This One Leaves Me Speechless!
- Thread starter dockmurgw
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gjgalligan
Member
From the limited info it sounds like the pickup driver was traveling too fast and/or failing to pay attention to his driving.
Granted, the old man should not have stopped on a freeway but all drivers are suppose to be driving safely.
Was at a wildlife area near Port Clinton, OH and saw a bunch of cars stopped on one of the access roads. Saw a Snapping Turtle crossing the road. I stopped, got out of my truck, picked up the turtle and moved it to a creek along side of the road.
Used to live in Central Oregon. Sagebrush and juniper trees all around. Except where the farms/ranches were. Lots of alfalfa grown there. The jackrabbits loved that alfalfa and they would "boom and bust" depending on the year. We lived on a gravel road that was about 3/4 of a mile long. When the jacks were in boom cycle, just driving that road, you'd hit several jacks per trip. Without trying to hit them, we got 17 one night. Never got one with a bow and arrow, even though I tried most days, but a car? Easy.
I'm not taking a tree or guardrail to avoid a turtle.
People don't like it, but emergency services operating on roadways often block every lane because of the inconsiderate nut jobs wanting to pass going way over the speed limit. Safety is first, if you get hurt you can't help anyone else
NM - it was west of Las Cruces 10 miles from the BP checkpoint.
I try to avoid hitting wildlife, but I also don't swerve if I am going very fast/
biku's story of the worms reminds me of when the grass hoppers are thick, They can make a mess of your windshield AND make the road slicker than snot. NEVER turn on your wipers as the smear will completely block out your vision. Can also plug up your radiator and cazause over heating.
Also reminds me of the game warden that stopped to get a rattlesnake off the road before someone ran over it. No good deed goes unpunished because he got bit.
biku's story of the worms reminds me of when the grass hoppers are thick, They can make a mess of your windshield AND make the road slicker than snot. NEVER turn on your wipers as the smear will completely block out your vision. Can also plug up your radiator and cazause over heating.
Also reminds me of the game warden that stopped to get a rattlesnake off the road before someone ran over it. No good deed goes unpunished because he got bit.
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Hopefully, this animal lover's family and friends can take comfort in the fact that, at 87, he died trying to help a helpless animal–something that was obviously very important to him.
Florida law requires you to Move Over a lane — when you can safely do so — for stopped law enforcement, emergency, sanitation, utility service vehicles, tow trucks or wreckers, maintenance or construction vehicles with displaying warning lights, and any disabled vehicle on the side of the road. If you can't move over — or when on a two-lane road — slow to a speed that is 20 mph less than the posted speed limit.
Of course there are a lot of people who think that they are special and the law doesn't apply to them.
This is what happened a couple of months ago. The SUV was going so fast, that he started to lose control and drive off the road;
Another Incident:
Florida law requires you to Move Over a lane — when you can safely do so — for stopped law enforcement, emergency, sanitation, utility service vehicles, tow trucks or wreckers, maintenance or construction vehicles with displaying warning lights, and any disabled vehicle on the side of the road. If you can't move over — or when on a two-lane road — slow to a speed that is 20 mph less than the posted speed limit.
Of course there are a lot of people who think that they are special and the law doesn't apply to them.
This is what happened a couple of months ago. The SUV was going so fast, that he started to lose control and drive off the road;
Another Incident:
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I live here in northern Vermont, traffic will stop both ways to let a wild duck and ducklings cross. We were notified last week to watchout for turtles.
Sad story.
Sad story.
I too try and avoid animals while driving.
However, one little bunny got back at me, big time.
I was driving a RV late at night on a pretty desolate part of the road, when I spotted the sweet, innocent, little bunny in the road.
I swerved to miss it but, as luck would have it, I either hit it or it decided to duck under the rig. Either way it made it right between the doolies (double set of rear tires). A one in a hundred shot.
The sudden racket, caused by the bang-banging of the bunny, trapped between the tires and going round and round in the wheel well, made a heck of a racket. Of course, since it was in the middle of the night, every body woke up, demanding to know what happened.
Fortunately, there was enough turnout space so I pulled over on the side of the road to see what happened..
Lets just say, while there was no bunny body, there were lots of bunny remains all over. I made it to civilization but needed to pull the tires and check for damage, wash the wheel well out and redo some sheet metal work before we could continue the trip.
However, one little bunny got back at me, big time.
I was driving a RV late at night on a pretty desolate part of the road, when I spotted the sweet, innocent, little bunny in the road.
I swerved to miss it but, as luck would have it, I either hit it or it decided to duck under the rig. Either way it made it right between the doolies (double set of rear tires). A one in a hundred shot.
The sudden racket, caused by the bang-banging of the bunny, trapped between the tires and going round and round in the wheel well, made a heck of a racket. Of course, since it was in the middle of the night, every body woke up, demanding to know what happened.
Fortunately, there was enough turnout space so I pulled over on the side of the road to see what happened..
Lets just say, while there was no bunny body, there were lots of bunny remains all over. I made it to civilization but needed to pull the tires and check for damage, wash the wheel well out and redo some sheet metal work before we could continue the trip.
Jon651
Member
As a nearly life-long Floridian and a retired 30-year firefighter and paramedic in Central Florida, I can say that this is not as uncommon as it sounds. The only thing I find that is unusual about this story is that it actually made the news in Vermont...
AJ
US Veteran
I live in Sebastian, grew up in this area. You see folks stopping all the time on two lane surface streets to move a gopher tortise. Other drivers generally stop for them no matter the direction they are going. Never have I seen a driver stop for one on a four lane road, let alone the Interstate. Sad that he got killed.
I was driving a small car early one morning when what I thought was a small dog darted across the road right in front of me. No way to miss it. Serious thud. Not a dog, but a big boar coon. Broke the bottom of the radiator. Better than a dog. Hit a dog once with my pickup. Stopped and went to the house and as I knocked on the door heard kids laughing about something. Seriously sucked to tell the lady who came to the door what happened. I have hit 3 deer in my travels, but have also successfully drove through a herd of elk at night without hitting any of them and another time managed to thread my way though a small bunch of horses running towards me in the fog. One of the deer I hit was kind of a sideswipe. Didn't seem to be much damage till I went to get back in the car and found out there was no door handle. I kid I went to school with spend the night on a lonely reservation road with a dead horse pinning him in the car. Horses, elk and moose are high enough they can come over the hood and smash into the windshield.
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Jerry in SC
Member
Had something similar happen a few miles from me some years ago, a dog had been hit and was in the road in front of a house. Homeowner saw it, went out in the road and was killed by a diver cresting a hill.
Jerry in SC
Member
I saw a huge snapping turtle crossing I-85 near LaGrange Ga quite a few years ago, GSP had the blue lights on. A DOT guy had a shovel pushing it. Never have a camera when you need one.
OP
Thats because he's from here. Small state, so every time someone from here is in the news anywhere else it usually hits our local news.The only thing I find that is unusual about this story is that it actually made the news in Vermont...
I recently saw a FB post of a young man rescuing a possum for atop the concrete barrier wall in the middle of a very busy 4 lane. I thought he was nuts, the young man that is, but it looked like the rescue made him feel good. He wouldn't have felt so good if somebody plowed into him.
John
John
An old acquaintance and I were comparing notes on hunting the Chewore concession in the Zambezi Valley back in the mid 80's. He was in a land cruiser on a single lane dirt track, (road). In heavy bush the driver made a turn in the road and ran into the back side of an elephant forcing it to sit down on the vehicles hood. The front end collapsed totally disabling the truck, the elephant righted itself and ran off. No injuries, no fatalities but a long hike to camp.
