[Bhupesh_2628]

Hello BHPians,

What to do if we hit an animal by mistake on city/highway roads even after taking all the precautions?

Below scenarios I could think of:

1) If the animal runs away after getting hit, then we can’t do anything but to simply continue with our journey.

2) But in case animal gets hit & is lying on road, then how can we help the animal? Also, assume that hospitals/clinics are far away if we’re on highways.

3) What to do if we hit one of the animals belonging to a farmer trying to cross roads? How to handle this scenario?

If anyone of you can share their views on scenarios 2 & 3, it’ll be helpful to all of us.

[Sushil Pingua]

Originally Posted by Bhupesh_2628

Hello BHPians,

What to do if we hit an animal by mistake on city/highway roads even after taking all the precautions?

Below scenarios I could think of:

1) If the animal runs away after getting hit, then we can’t do anything but to simply continue with our journey.

2) But in case animal gets hit & is lying on road, then how can we help the animal? Also, assume that hospitals/clinics are far away if we’re on highways.

3) What to do if we hit one of the animals belonging to a farmer trying to cross roads? How to handle this scenario?

If anyone of you can share their views on scenarios 2 & 3, it’ll be helpful to all of us.

If your vehicle is able to roll after the hit then visit the nearest police station and intimate them regarding the incident.

If your vehicle has to come to a standstill after the hit and needs towing then call the emergency number and call the police to the place of incident immediately.

The police shall intimate the nearest government veterinary hospital regarding the same and get the injured animal medically treated.

There have been instances were the villagers have taken the occupants of the offending vehicle to task on the spot. So it is better to intimate the police first then bother about the injured animal.

Property Damage is included in our insurance policies so we need not directly pay any compensation to the villager or for the treatment of injured animal.

Rest leave it on dashcam footage which will serve as good evidence.

[anjan_c2007]

A truck driver gets killed by his own truck in Karumathampatti on the outskirts of Coimbatore. It so happened that the truck driver, Suresh Babu had loaded goods from an e-commerce company and after reaching a petrol pump at Karumathampatti around 1.00 am parked his truck to urinate. The truck's engine was on and hand brakes were not engaged. The truck started moving and crushed him. Police thought it was a case of murder but the CCTV footage established the fact that the truck driver's own negligence cost him his own life.

https://twitter.com/ASubburajTOI/sta...1%2Fframe.html

[sram]

Originally Posted by sridhu

So, I managed to extract footage from the dash cam

Around 11 Seconds in the video, looks like the old man trying to hold the rope and pull the cow back, He is lucky not to hold it tightly, other wise he also would have suffered injuries.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by shifu

I beg to differ. I think the cow suddenly came on the road from the median. You can see the road ahead before the XUV came onto the right lane. There is no cow there.

My theory is based on what's seen in the video combined with how circumstances usually play out in highways, especially with cows. The road ahead on the right lane before the XUV comes onto it is too early to be captured in the video given a wide angle lens and it's also on a curve.

One of the basic assumption here is that unlike dogs, cows move much slower unless there is a real reason for them to run. I have rarely seen cows running across the road. They move slow and steadfastly as if they own it, 99% of time.

In the video, at around 0:07-0:08 the Swift Dzire's brake lights gets lit up. In a normal overtaking scenario, I cannot think of any reason why the car would do that because in the left lane it's as clear as it can be. No reason for the Dzire to slow down, especially on an open highway.



By inference, and I'm certainly speculating here, what I think is the Swift saw the cow on the road and considered it as a potential obstacle for either themselves or for the XUV (that would have meant the XUV swerving into their lane which is exactly what happened).

It is very likely the XUV also had a view of the cow at least as early as 0:07 in the video. Therefore they had a full 4sec of visual to the cow. Looking at the speeds, I'm guessing around 80-90kmph for Swift and XUV, the 4 sec is sufficient to abandon the maneuver and turn the hazards on. The cow probably did not start moving into the road as early as 0:07 but it certainly posed itself as an obstacle coming into the road or just outside the median. That should have been a warning in itself.

[StopUnderrides]

Originally Posted by sridhu

So, I managed to extract footage from the dash cam



On review, I do not really see how I could have avoided the cow, under normal driving assumptions. (I did have about 2.5 seconds gap with the XUV.)

I don't think you had 2.5 second gap with the XUV at that point. More like 1.5 seconds.

If you have not already "covered" the brake it will take roughly 1.5 seconds for you to perceive+ react (move foot from A pedal to B and stand on the brake). That leaves no time for braking.

Even if the gap was 2 seconds that would have given just 0.5 seconds for braking. The car can slow by just 5m/s (17 kmph) in those 0.5 seconds even if you stand on the brake and decelerate to 1g (9.8m/s^2)

Lesson to myself: maintain 3-3.5 second gap especially if you can't see beyond the car in front

[venkyhere]

Oh my god... many paragraphs of analysis about reactions when a cow jumped into the road and was blindsided by the vehicle ahead.
In such circumstances, there is no 'thinking' involved, it's all reflexes and instincts. This is the reason why commandos, seals etc "train" scenarios repeatedly, to incorporate sudden reactions in the 'right' manner into their muscle memory. We civilian drivers with passenger cars cannot 'train' for this, maybe racing drivers do, with simulator/track-practice.
Other than the fact that we have to trust our instincts to make the right move whenever presented with such unexpected scenarios, there is no point analyzing it till kingdom come, because 'active thought process' isn't what's happening when you find a cow in front of you suddenly - it rather is an explosion of adrenaline and firing of panic manager neurons to activate some muscles in a certain way.

[Durango Dude]

Originally Posted by sridhu

So, I managed to extract footage from the dash cam

Link here:

https://Youtu.be/uxXzGGOGxA8

On review, I do not really see how I could have avoided the cow, under normal driving assumptions. (I did have about 2.5 seconds gap with the XUV.)

The only clue is the Dezire in the left lane hitting the brakes.

These buggers graze cattle on the median where there's grass and foliage. Cattle roaming the highways is a danger. Feel sorry for you, thanks for sharing the footage must serve as a warning to us all. The median and vegetation can spring nasty surprises.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by sridhu

So, I managed to extract footage from the dash cam

On review, I do not really see how I could have avoided the cow, under normal driving assumptions. (I did have about 2.5 seconds gap with the XUV.)

The only clue is the Dezire in the left lane hitting the brakes.

Felt sorry seeing the video. It was lucidly a blind spot created by the XUV you were trailing that hid such a huge cow which strayed into the fast lane after having its snacks/meals !

[airguitar]

I saw a pretty bad accident between Bangarupalem and Palamaner - a black/dark grey entry level sedan completely shattered. Car was in the middle of the road towards Bangalore. Cabin was largely destroyed- from the roof a bit and from the front quite a bit. The car front part was mangled and locals were trying to pull out the alive driver but the cabin was jammed. There was blood all around and a depressing sight. Seems to have happened just a few mins before we crossed the place 4:10 to 4:15pm.

I would have the post accident situation video on the dashcam but no courage to go back to it and dig it out to post here.

Looked pretty bad.

[sanchari]

Saw an accident on NH44 yesterday afternoon near Jedcherala in the direction towards Bangalore. Couldn't make our the type of cars involved as traffic was moving in our direction. Appeared that a red car and a black/blue car were involved. The Red car was damaged more and had both airbags deployed. There was an ambulance/highway patrol vehicle near it and traffic was backed up for quite some way. Hope no one lost their lives.

I have done multiple trips b/w HYD and BLR over last two years. There is good traffic till Jedcherala from Hyderabad. And people drive like crazy, at high speeds and trying to squeeze in . Also not many use indicators when switching lanes either. Feel sad for those injured.

[navrddy]

lesson learnt from below post: Avoid overtaking lane when on highways, Try to use left most lane and always drive cautiously. we don't know who will dart out. By the way old man who manages the cow should be booked, what business he had to graze cow in middle of road.

Originally Posted by sridhu

So, I managed to extract footage from the dash cam

Link here:

https://Youtu.be/uxXzGGOGxA8

On review, I do not really see how I could have avoided the cow, under normal driving assumptions. (I did have about 2.5 seconds gap with the XUV.)

The only clue is the Dezire in the left lane hitting the brakes.

[adisan]

Originally Posted by navrddy

Try to use left most lane and always drive cautiously. we don't know who will dart out.

There could be more aspects to this. Usually a cow ambles slowly onto the road, whereas a dog darts quickly.

So even if one drives in the left lane and a dog rapidly crosses the road from the median, it could get into a position to collide with the car. Besides, in the video shared by sridhu, another cow on the median just runs away, panic-stricken, on to the opposite lane as soon as the car collided with its friend. If a vehicle had been coming in that lane,it would probably have had no chance of avoiding a collision with that cow.

So essentially one can drive utmost carefully, but luck could have a role to play, regarding animals coming in the path when driving.

[navrddy]

Agree. Many scenario's exist. But in many Highways, Median is surrounded by bushes, who knows what is hiding behind those bushes, person or cow or dog.
practice safe and controllable speeds is better approach. but life has its own tricks, accident occurs without any warning.

Originally Posted by adisan

There could be more aspects to this. Usually a cow ambles slowly onto the road, whereas a dog darts quickly.

So even if one drives in the left lane and a dog rapidly crosses the road from the median, it could get into a position to collide with the car. Besides, in the video shared by sridhu, another cow on the median just runs away, panic-stricken, on to the opposite lane as soon as the car collided with its friend. If a vehicle had been coming in that lane,it would probably have had no chance of avoiding a collision with that cow.

So essentially one can drive utmost carefully, but luck could have a role to play, regarding animals coming in the path when driving.

[sarathlal]

Auto drivers responsive action saved the day for the child!

The report is in Malayalam. To summarise;
5 year old child dashed unexpectedly across the road.
Auto driver tried to save and resulted in accident.
Auto driver has minor injury. Child is safe and unhurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuiPf24NQQs