To be shocked to read this about animals (upsetting)

[jennymanara]

Apparently if there is a wild animal on the road, one in ten drivers will deliberately try to run them over

Or perhaps they don't actually have time to swerve or there's traffic or other reasons why they can't just yank the wheel over. Or it's just attention grabbing social media BS.

OP, you should remember that 87.6% of statistics are made up rubbish.

Okay this research says 6%. These drivers deliberately went out of their lane to run down what they thought was an animal.

endangeredwildlifetrust.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/roadkill-experiment-shows-that-six-percent-of-drivers-deliberatley-swerve-to-hit-animals/

The author has been doing research in S Africa. And much of the wildlife was snakes. So it isn't nasty drivers squashing bunnies.

An animal charity in southern Africa? It's hardly "one in ten" drivers as a worldwide norm is it?

Someone I know travelled in Africa with guides who'd happily scoop up the roadkill for lunch.

It is not the only research, there is lots of research that backs this up. But fine if you just want to not believe me. I didn't know I would have to write a bloody research paper to post here.

Snakes were one of the rubber animals placed in the road. That is going to massively skew the figures.

Over here, it would most likely be a badger, rabbit, hare or a deer.
Believe me, you wouldn't want to hit any one of them deliberately- they can cause massive damage to your car.

I saw a driver deliberately run over a mum duck and her babies as they were trying to cross the road. Worst thing I've ever witnessed in real life and I wish that driver all horrible things.

Why would anyone do that to their car?

faunalytics.org/intentional-vehicle-wildlife-collisions/

Nobody is deliberately running down deer. It is small animals that are at risk.

Sorry OP but if you're going to quote statistics they're going to be followed up by someone. My UK experience is that most drivers will avoid animals on the road but sometimes there's nothing you can do to avoid them. And yes, it is upsetting.

I'm certain that isn't true in Britain. I drive on country lanes every day, and have never seen drivers be anything but very careful to avoid hitting animals. Sometimes they're overly careful; I saw an idiot van driver plough through a hedge to avoid hitting a suicidal pheasant

There was an experiment in the UK with a fake animal. I think the objective was to see if / how much people slowed down when there was an animal in the road and some people actually sped up. Can't remember who did it though, but I do remember it

Well we already know that a certain proportion of humans are not nice people so it’s not that surprising

I'm gobsmacked that people try and run over snakes. When I lived in W Africa the word on the street was never to do this as it risked flipping the snake up into the engine compartment, all the better to get into the car and bite you later. Maybe that was an myth but it was widely believed.

That’s 9 in 10 who wouldn’t. I can’t think of many things 90% of people agree on.

Will also add, my sister failed her driving test for swerving to avoid a rabbit. Because she crossed the centre line it was marked as a dangerous fault.

I think there are many who are indifferent to wildlife, though expect very few in the UK would deliberately run over a mouse or deer or whatnot.

I don't doubt there are some sick fucks who would do this for thrills. But I expect most people would try to avoid if they could and if they wouldn't, would feel guilty.

I think more would try and help an injured animal or move it to the roadside than harm it. My sister was late for work because she took an injured animal she accidentally hit to the vet. I think it didn't survive, she was gutted.

It is more shocking and therefore notable if someone does something heinous though.

If 6% deliberately run over animals, it means 94% try to avoid them. This is quite a high figure.

I can't believe that drivers would do that - where's their sense of empathy? Don't they say that serial killers usually start out on animals and when the thrill of that fades, they move onto humans. Says something about 10% of drivers...

I used to live in deepest darkest Wiltshire & used to drive home late at night along lots of country lanes. It was during the time of an outbreak of myxomatosis amongst rabbits and hares in the 1990s.

It was dark and raining and I caught sight of an animal in the road. I stopped my car, put on the hazards and went to see what it was. It was a hare that had been blinded by the illness. It couldn't see me but was aware I was there. It was up on its hind feet, looking like he was boxing as he tried to protect himself.
I couldn't get it to move to the hedge and couldn't drive past it without hitting it.

A car was coming the other way and he also stopped as the road was basically blocked by my car and the hare. He told me to get back in my car and he'd get the hare out of my path and 'sort it out'.

As I drove off, I did wonder how he dealt with the hare. It was horrific to see - a beautiful animal staggering around, not knowing where it was. If he did kill it I hope he killed it quickly as it was defenceless and was easy pickings. So so sad.

(Oh and Ive had a few ciders hence the rambling...)

It is not the only research, there is lots of research that backs this up. But fine if you just want to not believe me. I didn't know I would have to write a bloody research paper to post here.

But realistically, why would you expect people to accept a ‘fact’ quoted by an internet stranger without questioning the source?

Granted, plenty of people do appear to believe pretty much anything they’re told without questioning or checking it out further, but why be so testy about people asking for verification?

It's not just wild animals. I know someone how was outside their house, their cat was crossing the road (A quiet cul de sac) and a driver speed up on purpose to hit the cat, luckily they didn't though.

I knew someone who was watching their cat cross the road on the way home and waiting for him. Some young lads in a car deliberately ran him over.

I often notice that so many foxes are dead in the centre of the road, as if someone has aimed a vehicle at them. Once saw a badger family all killed in a layby, babies and adults strewn all over, it was very sad.