new one on me old astra

fried a bird in my radiator grill last year.. no damage except a stink!

roadrunner

SCOSaltire - I know what you mean m8 about hitting a bird. Once I was driving along and this stupid magpie came swooping down smashing into my windscreen. The crunch of the break sound was horrible. Fortunately I didn't have to replace the window screen because it was on the passenagers side... phew

tweenierob

had to post this, took me a while as i couldnt stop laughing!!
hope it gets here

BOB.T

One night I was making progress accross a desserted moor road, I'm going round this really nice long left hander, had the car perfectly balanced doing about 50 - 55ish..... there's two bunnies having a chat in the middle of the road sorry an all but there's no way my foot is lifting of the throttle never mind braking! One got away, the other..... won't be sitting in the road again

The car was fine though

Bob

scoobdoo

I had an unfortunate experience once, had a 200sx at the time,(that isnt the unfortunate experience) was driving to work at 5 in the morning, going round a right hander at about 60 mph when I see a car reversing down the road toward me! No way could I stop, so I check the road ahead and swerve around him. Now i see the reason why he was reversing, he had just run over a fox, the fox managed to limp onto the other side of the road, only to be met by a 200sx coming towards him. (Kids look away now!)I then heard the thud of a fox hitting the rear diff of the car, and he didnt get up. What a pisser, run over twice, poor fox.

Tiggs

not very cunning was he!

SCOSaltire

i think u put him out of his misery
best thing u could have done

Scotch Steve

Happened to me last night at 9pm'ish, I driving at 30-35 in a 40 zone, first thing I know from absolutley nowhere two cats are chasing each other and one came straight out on to the road. I braked and swerved as it was safe to do so but unfortunatley hit one of the cats, having two cats myself I was more worried about it than my car.
I parked up and went back to find the cat conscious but in a state of shock at the side of the road.
It was obviously someones cared for pet and I wanted to take it to a vet asap, but being 15 miles from home I didn't know the closest one. The cat had no ID on it (turns out she was microchipped), so I picked it up and knocked on a few doors to try and find the owners and in turn the nearest vet. I found the owners at the second house but unfortunatley she passed away on us, I think most likely from shock.
The couple who's cat it was were ever so greatful that I went to the bother of finding them as they knew that as much as possible had been done to save their pet, rather than just finding it the next morning and upsetting themselves more by not knowing how long she may have lain helplessly by the roadside and if they had found her earlier could they have saved her etc.
All in all from being hit to passing away was about 5 mins (but it felt an awful lot longer) during which time she was very peaceful.

To answer roadrunners original question there appears to be no damage to my Scoob, I suspect that the cat just glanced the side of the bumper, however personally I feel like ****, like I did when I found one of my own cats dead in some bushes at the side of the road a week after she had gone missing having been hit and left.

Whilst you may not legally be obliged to do anything if you hit a cat, they usually mean a lot to their owners particularly when they are children or as last night an older couple. Hope it never happens to any of you, but if it does and if it is safe to do so, do what you can to help the animal and their owners. As I'm sure most like me would certainly appreciate it.

Sorry for the downer on the thread but that's the reality of it.

Steve

JackClark

Friend of mine hit a Pig! Very messy.

Jeff Wiltshire

Guy I know came around a corner while err 'pressing on' in a hire car over Dartmoor to find a very large bull in the road. The inevitably impact followed with the Bulls horns going through the windscreen on the passenger side...

Mate stops to assess damage (and change underwear) and then realises said Bull is still on his feet and a little miffed ....

Mate drives off asap....Hire Car was a write off 'cos the chassis was buggered...

Jeff

SCOSaltire

scotch steve
being a cat owner - i can appreciate what u did and mean.

i hope others take note

r@t

Rubber air dam saves life!

I had the miss fortune if hitting a cat while taking my m8 home one night, (he was a bit of a cat lover and so felt terrible) anyway, I was doing about 30 when the cat shot out from the passenger side hit the rubber lip of the air dam (clio 1.8 at the time), tumbled under the car and sprinted off into the hedge. We spend about 10 mins trying to find the little bugger with no luck.

I can only deduce that the soft rubber saved it's life, not accounting for shock!

Car manufacturers take note.

bros2

[Edited by bros2 - 7/2/2003 1:14:50 PM]