Nearly cleaned up a cat....

[max]

Driving in this morning, this cat ahead on the footpath decides to make a break for it and shoot across the (wide) road, 50 kph zone. Well, there's a fair bit of traffic in both directions, and the silly little frigger decides to hesitate in a lane directly in front of me. All split second stuff. I look in the rearview, Prado up my clacker. Cat just ahead, crouched low on road, doesn't know which way to go... I don't want to hit it, I brake gently. I am concerned the cat will run into oncoming cars other side of road. I actually want the silly bugger to get back to the footpath to the left of me. I don't want to alarm it into making a fatal decision. I give the horn a couple of short blasts whilst flashing my headlights. Fortunately, that made the oncoming cars wake up to what was going on and slow up. At the last moment the cat made the decision I had hoped it would and retreated back to the footpath and abandon its plan to cross the road. The thing is, had the Prado piled into the back of me, or got enraged and taken me to task, What would result? Had I hit the cat, and it was flailing in the middle of the road and I had to get out and finish it off with a jack lever out of the boot, would I get any assistance? I doubt it.
Cats are a bit of a problem as dogs were years ago, before it was illegal for them to roam the streets. Cats can still come and go as they please, no onus of responsibility for the owner. But what a potential for fiasco on the road!

[Ruger]

i did similar the other night was rolling through a backstreet at about 30 clicks looking for a house and this little white cat runs in front of the car, luckily it was quiet so i just slammed on the brakes and the cat kept going unscaved fortunately

cats are alot harder to contain than dogs though they just jump over things.

[eb91xr6]

i would have just hit it there everywhere and its safer just to clean it up then smash your car up

[Sourbastard]

Originally Posted by max

The thing is, had the Prado piled into the back of me, or got enraged and taken me to task, What would result?

Its illegal to swerve to avoid an accident, however it isnt illegal to brake to avoid an accident. If the prado slams into you from behind, well thats his problem for not allowing adequate braking distance between himself and you. He can get as angry as he wants, he pays and is 100% at fault.

[davro_xr6]

Yeah - I ended up writing the old man's company car off about 9 years ago - just gotten my licence 2 weeks earlier, dropped a kitten off to a friend on a dark and stormy night in January. Jumped in the car, turned a blind corner, on a hill, camber off to the left, kamakaze cat stops in the middle, me being inexperienced swerve to the left, then right, then left again, meanwhile old mate kamakaze jumps in unison with me from left to right, while swerving left I hit the brakes (I was very inexperienced), car does 180 degrees over the curb, front right guard hits a retaining wall, spins a little enough for the rear left to hit the same retaining wall, spins enough to land me into the light pole (thank god I was only doing 50klms/hr) on the left hand side of the car and the front end in the left lane... Car was trashed, I was ok and the stupid cat was ok, still ion the middle of the road till he went to bolt and got squished by a car looking at me coming from the other direction... Luckily the only one hurt was the dumb cat.

Some valuable lessons were learnt that night: 1) Don't hit brakes hard whilst turning in the rain, 2) The old man is a tolerable fellow until you write his company car off, 3) when any sort of critter jumps in front of your car its better to kill him, than you or anyone else in or around your car, and 4) cats, no matter how smart they may seem are quite stupid!!

[Rob]

I hit a bird mid-flight once..... twas a shock to the system. One of my mates had a dog run into his car, dinted the passenger door

[Professor Farnsworth]

yeah what sourbastard said.

as far as pet ownership responsibility is concerned, no one cares any more. parents buy their kids kittens for christmas, they end up as stray cats a year or so later. People are ****. Our cats are kept in the house, they only ever go outside under our supervision, and it's only for about 10 minutes. Letting animals roam, especially at night is a dangerous exercice.

[Green X]

I would of braked and if it didn’t move I would of hit it, Thou if I was diving the 4By the cat would have been fine.

The bloody thing shouldn’t be out on the road or out of the owners yard in the first place, they are a pest. They kill native birds and small animals, when on mate’s farms if we see a cat it gets a bullet.

[bigAl]

i ran over a pigeon rat the other day, i was only going 10kmh, it kept picking stuff of the ground, dumb bird saw me coming and didnt move?

[max]

Originally Posted by Green X

I would of braked and if it didn’t move I would of hit it, Thou if I was diving the 4By the cat would have been fine.

The bloody thing shouldn’t be out on the road or out of the owners yard in the first place, they are a pest. They kill native birds and small animals, when on mate’s farms if we see a cat it gets a bullet.

Yeah I know mate. But its not the cats fault, and it is someone's pet. Most likely some old dear living on that street. Would have seen me finishing it off with a tyre lever in the middle of the road and had a friggin' heart attack...

[max]

Originally Posted by bigAl

i ran over a pigeon rat the other day, i was only going 10kmh, it kept picking stuff of the ground, dumb bird saw me coming and didnt move?

Birds are suicidal nowadays on the road aren't they?

[Ruger]

lol ive also hit the bird you know how they always swoop down in front of the car? this time i hit one bounced off my bumper over the bonnet smacked the windscreen and went over the car. idiot bird scratched my bumper!

[bigAl]

Originally Posted by Ruger

lol ive also hit the bird you know how they always swoop down in front of the car? this time i hit one bounced off my bumper over the bonnet smacked the windscreen and went over the car. idiot bird scratched my bumper!

i dont understand why they wait for a car to come along to fly across the street to the next tree?

[sfr rob]

you should have sped up and run the damn thing over, cats are the worst "pets" that you can have, and our streets and wildlife would thank you for knocking another cat into the road.

hmmm.. that felt good.

[turboute]

^^^ agree completely - speed up should have been one of the options you could have taken...

[SunDrifter]

Moron.

hmmm... that felt good.

edit: Morons

Max, you did the right thing, and good on ya. It always shows the character of a person by the way they treat Animals. (For good or bad i guess).

[[Tonko]]

i hit about 10 birds in one shot once, one got stuck in my bumper on the way to work,
and i nearly hit a cow the other night at about 10:30 it was just wandering up the road...i will never swerve for a dog, cat or bird but a cow made me think twice...

[max]

Originally Posted by turboute

^^^ agree completely - speed up should have been one of the options you could have taken...

Geez you guys are heartless... a poor ol' puss, just trying to enjoy its life just like you and me. Mow it down. Just for the hell of it. Yeah, that'd make me feel real good. Anyway it'll probably be dead in a few days going by its impulsive and indecisive road crossing habits.

Should I also mow down a mother duck and its merry little band of ducklings
if I approach them crossing the road in front of me?

[SunDrifter]

Why not a puppy or a kid max, while you're at it?

[sfr rob]

hahahaha, some of you guys here should go and chain your self to a tree or something along those lines.

ITs a CAT for crying out loud... If it were a dog.. i would do as much as i could not to hit it, but you have to put your self first in a sittuation like that.
I had the misfortune to witness a dog get run over infront of my car on springvale road a few years ago, the car ran over its back which obvisouly broke it. The dog was dragging it's self with its front legs around in circles with blood shotting from its mouth. The worst part is, it made eye contact with me a few times.. i will never forget that, there was nothing i could do to help it.
IF it was a cat, i would have run it over again with my own car.
Dont get me too wrong.. i used to have plenty of cats when i was younger, they are good eating! :hihi:

[sfr rob]

Originally Posted by max

Should I also mow down a mother duck and its merry little band of ducklings
if I approach them crossing the road in front of me?

Not saying you should run ducks over..
JUST CATS!

[Laminge]

oh look minge has just run over this thread!!!