So we were driving home from a wedding on Sat night, doing about 60mph on a country road when we rounded a gentle corner to find a rabbit sitting in the middle of the road.
My first reaction would have been to stand on the brakes. However my wife was driving and she chose instead to drive over the rabbit (wheels straddling it).
The rabbit was ok.
My question is, if I'd been driving and had stopped dead, and someone rear-ended me, who's fault is it? I thought the rule was that if you hit someone from behind it's always your fault, but then again I remember from my youth a story about you should stop for a licenced animal e.g. dog but not stop for anything unlicenced e.g. cat, rabbit, wildlife etc.
What do you think?
Rich
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It has to be the fault of the following driver. That said, it's not a bad idea to "train" yourself not to brake for small animals IMO - they seem to dodge the wheels more often than not, and there's a good chance that you'll have an accident like this (or worse) while the rabbit scampers off. A local youngster drove her Corsa into a telephone pole last while trying to avoid a aquirrel!
I have never heard the suggestion that one should try to identify the animal before deciding whether to take avoiding action - I do remember being told years ago that you should report it iof you run over a dog, but not necessarey for cats - not sure where cows, deer, sheep etc fit in to this! I do brake for deer regularly - abundant round here and they make a serious mess if you hit them.
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Even if you stopped for no reason at all, the driver behind you has a responsibility to avoid a collision; if that person is driving correctly, there will be enough space between you for him/her to stop without colliding. The driver behind can't know what is the cause of your stopping; but I suppose, if it came to court, the phrase "contributory negligence" might be brought to bear on the driver in front, although I doubt that it would stick. However, I am no lawyer . . .
As for licensed and unlicensed animals, I do my best to avoid hitting all of them, and I get a lot of practice around the lanes of Herts. The only ones that can really come out of the blue are muntjac deer and pheasants; foxes, badgers, rabbits, hedgehogs, cats -- all tend to look around them, or move slowly enough to avoid, or be easily seen, or all three.
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As been said, its 99% always the driver behind to blame. IN New Zealand I see that anyone who hits anyone in front always gets fined for "failing to stop short"
As for the type of animal, there is no rule to say you should not run them over, just that for certain types you have to stop afterwards and report it.
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I have always understood that the follower should leave sufficient space to stop.'I did not expect you to stop'is not an excuse,after all someone could stop for an entirely unpredictable reason,sudden attack of ill health,large bee suddenly flown into the vehicle,cambelt snapped.As for the licensed animal,dogs are not licensed,but I still would not want to hit a large one.
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Pheasants are certainly in a class of their own regarding death-wish.
I once gave one a glancing blow and stopped and carried the dazed idiot to the grass verge. Got back in the car and waited for a passing car to overtake - damn fool bird ran straight under his wheel!
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I once gave one a glancing blow and stopped and carried the dazed idiot to the grass verge. Got back in the car and waited for a passing car to overtake - damn fool bird ran straight under his wheel!
>>
*ROTFL* :)
If you hit certain animals then yes you msut report the incident to Police (or so the legislation says) especially if you happen to hit an 'animal of the Crown' like a Swan.
But anyhoo...unless it can be proved otherwise (independant Third Party Witness) that you, as the lead car, braked unneccessarily or were drviing erratically, then it is almost ever the person who was/is following you who has to drive with such 'due care and attention' so as to be able to stop safely without hitting you.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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As they always say "be able to stop in the distance you see to be clear".
However, ISTR there was a case a couple of years ago where someone "brake tested" a following driver. The blame was split (ISTR) somewhere near 50/50.
Martin
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There's one type of accident that really scares me (not so much the danger as the hassle of sorting everything out) - where you need to slam the anchors on on the motorway and you stop, but the car behind you hits you, shunting you into the car in front, etc. etc.
Must be a nightmare to clear it up and work out who's to blame for what.
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However my wife was driving and she chose instead to drive over the rabbit (wheels straddling it). The rabbit was ok.
Reminds me of the joke about the rabbit that (if caught in the glare of a car's headlights at night) used to crouch down and remain stationary in line with the middle of the two headlights. Worked OK until a Reliant Robin came along!
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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