Would you stop for a pigeon??

[BigGreenApple]

So, driving along today, pretty wide country road which I know very well. Driving within the limit. I came round a band and there were several pigeons in the road. I braked, a couple flew up, one was too slow and I hit it.
Damaged the front grill of the car which is apparently going to cost £££.
There was a car behind me, and I was taught that it was better to hit something small than stop suddenly (unless it's a person, large animal) and risk being rear ended. And PIGEONS NORMALLY FLY OFF.
DH is pissed off. I have in the recent past kerbed the car (twice ) which I admit was my bad judgement.
But today I think I was right to do what I did.....yes?
Also, I had DC in the car! Surely better to hit a bloody bird than do more than slow slightly and risk a bump??

X post, jed.

"If someone hits you up the arse it's their fault, whatever the reason is that you stopped"

That doesn't matter though, if they go into the back of you the damage to you and your passengers is done. Yes, the law will be on your side, but that's small consolation if you and your DCs are injured.

YANBU, OP. I hate harming any living thing but you've got to be logical and think of your passengers and the car behind.

It would be a bit hypocritical for me to get upset about hitting a bird when I am not a vegetarian.

I will always stop for an animal as long as it is not putting me or others in danger.

I have hit a bird that flew out of a hedgerow when I was learning, I braked but it was too close to miss and I didn't swerve because of oncoming traffic. I also only tapped the brakes as it was obvious even an emergency stop would not have saved it. My mum who was in the passenger seat was very happy I hadn't put us in danger over a bird.

I have also hit a baby bunny when it darted out in front of me on a blind corner on a fast road. I braked and swerved as much I could safely as crossing onto the other side of the road would have put me in harms way if a car had come around the corner. I was not willing to risk myself or the people in the car that could have come around the corner.

I did cry for the bunny though, poor baby :(

So this pigeon that damaged your grill when you hit it, even though you'd breaked... How big was it, exactly?

I would stop if it was safe - say if I was sure there were no vehicles behind me and any vehicles coming up would see me in plenty of time to slow and stop. I wouldn't stop for a pigeon or small animal if I thought doing so would endanger me and my passengers. So no stopping if a car's behind me, no stopping if I'm on a blind bend etc. I've hit small animals before in those circumstances. DH has had a pheasant through the grill in his car before (and, OP, bits of pheasant got all over the engine, so the car stunk of roasting pheasants for weeks). It's not pleasant, but better than one of us being hurt or killed because we stopped for the animal.

Yes, yes, cars are supposed to give the car in front stopping distance so they don't rear end you if the car in front stops suddenly. But plenty of people don't leave much stopping distance. And knowing it's all the car behind's fault for not leaving enough room would be no comfort at all if me or a passenger was injured in such an accident.

The only animal we've done an emergency stop for when the road wasn't empty was a deer that leapt into the road and stopped dead in front of the car. It was big enough to have gone through the windscreen and killed us if we'd hit it.

I'd take evasive action for anything larger than a muntjac

?? How big is a muntjac?

I was driving about 60-70mph along a fairly busy dual carriageway last year. No option but to run straight over the top of a line of ducklings. I can't have been the only one to do so either.

Felt bloody sick about that for ages. But if I'd emergency stopped or swerved (outside lane was too busy for me to move over), toddler DD and I would probably be dead.

About the size of a medium dog, Letitia.
A larger deer could go through the windscreen.

Muntjacs are the toy poodle of the deer world.

no stopping for anything up to fox size on a public road.
too dangerous.

I'm learning so this is fresh - you did right. Stopping suddenly would have been a much higher risk because of the car behind you. Just tell DH the cost would have been much higher if you'd had a shunt!

I stop instinctively. If someone goes into the back of me then it's their fault.

It might be their fault but you still don't want it to happen if you can avoid it!

You did the right thing. My friend will never walk again because someone swerved for a pheasant. He got a £500 fine and couldn't even be bothered to turn up for court. She nearly died.

Wouldn't of risked it with DC in the back.

I know the rule is smaller then a dog but I'd probably brake for a cat whether it was safe or not.

If someone goes into the back of me then it's their fault

True, but that won't stop it hurting.

I would not do an emergency stop for a pidgeon. Especially with a car behind me.

Always stop for anything living, if it is safe to do so.

No one should be so up my arse that they would hit me if I braked anyway.

No I don't stop for pigeons. They fly away or get hit. I'm not risking someone running into the back of my car carrying my children, for a pigeon.

Same here. Better a dead pigeon than injured children or a written-off car.

The thing about safe stopping distances is that you have to rely on every car behind you leaving that distance between every car AND all being exactly the same in terms of reaction time. A person emergency stopped on a 60mph road in front of me for a magpie once, I stopped in time but the car behind me was forced to swerve and overtake because they just couldn't stop quickly enough. Because they overtook it just gave the car behind them enough time and space to stop from going into the back of me. The car that stopped for the magpie might have been fine but I wouldn't have been had those cars hit me, pure luck that nothing was coming in the opposite direction...

You should have stopped.

This thread has caused me to really want a bumper sticker that reads 'I brake for pigeons' now.

If it was safe I'd slow for a pigeon to give it time to fly off, especially since the time one didn't move out of the way (as every single one in the 20 years til then had) and it become rather flat all of a sudden. I was crawling at 10-15mph in a queue too. I can still feel the bump and hear the splat.

I have always been moaned at by family for making them feel queasy by driving round all the chungalulas whilst on safari.

I would speed up for a pidgeon. They are twats.

I learnt a very important lesson about this once, DH was driving with me and the DCs in the car on a country lane, we came round a corner and a van was coming in the opposite direction, the driver had a Collie and a Husky in the front, the Collie was on his lap, the window was down, as we drove past, for some unfathomable reason, the Collie flew out of the window (I guess he saw something in the verge) and landed right in front of our fucking car.

I cannot praise DH's presence of mind enough that he kept straight on going and right over the dog, we couldn't have avoided it at all, it had no chance, but if I'd been driving I would have attempted to swerve and would probably have killed the lot of us.

As it was, we had a horrible incident whereby the dog went under our wheels, we ran right over it and it got caught on the towbar at the back. The owner was fucking distraught as he cradled his eviscerated pet and I ran to a nearby house to phone my vet friends to be on standby (the dog obviously died).

BUT, I am SO FUCKING GLAD my husband kept on going, and I am so angry with the owner of that dog that he drove with him on his knee with the window right down, it was all so avoidable and could have been an horrendous accident.

No, you should never stop for animals if it endangers people.