is that how you really picture it? Far from it... it's just simple understanding that you have the most control going straight forward, on the pavement, not heading off in a 45* angle on an uneven shoulder doing 60 mph.
The problem is you seem to be under the impression that when I say "judge the situation" that I mean "ALWAYS SWERVE OFF THE ROAD." What I mean to say is that you should not have this pre-concieved notion of not swerving. Treat the animal as you would any other object. Sure, you might not swerve for a small deer, but if you don't swerve for a large bear, just because it is an animal, well then pray the Medivac isn't too far off....
the way I look at it, the telephone pole I hit, the tree I wrap my bumper around has no 'give', the back of your car does.... I also figure you are protected by your vehicle, unlike the little kid on the side of the road I didn't see and ran over.
Again, you seem to be making your statements based on pre-conceived notions of the conditions for this hypothetical crash. Who's to say that there aren't just two empty lanes on your right? Or just some grass. Or maybe just a guardrail you can scrape up against? I'm not advocating that you should always assume you see everything, but a good driver should have a fairly good grasp of what is around them at all times. More than once I have had people move over onto me aggressively on the road. Without even thinking I instinctively swerved into the lane on my other side. I never even checked my blind spot when I swerved. Why? Because given the situation, I did not have time. However, I knew at the time that there was a vehicle tailgating me and nobody on that side because I was aware of my surroundings. Frankly, though, I'd still rather hit a telephone pole (many of which, by the way, are designed to break away) than rear-end someone and potentially injure people.
I don't care who you think you are, you can't control your car like you think you can when you swerve off the road to avoid an animal who very rarely, gives you warning of his impending actions.
You also seem to be under the impression that this swerve has to be a violent maneuver. I drive a Subaru Outback. It's not a Lotus, but it can handle a fairly severe swerve without getting too bent out of shape. This is because A. I have decent tires on the thing, B. I have sport struts, and C. I've done enough swerving in my car to know just how much I CAN swerve without things going horribly wrong. This isn't because I am a super-awesome-best-in-the-world driver. This is merely because I have a decent grasp of basic physics and some experience of extreme maneuvers in my car.
I frequently travel the road my band director died on. I periodically see deer on the side of the road. I try to be on the look out for them because of all the deer. I've even seen those on the side of the road. I slow down, sometimes 30 mph, make sure both hands are on the wheel, and foot over the brake... But I'm going straight ahead. I don't flash my lights, or honk, or do anything like that, I just make sure I'm as prepared as I can.
Lol, try driving through NJ. It's terrifying. We have something like 3 deer per square foot... and that's almost not an exaggeration. It's stupid.
Funny story about my uncle and aunt. I was riding with that uncle, my brother and his gf and we drove by where my aunt did that, so we had my uncle tell the story to my brother's g/f who wasn't around to hear the story prior. My brother was driving and I asked everyone at once "if an animal comes out, do you swerve or hit it head on. Brother and uncle said "HIT IT" (my brother actually said "hit it like Dale earnhart at 230mph but I digress, lol) his g/f said "swerve" that's when they told her the story. But just as soon as they got done telling her the story, an oppossum shot out from the side and shot across the road. My brother ran the bastard over and his g/f started crying and yelling at him. He told her to STFU and asked if she heard any of the story they just told her. I mean, we had JUST got done with the story when it happened.
But, she's like most on here, they think they have everything under control and believe animals have souls based on their cuteness levels
*sigh*
Nobody on here claims to have everything under control. But many people on here value an animal's life enough that they are willing to
try and avoid squishing them as long as it does not require an insane maneuver.
I should mention that I have run over two rabbits and hit a deer with my car. One rabbit came out of the side so fast and so last-minute that I barely had time to react before I heard "THUMP! THUMP!" The second one also lept out in front of me - a bit further ahead - but at the time the road was wet and I couldn't do much other than swerve gently to the right - and the rabbit decided to go back to the right as well and... "THUMP! THUMP!"
The deer I hit was at night. It came out of a bush on the right of my car at full tilt JUST ahead of me. I was on a narrow road with trees/bushes/jungle on both sides and I simply didn't have any room to swerve so I simply laid on the brakes and managed to clip it with my left front corner (no damage to the car even though I hit it at like 30 mph.)
I have also avoided running over countless other animals with a quick swerve - swerves that never even produced a chirp from the tires - which means I was not at the limit of what the vehicle could handle.
