To think most people don't care about wildlife on country roads?

[BastardGoDarkly]

I know sometimes its completely unavoidable, but I've lived in the country for 9 years now, on very twisty, one car roads.

I've never hit anything, not once, so why are there so many casualties? Have I just been really lucky? (there's been many a close call) or do most people not care about pigeons/rabbits/pheasants?

This time of year there's loads of wildlife casualties on the roads.

I don't think I've ever hit anything, but at night, it could imagine people aren't able to see them in time.

My DP has hit a pheasant and a rabbit since we moved to a more rural location a few years ago.

I cried both times as it was horrible but both times completely unavoidable as both just run out in front of the car.

There are loads of dead pheasants around here, they are completely thick and just dive out at the last possible second as if they are trying to be hit!

I know someone who hit a deer a few years ago, completely wrote off her car

Clara
You can't go everywhere at 20 mp hour sometimes you can't avoid animals and birds. And if a deer jumps out of a field in front of you not a lot you can do about it.

As I said many rural roads are not twisty and stupid birds just run all over the road we can't go Zig zagging around to avoid them when there are other cars around.

I hit and killed a deer a few years ago and believe me, I didn't do it by driving recklessly. I was actually going at about 40mph on a 60mph limit road. It was the early hours of the morning and there was no other traffic about.

It jumped out in front of me and appeared of nowhere. There was absolutely nothing I could have done. I was in a state for ages afterwards.

Total luck. As you say, there are quite a lot of dead birds or animals on the road, but if you consider how many cars there are compared with how many dead animals, it's not that surprising that some people have never hit anything. I hit a pheasant once. I wasn't going fast. You don't need to be going fast - pheasants are stupid and it just flew in front of my car. I don't think you get to claim any moral high ground at all OP - just luck.

I had to brake quite harshly to avoid a pheasant last week. I already knew no one was behind me or I might have acted differently. It then strolled across the road to the other side. I even beeped to hurry it up but it made no difference
I would avoid animals as much as safely possible. I crawled over a hedgehog a few weeks ago and was happy to see it toddle across the rest of the road once I'd gone over it....

I think some people are just careless but I imagine most are from night time driving.

You've been. I've hit a cat that burst out of the bushes at the side of the road. Saw the white streak as it leapt out, reacted instantly, and couldn't even get my foot to the brake in time. I've also hit a big bird of some description that was initially flying parallel with the road towards us and then bizarrely swerved straight into the windscreen. I've missed rabbits chasing each other by inches - I don't think they even realised I existed. I'm also the infuriatingly slow driver who takes country roads at half the recommended speed because I'm always anticipating horses, wildlife, and deadfall.

I have also seen one case where someone had to make a very hard decision to screech to a halt, hitting a badger in the process. Their alternative was headfirst into oncoming traffic, or off the edge of the road into a ditch.

It's a rare human that drives round country roads, salivating over the thought of what they might squish next.

*You've been lucky.

Willow I never said you could avoid all wildlife, but I live on a narrow country road, and people drive way way way too fast! Lots of accidents and death of wildlife could be avoided, not all, but lots!

DH slowed to avoid hitting a deer once, it bounded off, and in it's frightened state, doubled back on itself, into the side of our car and then staggered into the opposite lane. We couldn't get to it so I called the police in case it caused an accident.

Pheasants are very stupid. But on Friday we went for a drive and we met by one who, having started to cross the road, walked back to the verge and waited as we approached. I swear it watched us. It was also absolutely massive. Reckon it's some kind of genius pheasant that has avoided being shot or run over for ages.

I have lived rurally all my life and always remember my dad telling me that you couldnt claim insurance of a rabbit, so unless it was safe to avoid you hit it, that and one of my friends dads was nearly killed by a driver swerving to avoid a pheasant! I dont actively kill wildlife with my car but then i will also not actively get out of the way for it if its going to endanger mine, my dcs or other drivers lives. I did hit a deer a couple of weeks ago on an A road going 50, nothing i could do to avoid it, luckily it was a muncjack so quite small as the dc were in the car but its caused 1k of damage, the chap going the other way looked mightily relieved that i hadnt swerved. Unfortunately my 3 year old now knows the words stupid fucking bastard deer

I went on a date with a guy once, who'd been charming and funny all evening. The date had gone well and I was already looking forward to the next one. On the way home there were two pheasants wandering about in the road. He could have slowed or avoided them easily as it was a quiet road. Instead he accelerated towards them and laughed as he hit them. I sat in absolute silence for the rest of the journey, blocked his number and social media and never saw him again. Some people obviously do do it on purpose.

Hopefully OMG that's awful. You totally did the right thing by binning him.