I'm relieved the dog was still well enough (just) to run away.
The position I thought I was in was of standing on a fast road attempting to wave cars clear of a half-alive animal writhing about in the middle of the road. Should I just drive away and go and report the accident, or risk getting bitten by the dog, or run down myself while trying to move it? Am I negligent if I leave an animal in the middle of the road for someone else to hit? How much risk do I have to take for a dog, compared with a human?
Or come to that, would you stop on the hard shoulder and risk certain death by running onto a motorway to drag someone clear?
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With regards to what happened to you, its difficult to say what would be best to do. Instinctively, I would have driven onto a place where it was safe enough to stop and then tried to report the Incident. Thinking about that, I?m not quite sure how i would manage, cos I don?t have the local polices' number in my mobile (118 ??? i guess)
If you stop and try to recover the animal, i would say your putting yourself at excessive risk and hence its best to drive on, especially on the road which you describe, but around town things might be different.
Put another way, its case of risk minimization. Which is the safest thing to do for both you and other road users? I imagine that the road is relatively clear and that the animal would be visible from a considerable distance, in which case it would give other motorists time to slow/stop and safely overtake the obstruction.
As long as you stay at the scene (obviously at a safe distance) and report the incident, I fail to see how you could be negligent because you have done everything you can without putting yourself at risk. In the case of a motorway, you should never attempt to recover anything from the carriage way, and call for emergency assistance instead. (rule 254 of the highway code).
Actually the bus I was on today, on my way home from uni, was unfortunate to hit a Labrador. It was a long and straight suburban road, so I had already seen it narrowly escape being hit by a Volvo moments before. It rejoined the path, only to emerge seconds later from between two parked cars, directly into the path of the X31. There was little the driver could have done. He braked hard and swerved but still struck the dog hard enough to create a bang followed by screams and yelps from the dog.
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Well, it got up and hobbled away with a pronounced limp, but how long it would have lasted after that, is debatable. Also, I?m sure I saw blood too so maybe it sustained more than just a broken leg. It went to a group of nearby school children and adults who seemed to take some interest in the dogs condition (despite the fact another pedestrian had seen it all happen but failed to even acknowledge it). I don?t know what happened to it after that.
The driver got out at the next stop to inspect the front of the bus but seemingly failed to report the incident on his mobile (I was upstairs so didn't see his every move), but upon its return to the depot, I imagine something was probably said.
Despite the fact it was only a dog, It wasn?t a pleasant experience, as the screaming from the dog was such that I initially thought a young child had witnessed it.
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Thanks everyone. That's basically what I did. I was worried about the implications of "leaving the scene of the accident" versus the obligation to report it.
I cannot see what purpose reporting it actually served. It wasted police time, and they would have needed dozens of policemen in a line a mile long to comb the countryside looking for the dog, and enquiries at remote farms down long tracks. The owner, if the dog ever made it home, would hardly volunteer that he let the dog roam out of control at night.
I know it was only a dog (and I hate dogs!) but it was still pretty upsetting. The thwack on the bumper sounded horribly like the noise a child would make.
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I hit a dog once. It's the sound of the dog hitting the bottom of the car repeatedly as I was slowing that has stayed with me.
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Cliff, I'm sorry to hear about this -- it must have been very traumatic for you. Many years ago, I hit a badger at night on a mountain road (when, to be honest, I was going too fast for the conditions), and the horrible memory of the impact stays with me. The badger jumped out of the ditch onto the road, so there wasn't much I could do, but I do wish I had been going slower.
So I hope it doesn't sound accusatory if I ask you to consider whether, given all the conditions, you were actually travelling at a speed which allowed you to stop within the distance that you could see to be clear? I'm not asking you to answer me, or trying to critical, just suggesting it you as an angle to consider.
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Thanks, N-W. No, it's a fair point. I don't think I was going too fast - about 45-50 mph. The dog ran out, narrowly missed an oncoming vehicle, and then straight in front of me.
I could stop within the distance I could see to be clear, and it was clear until the dog ran into it.
I've noticed that sheepdogs often play these games of running out unexpectedly, but in this case unfortunately it probably was confused by the unexpected confluence of two vehicles from different directions. I had the impression the other vehicle was travelling much faster, but even two safe speeds could easily have combined to give 100mph closing gap.
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