Why not to swerve to miss a moose...

[Etosha]

There was a serious accident between a super B tanker and a passenger bus north of Edmonton 2 nights ago. The newspaper article does not mention a cause other than poor driving conditions due to the heavy snowfall.
However, the tanker driver apparently braked hard to miss a moose, and his rear tanker jack-knifed into the bus.
The jack-knife apparently amputated the arm of the tanker driver in the sleeper.

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[Big Duker]

You sure you wouldn't swerve just because you happen to like moose meat?

[Drifter1948]

Another good reason "not" to avoid impact. Thirty five yrs ago I ditched my truck to avoid a car with kids in the back, the driver of the car backed out of a driveway in front of me.
Car drove away, I`m in the ditch, cop comes along, I was charged with careless driving, cost a lot of money to beat charges in court.
Will I hit the next idiot ?

[myminpins]

Never a good idea to swerve or brake so hard you jackknife your truck. Could easily end up killing someone in the opposite lane, yourself, etc. Much better to just hit it straight on or swerve a bit IF YOU CAN CONTROL THE TRUCK.

[myminpins]

Originally Posted by Drifter1948

Another good reason "not" to avoid impact. Thirty five yrs ago I ditched my truck to avoid a car with kids in the back, the driver of the car backed out of a driveway in front of me.
Car drove away, I`m in the ditch, cop comes along, I was charged with careless driving, cost a lot of money to beat charges in court.
Will I hit the next idiot ?

YOU got charged for being in a ditch!!!??? Isn't it humiliating enough to just BE in the ditch? Sheesh!!! So glad you beat it!

[RoamingGnome]

this is a question we all ask ourselves and we really don't know the answer til it happens.

[nbman]

Originally Posted by Drifter1948

Another good reason "not" to avoid impact. Thirty five yrs ago I ditched my truck to avoid a car with kids in the back, the driver of the car backed out of a driveway in front of me.
Car drove away, I`m in the ditch, cop comes along, I was charged with careless driving, cost a lot of money to beat charges in court.
Will I hit the next idiot ?

Seems like a no brainer .........if I can see kiddies in the back Ill take the ditch 100 times out of 100 .......wouldnt you?

[LuckyLady7]

Originally Posted by RoamingGnome

this is a question we all ask ourselves and we really don't know the answer til it happens.

I really don't want to experience that so I will continue to pray every time I get into my truck....you all be safe now!

[notarps4me]

Reminds me of a story I heard years ago. Some lady in a car swerved to miss a squirrel. Ended up killing him anyway. Pinned him against the tree she hit!

[NightWind]

No one knows what they'll do in a situation where people are involved until it happens. I hate to say this but if it's an adult or adults and I can manage a glancing blow well that's what I'm going to do if possible. Kids in the car are the thing that scares us all.

As far as hitting an animal you're better off hitting it than loosing control and being charged with failure to control your vehicle. There are many drivers like myminpins didn't have a way to back up the story to the cops that's the ONLY reason I'd advocate cam corders in the truck. You have the film to back you up.

Personally if it comes to hitting an animal or the ditch I'll take the animal every-time. At least with a carcass the cops KNOW what happened.