Is it normal to avoid hitting animals that are crossing the road?

Aww, that is so sad and cruel. You must have been furious!

I [like to] believe it is more common for people to *want* to avoid hitting innocent animals that wander out onto the road. There are times when it is dangerous to do so, but most will at least make some sort of effort.

That guy sounds like a heartless bitch. Did you get his plate i.d.? You could make a few flyers with his plate number and a description of what happened then post them in the area so that if the kitten wasn't a stray, the owner would know what happened.

If it is not going to put you or others in danger, swerve for ANY animal that crosses the road. Here's an interesting story for you:

I went for a run one day and saw a squirrel get hit by a car. The poor thing was still alive (only it's back legs were hit). So i proceeded to stop traffic, pick it up, and carry it a mile back to my car to take it to the vets. The poor thing just sat in my arms while I was petting him (or her) and walking. Luckily it was mainly in shock and after 10 minutes he jumped from my arms and ran off. If I hadn't moved him though the shock would have left him to get hit by another car. I don't understand how people can not care about animals.

I was in the car with my father-in-law when he swerved TO HIT a cat. I screamed STOP and my poor husband told his dad off while I cried. I have no respect for him now.

I fucking hate when people are like "Oh look there si squirrel on the road, let's just run over it and leave it there!" Animals have feeling too and those people should try it themselves to see how is it. I don't have a car but I remember when I was about 11 we were driving at night and I saw a deer that noone else noticed so I kicked my moms seat a yelled her to stop. I scared the shit out of her and we almost drove to field but I regret nothing.

this is why i hate these fuckers i hate them and i would run them people over if i had a car and i would leave them laying in the road suffering in pain and see how they would like that they don't try to stop they are careless people that don't care about wild life animals and cats fuck your deer guard this is why some of you will find nails in your tires i just hope that the good people don't run the nails over

people hitting animals for the hell of it they need to wake the fuck up and stop doing it one day you white rednecks wont be able to hit any deer with your trucks because their wont be any to hit or to hunt you dumb fucks you think its fun to kill a life fuck you white rednecks and niggers because they hit them for fun to I've seen them do it so fuck um i would like to see them crash their cars trying to hit a animal

I ALWAYS do. Even for the little froggies that ignorantly hop into the road after spring rain. I just feel really guilty. I remember the only time I've "hit" an animal, these two dogs exploded from the forest's edge and jumped into the road to cross, I just nicked one's left hip a little but he ran off. Luckily I reacted in time.

RIP cute kitty.

I had the same thing happen to my cat Oscar. The person didn't even pull over and try to let us know that they had hit our cat. Someone else who was driving by and saw him had to come to our door and let us know.

Of course, I would find it normal to try to avoid hitting an animal while driving at all costs. Sometimes things happen. I just hope the person who hit the cat in the first place realizes what they did, and at least feels sorry about it.

Shoot that guy.

I love animals, but I don't think you should avoid running one over if it crosses the road. Especially if it something as small as a squirrel. Swerving could make things worse rather than just hitting it head on. You could flip your car by just trying to get around it.

I have a deer guard on the front of my truck that protects it from being damaged if you hit an animal head on. It has so far saved me 3 trips to the mechanic. It was a very good investment and can even save your life.

Yes; I never want to hit poor, helpless animals in the street. Unless it's a human.

You're one of the better people in this world. I always get sad when I see road-kill and I hate people who think nothing of it. I don't understand why people can't stop on residential roads and other ones with low speed,its very upsetting. :c

Compassion towards animals reflects on your compassion towards people. I should also mention the one time that I saw a small puppy on the Freeway ( 405- most trafficked freeway) at peak hours. The last two lanes one on which was going massively slow. As i kept swishing my head left and right entirely upset thinking it was from slow drivers I realized everyone was pausing for a doe eyed chihuahua that didn't know where to go. He finally sat down in front of the bmw next to me. The man stopped completely. And as i was battling in my head what to do. The passanger stepped out and grabbed the dig (who thankfully was cornered and didnt run into the other trafficked lanes. It definitely made my day!

Buttholes seriously. I saw a man speed up once to kill a dove. I wish I could have caught his plates to tell my cousin to run it and stop him for a fix it ticket if he ever saw him while on duty....
There should be a special dante's inferno level for these type of people...

I swerve unless its night time and I can't see that well. Ive only ran over two things, a possum (that came out of no where), and a litter of raccoons. the litter of raccoons (there was 4 of them) I hit one with every tire (front and back) felt awful, but I was on a winding road, with a clift on one side (down to a river). at midnight (no other traffic, to see me) in the pouring rain. I watched as the mother raccons eyes lite up with my head lights with this oh shit look. I think I hit every single on of her babies.... and it still haunts me today. But if I had breaked I might have killed me and my friend in the car(really it was already too late by the time they came in my head lights). But I still feel bad.

If it was on my watch i would've gotten out of my car and Beat The JackA** to death MWHAHAHAHA....my case is closed :]

It depends. If you're on a fast, high traffic road, it's frequently either the animals or a car with children (and perhaps their family dog/cat), so I'd choose either braking or hit the animal on last resort.
If it's a small road without traffic it would be stupid just to ram the animal as it's just going to be perceived as mean and you'll have to spend time cleaning up the mess off your car.

Under no circumstances will I BREAK for an animal, but I will BRAKE, swerve, and use the hooter as necessary to avoid hitting them if it is possible to safely do so.

I run over them. I would rather hit a cat then serve and crashing and hurt myself or someone in my car or another car. I'll try my best to slow down in case they are running fast enough.

Last summer I wanted baby ducks really bad. My husband thought it was a weird idea and wasn't really for it. After a week of talking about it, he came home and walked in the door with a sad, pouty face and said, "We have to get ducks. I feel terrible." He told me a momma duck had lead about 9 tiny tiny babies onto the freeway. He was driving a semi and pulling a big trailer. He can't serve, and couldn't change lanes in time and had no choice but to run over them. He said he saw them go right under the front of the truck but then ran them over with the trailer tires. Since traffic was slowing in front of him because of ducks he saw he had killed all of them but one tiny baby. We went the next day and adopted 5 baby ducks!

But the biggest moral of the story...When I was in high school my friend swerved to miss a squirrel. I was yelling "JUST HIT IT JUST HIT JUST HIT IT!!" It seemed to have lasted forever. At the last second she swerved. She lost control going 55 and we skidded sideways into a ditch, hit a barbed wire fence and smashed the passenger side (my side) into a tree. I woke up strung over her lap, seat belt and chair still attached to my body. She was okay, not a scratch! But the barbed wire somehow came through my window and wrapped and tangled in a huge ball, around the head rest and neck area of my seat. I tried to push myself up only to realize a tree branch was bashed up the back of my head and pushing my seat to the other side of the car. I got the brunt of all the airbag burns and seat belt bruises and glass in my hair. I could have lost my head or had my neck and guts spilled out everywhere because of her swerving to miss a stupid squirrel.

Just hit it. Don't swerve.

Dont put yourself in danger if you swerve, though.

It's always my first instinct. I have a T-Bird that has proven surprisingly good at handling racy maneuvering. If I still had my Crown Vic... I would not be able to say with any honesty that I haven't hit any animals. Those things are durable as hell and (as I learned first hand) can take curbs at 50-60 mph no sweat, but they can't swerve for shit.

So yeah, I will swerve for animals, however, if it is a dangerous road then I'm better off with a mark on my conscience than ending up as a mark on the road.

It all depends. yeah, I'll try my best to avoid hitting even the smallest animal, but that given that I'm alone on the road.

If it's a main road and you have traffic behind you -breaking suddenly would endanger the other drivers. Swerving on a narrow 2 way street might get you in a ditch in a best case scenario, but the worst? A very fatal frontal accident.

Most of the cars I had would not take any damage from anything smaller than a stag, but luckily I never hit anything.

I swerve if it's any animal but a dog. If it's a dog, I flatten the POS!

it tells you strictly in your Driver's Manual for obtaining your permit not to swerve out of the way of animals. Breaking might be okay, if no one is tailgating you. and as ne'er said, big animals will bust up your car, so if you can get out of its way without busting up your car on something else, then maybe go for it. but other than that...