I just hit a pigeon with my car, I'm a bit shocked

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I've been driving for decades and pigeons ALWAYS get out of the way, but just now I was driving along and there were two pigeons in the middle of my lane. They both took off and one cleared me in plenty of time but the other one took off in time but then flew towards me for some reason. It glanced off my windscreen pillar and there was a huge puff of feathers, so I don't think it ended well for the pigeon.

This happened to me on the motorway, a pigeon flew into my windscreen, it was a bit of a shock!! Looking in my rear view mirror all I could see was a cloud of feathers.
I felt a little sorry for the pigeon, I'm hoping it died on impact and dint suffer 😢

Happened to be not long ago, the pigeon actually ripped in half with one half falling of the car and the other getting caught in the window wiper

I had to pull over at a garage and pathetically ask a man to remove it for me.

That's grim sleepythedwarf. I was once driving in East London and there was a gull trying to lift a huge dead rat off the road. As I drove towards it, it became clear to the gull that it wasn't going to be able to clear my car with the rat, so it let go of it and it landed on the bonnet of my car. It had clearly been run over several times while it was lying in the road and it was, umm, mushy. It fell off my bonnet when I stopped at the next junction, leaving a smear. So I went through a car wash before I went home.

Slow down for pigeons.
They’re living beings and can’t always calculate velocity and seconds to impact.
They can panic and not fly in right direction or get off the ground easily.
So slow down a bit, give them a brake.

We just got an electric car and I think it’s too quiet for pigeons! They don’t seem to notice it coming.

I wasn't going particularly fast tbh, it's a 50km zone and I was definitely doing less than that because the car in front of me had slowed to move into the right-turn lane to the supermarket, so probably 40-42kmph (about 26mph). I wonder whether it had some vision issues, there was tons of time, in pigeon terms, for it to clear my car but it flew right into me.

I hit a blackbird in the spring. I was on the motorway and braked a bit but couldn't slam the brakes on because it was busy. He had a mouth full of insects and I still feel guilty now for his poor babies waiting for their food. It's horrible.

Actually I also got an electric car and have to be more cautious around animals - I don’t think they recognise the noise as ‘car’. I saw a truck hit a pigeon and it was just an alright explosion of feathers. I didn’t realise they had so many!

a rabbit ran under my wheels once. It ran from one hedge (on my side), had almost made it, turned round and ran back towards my car. Went under the back wheel

I had a similar thing with a squirrel LeroyJenkinssss, it ran out from the side of the road as I was passing it. I adjusted a bit in the hope that it would end up between my wheels and be ok, but it must have changed direction and tried to go back because it went under my back wheel.

I had a swan fly in to my car once. Slammed the brakes on but it still hit the side of the car and ended up underneath. Honestly I was a right mess! Nothing I could have done, it's not even like I hit it- it hit me! But still awful.

Oh god this happened to me once - during a driving lesson! There was such a loud bang and feathers everywhere. I was pretty shaken up but I don’t think I stopped the car, I can’t remember. Hope you’re ok OP!

On a road trip through the US, blasting along a highway through a national park and there were swallows (I think) swooping around the road like they do, chasing insects I guess. We had the music on and didn't really hear anything but the next day at a rest stop DH happened to look down at the front of the car and there was a dead swallow stuck behind our licence plate.

Oh bless you. It was an accident; you didn't mean to do it.

I hit a rabbit once and cried all the way home.

Correct. I was always told to slow down for animals on the road if it’s possible, but not to slam the brakes on for birds, even cats and dogs if there is a car right behind me as it would end up crashing into the back of me.

but that said, if it was a child on the road, you would slam the brakes on so why is it implied that the life of an animal is less valuable than a humans?

@asblindasabat

To clarify, are you asking why people don't value a pigeon as much as a child?

No. I’m just saying that a pigeon has a life and is entitled to live, so I was always horrified that the concept was that if it’s not possible to slow down, you should just run it over anyway.

It just is awful. I would never do that.

So you value the life of a pigeon above your own or the people in the car behind you?

We're told not to slow down for animals if it's not safe, because the alternative is causing a car accident which might harm or kill actual people.

Obviously if I absolutely couldn’t slow down then what could I do. I wouldn’t want to cause a crash though.

I would take every opportunity to make sure I don’t kill/injure an animal on the road - if there are birds on the road, I always blast my horn to get them off the road, sometimes I even swerve on the other side of the road if it’s a straight road and nothing is coming.

I'm wary of pheasants. They run alongside then fly up into you and BOOM

They’re stupid things. They don’t have the sense to get off the road

Please can nobody follow the ridiculous advice to slow down for pigeons.

Never brake or swerve for small animals, lift off but don’t take any action that could endanger yours or anyone else’s life. Plenty of idiots have caused fatal accidents trying to avoid rabbits.

I wasn’t advocating anyone do it if it’s not safe. I was simply expressing my horror that I hate the thought of running an animal over, even if it isn’t avoidable. Of course it wouldn’t be worth causing a serious car crash.

give them a brake 😂

I hit a pigeon and it went through the front grill of the car.
It was totally stuck.
I had to wrench it's dead body out.