Don't SWERVE!

[SHANEA]

Ok, your driving down the road to BIBE going 70+ and an animal crosses the road in front of you, what are you going to do?  Unless you are on a motorcycle, plow into that puppy - otherwise, it will reach up and grab you by the nose and stomp on your toes.

http://www.fortstocktonpioneer.com/articles/2006/04/21/news/news04.txt

Automobile collision with ferel pig kills local man, injures child


A one-car roll over accident resulted in the death of a 26 year old Fort Stockton man Friday night.

Steven Hamilton Ramirez, Fort Stockton died at 10:47 p.m. Friday after his 2002 Ford Explorer hit a wild pig on State Highway 18 at 9:39 p.m.
The vehicle was traveling north on Highway 18 approximately 2.4 miles south of Grandfalls.

The vehicle swerved to the right and then over-corrected to the left, which caused the vehicle to skid sideways and roll on its side.

Injured in the accident was Ramirez' daughter, Kaitlin Hernandez, Monahans, age six months, who was treated for a broken clavicle and abrasions at Ward County Memorial Hospital. She was in good condition.

Ramirez was wearing a seat belt and his daughter was in a car seat properly attached in the vehicle.


A complete obiturary is printed on page A-3 of today's Pioneer.

 

[01ACRViper]

that is too bad

it's always a a hard decision what to do, with very little time to decide. some pigs are large enough to lodge themselves under your car and flip you, even if you just run them over. then things like this can happen.   on my May of 2005 trip, my frined and I were in my car at about 3 in the morning south of Fort Stockton. Turbocharged all-wheel drive eclipses aren't the slowest cars on the road, and we had been going well in excess of the speed limit, shall we say :oops:

it was just after a rain, and all the rabits in the world it seemed were out for a snack. after swerving around the first one at such a speed, i decided, i don't care what it does to my tires, it's safer to just plow in to whatever comes in our path. we must have killed 10 rabbits that night.

you always need to be safe out on the roads

[Roger, Roger]

I remember leading a 2 car caravan from the Basin to Alpine one night a few years ago, and plowed a few rabbits myself.  My friend's car behind me had blood and hair all over it by the time we got to Alpine.  The smallest animal I will even consider swerving for is a deer.  I don't know how big that hog was, but I've gone right over the top of a javelina and seen it run away in the rearview before (of course that wouldn't happen in an Eclipse).

[Doc Savage]

Depends on the vehicle and the animal amoung other things. In the Trail Jeep, I wouldn't even flinch (course I've got plenty of skidplates and armor on it). In the Unlimited, I would probably swerve for a pig/large dog. Wife's PT Cruiser, I'd swerve for just about anything over 2" tall.

This reminds me of an interesting experience I had the first month after getting the Unlimited (long wheelbase jeep). We were heading into town on the interstate and rounded a bend while watching traffic merging in from a main road. It was dark and all of a sudden I saw something directly in the lane in front of me that looked like a refridgerator on it's side. Only had time to get off the gas and grab the wheel with both hands and brace. Luckily it was only a king sized mattress folded over where it had fallen out of a vehicle. Still launched the jeep in the air. Bent my front license plate and left lots of stuffing on the axle. I was shaking for a good 30 minutes after that. Just glad I was in the jeep and it wasn't the refridgerator I first thought it was.

Robert

[RichardM]

This reminds me of an interesting experience I had the first month after getting the Unlimited (long wheelbase jeep). We were heading into town on the interstate and rounded a bend while watching traffic merging in from a main road. It was dark and all of a sudden I saw something directly in the lane in front of me that looked like a refridgerator on it's side. Only had time to get off the gas and grab the wheel with both hands and brace. Luckily it was only a king sized mattress folded over where it had fallen out of a vehicle. Still launched the jeep in the air. Bent my front license plate and left lots of stuffing on the axle. I was shaking for a good 30 minutes after that. Just glad I was in the jeep and it wasn't the refridgerator I first thought it was.

I had been living in Houston for all of about two weeks when I saw what happens when a Volkswagon Jetta meets a box springs at highway speeds.  It had fallen off the back of a pickup and pretty much totalled the Jetta.

My sister just took out a deer last weekend just South of Santa Anna.  She had slowed to let another deer pass and was only doing about 40 when another one darted out.  I haven't heard the final damage report, but her pickup wasn't driveable after the hit as the wheel well wall was pushed into the front tire.

[Roy]

Scariest close wildlife encounter I had was late night on 44 between Encinal and Freer.  2 lanes, no shoulders, and the grass was tall.  I was driving my Corolla pretty fast, and a coyote ran out of the grass on my right.  I grabbed the wheel with both hands and locked up the brakes;  also closed my eyes.  I don't know it got out of my way, but when I opened my eyes and the smoke cleared, that coyote was trotting away down the left side of the road.  

Another scary moment:  I was driving home on a back road here in Corpus.  It's just outside the developed areas (at that time, anyway), mostly through farm fields, and it's the only road besides the main freeway that crosses Oso Bay.  It wasn't full dark yet, but I had my lights on.  I saw a car ahead, no lights on, and slowed down a bit.  Then realized that this car was stopped dead in the middle of the road.  I had been going the limit, about 50;  locked up the brakes and smoked up the whole area, but not before I saw what was going on.  There were a couple of deer grazing on the side of the road and this idiot had stopped to watch them.  The deer took off;  the idiot wanted to stay and "discuss" the situation;  something about me driving too aggressively, I believe.

[Bobcat]

Swerve for me, Jack, cuz I'm a Big Bend NP Jack.  If you see me on 385, crash your damn car if necessary, cuz I don't wanna die :!:

[dave2]

I always get  depressed driving to the bend and seeing all the poor animals that have been killed by traffic.    I tend to slow it down to under sixty MPH, not a bad idea anyway considering the price of gas, and that helps me avoid most of the wildlife that is crossing the highway.  However, better to hit a rabbit than to flip, that's for sure.  Please consider slowing down when you're out there.

[SHANEA]

Please do swerve if you see me in the middle of the road trying to change a tire on one of them narrow roads.