I saw a sad thing yesterday

[pixelharmony]

So I was driving down a major road in the Chicago burbs and was waiting to turn out of an intersection. A family of ducks (mom and 10 or so ducklings) were crossing the street. The car stops and the car behind proceeds to swerve past the car hitting the mother. With the mother on the ground not getting up all the ducklings were running around in a group in the middle of the road by the mom.

It was so sad. The person just drove off while others stopped the cars. Some people were good enough to move the mother off to the side and the ducklings followed. I believe they called some people who came to chase down and grab all the ducklings. Even the police came to help.

I guess that's a part of life, but it was just really sad because those babies were so small.

[sevillafox]

People suck. Some go out of their way to run over animals. I've even had students brag about killing a mommy coon and playing golf with the babies.

[-MasterChief-]

that sucks! :evil:

[tsw910]

yeah .. people do suck ! ... as much as an aggressive and pissed off driver that i am .. when i come across a family of ducks ( which is almost every other night ) .. i stop no matter what ... and if people honk behind me .. i'll just give them a usual NY wave

[pixelharmony]

I've even had students brag about killing a mommy coon and playing golf with the babies.

That's disturbing...

[Nukey]

That's disturbing...

Extremely.

[AngryCorgi]

The car stops and the car behind proceeds to swerve past the car hitting the mother.

People suck. Some go out of their way to run over animals.

Sounds tragic for the animal, but the OP did not provide evidence of intent to kill the mother. It is entirely possible (and probable) that the driver behind noticed the abrupt stop too late and with the car in front blocking the driver's vision of what was on the ground, swerved to miss the car and wound up hitting the mama instead. It is a natural reaction to swerve to miss people, cars, and animals. Many a frightened person has totalled their car in a knee-jerk swerve to miss a deer or other woodland creature that strayed onto the road.

It's easy not to condemn people when you place yourself in their shoes before passing sentence on them.

Props to the people who came to the aid of the ducklings and tried to help the situation.

[Pete]

I wish I hadn't read this.

[John_B]

pixelharmony,
What, no photos? ???

[sevillafox]

Sounds tragic for the animal, but the OP did not provide evidence of intent to kill the mother. It is entirely possible (and probable) that the driver behind noticed the abrupt stop too late and with the car in front blocking the driver's vision of what was on the ground, swerved to miss the car and wound up hitting the mama instead. It is a natural reaction to swerve to miss people, cars, and animals. Many a frightened person has totalled their car in a knee-jerk swerve to miss a deer or other woodland creature that strayed onto the road.

It's easy not to condemn people when you place yourself in their shoes before passing sentence on them.

Props to the people who came to the aid of the ducklings and tried to help the situation.

I wasn't insinuating that the driver did this on purpose. Accidents happen. But, there are tons of folks out there who think running over critters is a fun sport.

[pixelharmony]

pixelharmony,
What, no photos? ???

It's kind of crazy because I was with my friend and we were supposed to go shoot at a park before dinner. But since this place was kind of far we left our gear at my place. Though it's sad event I would've taken photos if I had the chance.

Sounds tragic for the animal, but the OP did not provide evidence of intent to kill the mother. It is entirely possible (and probable) that the driver behind noticed the abrupt stop too late and with the car in front blocking the driver's vision of what was on the ground, swerved to miss the car and wound up hitting the mama instead. It is a natural reaction to swerve to miss people, cars, and animals. Many a frightened person has totalled their car in a knee-jerk swerve to miss a deer or other woodland creature that strayed onto the road.

It's easy not to condemn people when you place yourself in their shoes before passing sentence on them.

Props to the people who came to the aid of the ducklings and tried to help the situation.

I never said the driver "intentionally" did that. They didn't even swerve to avoid an accident. It was more like "Why the hell did you stop?" pass the car, give the finger drive on kind of deal. I'm sure they didn't know the car stopped for the family. But they just hit the duck, stopped, and drove off.

[AngryCorgi]

I never said the driver "intentionally" did that.

yes, I know, hence my comment:

Sounds tragic for the animal, but the OP did not provide evidence of intent to kill the mother.

They didn't even swerve to avoid an accident. It was more like "Why the hell did you stop?" pass the car, give the finger drive on kind of deal.

The driver gave the car that stopped the finger, or is that just something you are throwing in as adlib?

I'm sure they didn't know the car stopped for the family. But they just hit the duck, stopped, and drove off.

Unless you are a very skilled vet with proper medical tools at the ready, what would you expect a person should do? Get out and give a wild animal mout-to-mouth?

That the person stopped is a good indication that they (a) did not know the animal was on the path and (b) at least gave thought to whether or not they could assist.

I think everybody should not be so quick to assume horrible things of others, lest others think horrible things of you. There are sick people in this world, but that is no excuse for assuming every bad thing that happens is fueled by or involves such an individual.

[OdiN1701]

I'm a double ace in my car.

With birds. They keep flying into my path.

I just drive and let nature take its course. I do not make any attempt to avoid any little thing that happens to get in the way. I will avoid deer or moose though. And dogs/cats, sure....they are someones pet. But I'm not going to wreck my car to avoid one. Sure I'd stop for the ducks if it was safe to do so and I didn't have to slam on my brakes or something.

Anyway, just the other day some lady in front of me SLAMMED on her brakes, literally STOOD on them all because a stupid squirrel ran out in front of her car. I was behind her and I had to slam on my brakes. It's amazing she didn't cause an accident, and she surely caused undue wear to my brake pads, tires and rotors. I think that is just idiotic to do something like that. It's a freaking squirrel, no need to slam on brakes and endanger others for its sake.

[pixelharmony]

The driver gave the car that stopped the finger, or is that just something you are throwing in as adlib?

Unless you are a very skilled vet with proper medical tools at the ready, what would you expect a person should do? Get out and give a wild animal mout-to-mouth?

That was an adlib. Try driving around Chicago, lots of nice drivers here that really think when they're behind the wheel :rolleyes:

Pretty much people don't care much for anything, there's must be a good reason for a car to come to a stop right? Especially next to a forrest preserve. So why pass them?

They shouldn't give it mouth to mouth or remove it without properly handling it that's pretty immature to insinuate that I would have expected that out of them. But they should at least call animal control and make sure something is done about it, I mean how sad is it that there are 10 ducklings running around the dead mother in the middle of the road? Traffic stopped and one car drove off, the one that hit the duck.

[pixelharmony]

Sure I'd stop for the ducks if it was safe to do so and I didn't have to slam on my brakes or something.

Agree 100%, I wouldn't risk causing a accident or injuring a human for the sake of a duck or animal. But in this case the first car came to a rolling stop. The second car just passed them and drove off.

[AngryCorgi]

Anyway, just the other day some lady in front of me SLAMMED on her brakes, literally STOOD on them all because a stupid squirrel ran out in front of her car.

I have to admit to being guilty of that. :-P

I did that so much in Virginia, it was nuts (or maybe I was)! I am glad nobody was ever behind me, because the police in NoVA can ticket people for abruptly stopping, due to the increasing number of "swoop and squat" cases. The insurance company could easily have awarded majority fault to me for an incident in such a case as well, wrecking my ability to get affordable coverage. It's definitely a hard habit to break, because most people don't want to kill a cute little squirrel, but the truth is that acting on emotion rather than logic in such a case is a good way to wind of in trouble or hurt.

[OdiN1701]

I have to admit to being guilty of that. :-P

I did that so much in Virginia, it was nuts (or maybe I was)! I am glad nobody was ever behind me, because the police in NoVA can ticket people for abruptly stopping, due to the increasing number of "swoop and squat" cases. The insurance company could easily have awarded majority fault to me for an incident in such a case as well, wrecking my ability to get affordable coverage. It's definitely a hard habit to break, because most people don't want to kill a cute little squirrel, but the truth is that acting on emotion rather than logic in such a case is a good way to wind of in trouble or hurt.

That, and there are TONS of squirrels. One less isn't going to cause any issue.

[thomascanty]

I have to admit to being guilty of that. :-P

I did that so much in Virginia, it was nuts (or maybe I was)! I am glad nobody was ever behind me, because the police in NoVA can ticket people for abruptly stopping

I did it just yesterday morning because a squirrel darted out in front of me. And, there was a sheriff's squad car right behind me that had to stop quickly, too. I didn't get a ticket, though.

[SlowBlink]

I never said the driver "intentionally" did that. They didn't even swerve to avoid an accident. It was more like "Why the hell did you stop?" pass the car, give the finger drive on kind of deal. I'm sure they didn't know the car stopped for the family. But they just hit the duck, stopped, and drove off.

My heart jumps into my throat every time I see that. That's the way kids get hit and seeing it once is enough for this lifetime. Pure stupidity in my opinion.

[AngryCorgi]

Traffic stopped and one car drove off, the one that hit the duck.

He/she was already past the animal, no? Why again would this person stay? Obviously, at that point the person had seen that he/she had hit the animal, and probably wasn't too happy with it, but I have still not heard what you expected the person to do. Seriously, I'd have driven on after stopping to ponder the situation too, so you can judge me just the same. I don't think the person acted illogically, I assume they stopped and came to the realization that the damage had been done and there was nothing they could do about it. Surely the person felt badly, else why stop and ponder the matter at all? Maybe they used their cell to call animal control or the police or something as they drove off, do you really know? I really don't think there is adequate information to hold a negative opinion of this person.

[AngryCorgi]

I did it just yesterday morning because a squirrel darted out in front of me. And, there was a sheriff's squad car right behind me that had to stop quickly, too. I didn't get a ticket, though.

I can't imagine doing that! Adrenaline high from the snap decision to slam on the brakes because a critter ran out and then to look in my rear-view and see the light-bar on the police car (even unlit) --- might just give me cardiac arrest! ;)

[pixelharmony]

He/she was already past the animal, no? Why again would this person stay? Obviously, at that point the person had seen that he/she had hit the animal, and probably wasn't too happy with it, but I have still not heard what you expected the person to do. Seriously, I'd have driven on after stopping to ponder the situation too, so you can judge me just the same. I don't think the person acted illogically, I assume they stopped and came to the realization that the damage had been done and there was nothing they could do about it. Surely the person felt badly, else why stop and ponder the matter at all? Maybe they used their cell to call animal control or the police or something as they drove off, do you really know? I really don't think there is adequate information to hold a negative opinion of this person.

Okay let's forget all that happened and focus on this. I'm going down a road cruising at 45 mph. The car in front of me comes to a complete stop, so I change lanes and proceed to drive by past them.

What if it was a kid crossing the street? Same thing I see happens all the time when a car is making a left onto a street. The cars to the left stop and the right most lane is open. People should know that something must be coming out but they blow by them either way.

The main premise of me being upset is that their lack of foresight resulted in a unessecary death. Yes it was just a duck and the 10 ducklings. But what if it was a kid crossing the street?

That's the problem, that's my negative opinion. The result was just the end product, regardless of what it was.

[sevillafox]

Just ignore Corgi....he likes to stir up trouble and get people riled up.

[Tandem]

It is a good idea to have a game plan for animal encounters thought out well in advance. I am often remined of a young girl driver that died in a single car roll-over accident on a 4-lane divided highway when she swerved to avoid a rabbit. It was a long straight stretch of highway on a clear day with no traffic. The police invesigator knew it was a rabbit she was trying to avoid because she ended up hitting and killing it anyway.

One thing most people don't consider is that when they are under hard braking the nose of their car is down to the ground which increases the likelyhood of a larger animal rolling over the hood and hitting the windshield. If you can release the brake in the instant before impact the front of the car will come back up and you might just take the animal in the grill instead plus you will have more control after the impact. It is something you don't have time to think about when you are in panic stop mode but it might just save your life.

[AngryCorgi]

Okay let's forget all that happened and focus on this. I'm going down a road cruising at 45 mph. The car in front of me comes to a complete stop, so I change lanes and proceed to drive by past them.

What if it was a kid crossing the street? Same thing I see happens all the time when a car is making a left onto a street. The cars to the left stop and the right most lane is open. People should know that something must be coming out but they blow by them either way.

The main premise of me being upset is that their lack of foresight resulted in a unessecary death. Yes it was just a duck and the 10 ducklings. But what if it was a kid crossing the street?

That's the problem, that's my negative opinion. The result was just the end product, regardless of what it was.

While I could agree that most people need to be educated more in defensive driving and to be aware of certain situations, the fact that you clearly were more put out by the fact that the person left the scene after the duck was killed, leaves me not willing to bite on you trying to change the conversation and argue a totally different point that a different poster just brought up as a parallel conversation.

[AngryCorgi]

Just ignore Corgi....he likes to stir up trouble and get people riled up.

Hardly. Just because I'm not quick to crucify people as you are, doesn't mean I'm starting trouble.

That's the last I have to say on this subject, you guys can go back to your "people suck" conversation.

[AngryCorgi]

It is a good idea to have a game plan for animal encounters thought out well in advance. I am often remined of a young girl driver that died in a single car roll-over accident on a 4-lane divided highway when she swerved to avoid a rabbit. It was a long straight stretch of highway on a clear day with no traffic. The police invesigator knew it was a rabbit she was trying to avoid because she ended up hitting and killing it anyway.

One thing most people don't consider is that when they are under hard braking the nose of their car is down to the ground which increases the likelyhood of a larger animal rolling over the hood and hitting the windshield. If you can release the brake in the instant before impact the front of the car will come back up and you might just take the animal in the grill instead plus you will have more control after the impact. It is something you don't have time to think about when you are in panic stop mode but it might just save your life.

I can agree with you there, wholeheartedly. Definitely, every driver on this planet would benefit from proper defensive driving instruction. When adrenaline hits your body, everyone reacts differently. I unfortunately slam the breaks, some people mistakenly slam the gas, and some people instinctively swerve. I was always scared driving in the winters in VA, because I knew my natural reaction was to hit the brakes. I had to totally change my driving style in the winter and drove in the slow lane in the snow at 1/2 speed usually.

[PhotoJourno]

What I captured from this story (OP) is the sadness of seeing two worls trying to coexist with one another, and while at least two humans notice the event (whoever is telling the story, and that first car that stopped), another 'more important' human who cannot be bothered to check and see why there is a vehicle stopped in the road in front of him, proceeds to react and in turn run over the duck.

I must say, I am saddened by the story as well, though I am relieved to know it was only ducks and not other people, or a person that had tripped while trying to cross the street, or an emergency vehicle. Far too often I encounter these morons trying to catch a streak of green lights doing 50mph in a city just feet behind an emergency vehicle, or too busy shouting at you for stopping, without noticing the person walking across the street.

A good friend of mine has a cool attitude about it "I don't get mad, I just let them go, thinking Hey, if they are SOO Important that they need to get places faster than anyone else, then let them go".

Sorry you had to see that, it sucks.

[zacker]

If you follow correct driving habits and leave the correct amount of space between you and the vehicle in front of you, there should not be ANY chance of a collision, unless of course your NOT paying attention... you ARE paying attention while driving.. Are you???

[zacker]

That, and there are TONS of squirrels. One less isn't going to cause any issue.


ya know, there are also TONS of humans out here too... :(

[gymell]

That's too bad about the ducks. Usually if I see someone stopped in the road, I figure there is something going on and if I need to go around them, drive very defensively in doing so. There could be any reason that the person is stopped, and it's just stupid to drive around them without knowing what the circumstances are. The person that hit the duck could have slowed down to see what the problem was before passing.

And I do brake for animals if at all possible, even just a squirrel. Yeah, there are plenty around, but I don't want to be the one to hit them. And if you are paying attention, and aren't following me to closely and/or speeding, then it shouldn't be a problem, should it? Defensive driving goes both ways, you know!

[OdiN1701]

ya know, there are also TONS of humans out here too... :(

You're absolutely right. The gene pool could certainly use some cholorine.

[pixelharmony]

^ You won't get that in America... but that's a whole different debate. If someone deserves a darwin award they get it. But I think we're thinking about little kids that might not know any better.

[Ukuleleman]

Yeh, brake for a duck and kill the kids or don't brake for a duck and scar the kids for life, I suppose they could always have brought in a duck surgeon on $1000 an hour to operate, it's really sad, but no sadder than a bear eating the mother duck in the wild, life is short and cruel at times, don't lay blame and don't blame yourself.

[::John::]

Sadness is sadness - I saw a 'roo, 2 days ago, that had just been hit by a car and it was 'crawling' off to the side of the road - obviously hurt. I rang the animal rescue people and they sent someone out - but I was shaky all day - it's awful to see something, be it human or animal, hit by a vehicle...

[queenbee288]

If you follow correct driving habits and leave the correct amount of space between you and the vehicle in front of you, there should not be ANY chance of a collision, unless of course your NOT paying attention... you ARE paying attention while driving.. Are you???

Exactly. In Kentucky, if you hit another car from behind you are automatically at fault. Because.......you are expected to be in complete control of your car at all times and able to stop if needed.

People just need to slow down, stop following so closely and pay attention.

[AngryCorgi]

Exactly. In Kentucky, if you hit another car from behind you are automatically at fault. Because.......you are expected to be in complete control of your car at all times and able to stop if needed.

People just need to slow down, stop following so closely and pay attention.

That is not completely accurate. In Kentucky, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, you must choose between full-tort or no-fault automobile policies. If you do not/did not specifically choose one or the other, the default is no-fault. In that scenario, accident fault is equally shared between the drivers involved. Since the no-fault insurance is cheaper, the vast majority of drivers in those three states are on no-fault policies, meaning that the majority of accidents will likely be shared fault (all involved carrying no-fault coverage). Regardless of who is ticketed in a no-fault collision, the repair of each vehicle is separately covered by each person's claim to their own insurance company as they view it as equal fault.

[pixelharmony]

That's interesting, I was always under the impression that whoever hit me from behind is at fault. I should double check with my insurance out here in Illinois.

[sevillafox]

Ok, to add a feel good note to this thread.....

The other day a family of ducks were crossing a parking lot in Madison, WI. The babies all fell down a sewer drain and mama duck ditched them. Some bystander called Animal Control who came and rescues the 8 little quacklings and took them to a shelter to get cleaned up and be taken care of.

This made the news!

[AngryCorgi]

That's interesting, I was always under the impression that whoever hit me from behind is at fault. I should double check with my insurance out here in Illinois.

Illinois is not one of the 12 states that offers no-fault insurance, but it is still wise to see how the insurancy companies in your state operate.

[thomascanty]

Illinois is not one of the 12 states that offers no-fault insurance, but it is still wise to see how the insurancy companies in your state operate.

I know from personal experience that in California, if you rear end someone, you're at fault. No matter what. (I was the hittee, not the hitter...)

[pixelharmony]

Ok, to add a feel good note to this thread.....

The other day a family of ducks were crossing a parking lot in Madison, WI. The babies all fell down a sewer drain and mama duck ditched them. Some bystander called Animal Control who came and rescues the 8 little quacklings and took them to a shelter to get cleaned up and be taken care of.

This made the news!

That's nice of them! Ducklings are pretty easy to raise. I live in a condo now so it's harder. They grow up fast and can go off on their own pretty easily.

[AngryCorgi]

I know from personal experience that in California, if you rear end someone, you're at fault. No matter what. (I was the hittee, not the hitter...)

That's interesting. I would be surprised if there was not a state police led investigative team that transparently examines collision cases in CA. Most states do this, even those with no-fault policy offerings, in order to discourage fraud. Remember, people can cut into the lane space in front of your car and remove your safety zone right before slamming their brakes; it happens all the time.

Here is an excerpt from a study shown on the Insurance Information Institute website [Feb 2008]:

Staged Auto Accidents: The National Insurance Crime Bureau has identified the 10 cities with the highest numbers of staged auto accidents. One of the many types of staged accidents involves a vehicle that is positioned in front of an unsuspecting motorist and brakes suddenly, causing a rear-end crash. Miami, Florida leads the list which was compiled in March 2006 (see below).

1. Miami, FL
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Houston, TX
4. Chicago, IL
5. Philadelphia, PA
6. Tampa, FL
7. Cleveland, OH
8. Orlando, FL
9. New York, NY
10. Boston, MA


BTW, Florida is a no-fault state too. :-P

[thomascanty]

That's interesting. I would be surprised if there was not a state police led investigative team that transparently examines collision cases in CA.

Now that you mention it, I guess the "No matter what" part of my post may have been incorrect. I do recall hearing about a case where a car full of people deliberately cut off a big rig so he would rear end them, and they could go after the insurance company. Fortunately for the truck driver, he had a dash cam that filmed the whole thing, proving they had done it on purpose. The driver, and if I remember correctly also the passengers, in the car ended up going to prison.

[Shutterbug Doug]

I wish I hadn't read this.
Same here, that's why I stopped at your comment......sad:cry:

[Mum2J&M]

So I was driving down a major road in the Chicago burbs and was waiting to turn out of an intersection. A family of ducks (mom and 10 or so ducklings) were crossing the street. The car stops and the car behind proceeds to swerve past the car hitting the mother. With the mother on the ground not getting up all the ducklings were running around in a group in the middle of the road by the mom.

It was so sad. The person just drove off while others stopped the cars. Some people were good enough to move the mother off to the side and the ducklings followed. I believe they called some people who came to chase down and grab all the ducklings. Even the police came to help.

I guess that's a part of life, but it was just really sad because those babies were so small.

Oh no! That is horrible. I seriously would have cried. I once hit a morning dove while driving and I felt sick to my stomach for a week. I slowed down as much as possible, but the poor guy just didn't make it up high enough in time. Still makes me shiver just thinking about it...

[Mark]

Sounds tragic for the animal, but the OP did not provide evidence of intent to kill the mother. It is entirely possible (and probable) that the driver behind noticed the abrupt stop too late and with the car in front blocking the driver's vision of what was on the ground, swerved to miss the car and wound up hitting the mama instead. It is a natural reaction to swerve to miss people, cars, and animals. Many a frightened person has totalled their car in a knee-jerk swerve to miss a deer or other woodland creature that strayed onto the road.

It's easy not to condemn people when you place yourself in their shoes before passing sentence on them.

Props to the people who came to the aid of the ducklings and tried to help the situation.

Yes, that is very important, if there is an animal on the road, and you believe that avoiding it will put you in any danger, hit it. Your life is more important.