Animals on the Road
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When you are on the road driving, there are so many things to think about. One of the things that people often don’t think about until it is too late is animals. One time, when I was driving home from work at night, I was rounding a corner just off of the highway when a giant blur of dark brown jumped right in front of my Jeep. I didn’t even have time to look around, slam on my brakes or swerve out of the way. As quickly as whatever it was came into my view, it was just as quickly gone from my view.
Deer are usually the animals that are often the culprits as well as the victims of the numerous people who occupy the roadways. It seems that when it comes to playing the driving game, deer and other wild animals often lose the battle to humans. However, while it is unfortunate that an animal of any species should be killed by a vehicle, it is sadder still to think that these same animals (who often do not mean any harm) can actually inflict the same type of injury and death upon human beings who are neatly wrapped up inside of what should be a safe vehicle.
Not that long ago, there was an incident in which a woman was driving home at night when a deer jumped in front of her car. She tried to swerve to get out of the way, but she couldn’t get out of the way in time. As it turned out, she not only struck the deer, but because of the size of her car (which was small) compared to the size of the deer as well as where the deer struck her vehicle and the speed she was going; both the woman and the deer were killed almost instantly.
When I was a police officer, I had to respond to numerous calls of people hitting deer while driving. In situations like this, I would always make sure that the person or persons was okay first. Then, if the animal was still on the scene, I would see if the animal was still alive. If the animal was in pain or suffering, we were instructed to call a sergeant or other superior to the scene who would then euthanize the animal safely and out of sight of the public eye. If the animal was deceased, then we had access to the local animal safety patrol who would come out and collect the dead animal body from the roadway.
When people hit an animal, it is often very traumatizing. So many of us are animal lovers, that to hit another animal or even kill another animal with our vehicle takes a toll on us personally. We feel guilt-ridden and wonder what we could have done to prevent the accident from having happened in the first place. For starters, if you know that you are going to be driving anywhere and are worried about the possibility of hitting an animal, there are a few things that you should be aware of. For instance, if you are traveling at night by car, know that dusk and nighttime is when deer often come out to feed. They will often stand at the edge of roadways, which means that you should always reduce your speed when coming up to a poorly lit area.