Almost hit a dog.

arleitiss

hey, so i was driving beside airport, then when it came to traffic light i was decreasing speed then it switched green, while driving I noticed the dog ran across road 30 metres from me, I slowed down, when it passed me I increased speed and was ready to proceed, but the dog got scared of opposite lane traffic and turned around quikcly and ran across, I noticed it and slammed my brakes at full. I hit it but it didn't bark or anything or even make sound, it just ran off instantly , it kept running around and bit limbing. I saw owner was walking along being on phone, not caring whatsoever, it wasn't on leash or anything. But there was many other drivers witnesses who seemed very shocked and surprised of what I did, well I didn't mean it anyways, it was a husky running across area where it's a junction to which is joining 80 km/h zones. First when I hit it I put on hazard light and was about to step out to check it, it ran off so I proceeded. If I hit it lethally would I be charged anything?

CJhaughey

arleitiss wrote: »

If I hit it lethally would I be charged anything?

No.
The owner should have the dog under control.
If your car was damaged then you would have a case against the owner(assuming you could find them).

areyawell

It happens, It would be the owner of the dogs fault if you hit it or did damage to your car. Should be on a leash and not allowed to roam free. Don't feel guilty over it. If anything is wrong with the dog the owner will notice. Dog Owners fault.

Mister Jingles

Not having a go or anything like that but how did you hit the dog when it had passed you ? Did it run back around the front of the car ?

arleitiss

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Not having a go or anything like that but how did you hit the dog when it had passed you ? Did it run back around the front of the car ?

yes on opposite direction car beeped it and it changed its mind and turned its direction back, i did not see this coming tbh

Henry Ford III

Did you have a qualified driver with you?

Bruthal

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Not having a go or anything like that but how did you hit the dog when it had passed you ? Did it run back around the front of the car ?

I have a feeling they meant it had passed across their side of the road, and onto the other side of the centre line, but they had not actually passed the dog on the actual road yet.

This seems like bad driving if thats the case, speeding up with something still ahead of you on the road, based in the dog no longer being on your side of the road, but is still on the road ahead.

arleitiss wrote: »

yes on opposite direction car beeped it and it changed its mind and turned its direction back, i did not see this coming tbh

Did you not observe what was going on, and the dog might run back, with it now in front of a car oncoming?

Its not on your lane now, so just speed up?

arleitiss wrote: »

If I hit it lethally would I be charged anything?

Unlikely you would be, with a dog running freely and not under an owners control.

keithclancy

What is it with Ireland ... its like the wild west with Animals, people just leave dogs roam around neighborhoods.

I've often been driving past someones house and some crazy mongrel races out and starts trying to bite the back wheels.

Nothing would have happened OP, the owner wasn't under control of the animal, if anything they would have been any damage the dog caused. (or at least in theory, in reality they would have just left the scene since people think that because their not in a car they don't have to hang around)

They address this problem here by making it mandatory to chip your animal have a central database where they can track down the owner in the event theres an issue.

Bruthal

keithclancy wrote: »

What is it with Ireland ... its like the wild west with Animals, people just leave dogs roam around neighborhoods.

I've often been driving past someones house and some crazy mongrel races out and starts trying to bite the back wheels.

Nothing would have happened OP, the owner wasn't under control of the animal, if anything they would have been any damage the dog caused. (or at least in theory, in reality they would have just left the scene since people think that because their not in a car they don't have to hang around)

They address this problem here by making it mandatory to chip your animal have a central database where they can track down the owner in the event theres an issue.

Great, and likely true, but its still bad driving to simply put the boot down once the dog has crossed your side of the road. No possible anticipation it might turn back, or the car coming the opposite way might hit it. Forget about all that, my lane is clear now, boot down.

ironclaw

Just so you know, a dog is supposed to have a license so if you hit it and kill it, you have to report it. Or so I'm lead to believe. Same would apply for any other licensed animal e.g. Livestock.

Tallon

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Did you have a qualified driver with you?

How is this relevant?

Thatnastyboy

Tallon wrote: »

How is this relevant?

If she had a qualified driver with her, the dog would not have turned back

obviously :rolleyes:

Henry Ford III

Tallon wrote: »

How is this relevant?

Because if they didn't have a qualified driver with them, they shouldn't have been driving in the first place.

The original poster makes a habit of this seemingly.

leeroybrown

As was pointed out above if a dog is off leash and causes an accident it's owner is liable for all the damage.

Tallon

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Because if they didn't have a qualified driver with them, they shouldn't have been driving in the first place.

The original poster makes a habit of this seemingly.

Can you show me the part where the op mentioned they were a learner!

Edit: you can ignore my post dude!

Just read the op's post history... Jesus Christ he shouldn't be on the road :eek:

djimi

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Because if they didn't have a qualified driver with them, they shouldn't have been driving in the first place.

The original poster makes a habit of this seemingly.

More so to the point if they had a qualified driver with them they wouldnt need to come onto Boards afterwards to ask how they should have handled the situation and who was in the wrong etc.

alexonhisown

My son failed his driving test because he DIDNT hit a dog that ran out in front of him.
He failed because he stopped the car, which in turn stopped the traffic. My son said to him 'you are failing me because I didnt hit the dog and stopped traffic, but If I had hit him I would have to stop anyway' and the tester said 'yes, thats right.' Crazy stuff.

Bearcat

I nearly wrote off a car one night avoiding a dog........a fox jumped out on me, similar circumstances....I didn't even brake.

MrDerp

When I was driving about a year, I had a similar experience involving a human.

I was driving down Sandyford Road, beside Dundrum shopping centre. A young fella was crossing the road, well in front of me, slowly and looking at his phone. I slowed down to about 30km/h, and he had crossed my side of the road and onto the other lane. There was nothing coming the other way, and I proceeded at that speed, but all of a sudden he pivoted and crossed back into my lane, all the while looking at his phone.

I had slowed enough to stop safety if required, and stopped in time, but still I think I didn't proceed with enough caution as I certainly wasn't fully aware of what was behind me etc. So really I should have been crawling, not passing him slowly just because of his trajectory.

Consider this a good lesson in road safety. Humans can be just as erratic as dogs, and never assume anything based on trajectory. You can only count on (sort of) other motorists to continue in an expected line. I'm much more cautious after my experience.

Ignore all the negative comments about accompanied driving etc. You simply got it wrong. We're all always learning out there, so learn from it, move on, and be safe!

djimi

alexonhisown wrote: »

My son failed his driving test because he DIDNT hit a dog that ran out in front of him.
He failed because he stopped the car, which in turn stopped the traffic. My son said to him 'you are failing me because I didnt hit the dog and stopped traffic, but If I had hit him I would have to stop anyway' and the tester said 'yes, thats right.' Crazy stuff.

Slamming on the brakes to avoid a dog could potentially cause far more harm than just hitting it (skid/swerve onto a footpath, cause a pileup from behind you etc). Technically youre not supposed to slam on the brakes to avoid an animal.

While I can understand that logic, personally I think its far better to train the mind to take whatever action is necessary to avoid hitting anything that runs out in front of you. The split second that it takes to work out that it is a dog could be the difference between saving a childs life.

Susie564

I hit a dog a few years ago and I was so upset about it. Different to the OP's situation - in a housing estate, driving slowly, dog ran out between two parked cars right in front of me.

I stopped and pulled over and ran back to see if he was ok. The owner was there and had picked the poor thing up and I was totally shocked when he asked me if my car was ok - hadn't even occurred to me! When I went home and told my dad he ran out to check that the car as ok too I was pure upset for weeks afterwards until me da told me to cop on!

I think the OP should chalk it up to experience - don't speed up again until you are 100% sure the way ahead is clear, work on your observation skills and slow down a bit maybe. Most of learning to drive you get from experience of driving situations and you'll find you'll be learning for a good while after you pass your test.

arleitiss

I applied for driving test, nothing I can do to speed it up, so how about you people stop de-railing all threads?

Dog ran across road fully, it almost reached the kern of the oncoming lane, but for some reason it turned around and ran back across, first of all nearly a taxi hit it, then nearly I hit it.

Mister Jingles

You should know at this stage now what to expect when posting these types of threads. Was a bad mistake on your behalf, shouldn't of increased your speed until you knew for certain that the dog wasn't anywhere near the car.

Henry Ford III

arleitiss wrote: »

I applied for driving test, nothing I can do to speed it up, so how about you people stop de-railing all threads?

Dog ran across road fully, it almost reached the kern of the oncoming lane, but for some reason it turned around and ran back across, first of all nearly a taxi hit it, then nearly I hit it.

I've a better idea - why don't you stop casually and habitually breaking the law?

cjt156

arleitiss wrote: »

I applied for driving test, nothing I can do to speed it up.

But you can stop driving unaccompanied until you pass that test like you are required to do by law, can't you?

Situations like this is part of why you need someone experienced with you, to tell you how to handle hazards and not to boot it when there's a possible hazard running around the place, so that you don't brake suddenly and possibly cause a pile up.

First when I hit it I put on hazard light and was about to step out to check it,

Stopping in the middle of the road near airport traffic, at a junction, near 80kph zones is something else you should NOT be doing. You really ought to have someone experienced with you and stop driving on your own. This is why.

arleitiss

cjt156 wrote: »

But you can stop driving unaccompanied until you pass that test like you are required to do by law, can't you?

i need to practice, and i am not willing to give another 400 euro to instructors, may as well drive by myself and if charged pay the fine which could be close or less than 400 but at least i drived without any hurry

i know very well what i can be charged

arleitiss

arleitiss wrote: »

i need to practice, and i am not willing to give another 400 euro to instructors, may as well drive by myself and if charged pay the fine which could be close or less than 400 but at least i drived without any hurry

i know very well what i can be charged

Apart from booting it and nearly causing a crash, sure
And then wanting to stop at a junction in airport traffic for no good reason, as long as you weren't "driving in a hurry" sure...

Henry Ford III

arleitiss wrote: »

i need to practice, and i am not willing to give another 400 euro to instructors, may as well drive by myself and if charged pay the fine which could be close or less than 400 but at least i drived without any hurry

i know very well what i can be charged

You need to cop on more like it.