I was driving down a country lane this morning and as I came around a bend I noticed something on the road. It wasn't until I got a bit closer I realised tahat it was a Rabbit laying in the road. I initially thought the Rabbit was dead as it didn't seem to be moving, but as I was almost upon it, it darted away, by this time I was almost over it and I heard a bang. I braked hard as I got to it, but it was too late. I quickly looked through my rear view mirror to see the Rabbit laid out and eventually to limp off into the hedge.

The thing is, I'm feeling really bad about this. I hope it wasn't injured too much, but given the speed I hit it I would be surprised if it survives. Help, I'm feeling really guilty and bad. Has anyone else knocked down a wild animal and felt guilty afterwards?

It happens mate, dont worry too much about it...

The worst is when you do it consciously...Few years ago I chose to drive over a rabbit rather than swerve and possibly hit the people walking along the road...Luckily the wheels missed it but i still felt bad.

I once did that with a cat! It's awful isn't it? Mine was sort of a little whack though, not a good hard bang. If you know what I mean...

Try not to feel too bad. I know this is probably not what what you want to hear, but if you hit it with such impact, I doubt it would have survived.....it won't be sitting somewhere dying a slow death. Try to take comfort from that.

Deviating slightly....I have this thing, and most people disagree with me, but that's ok, I know why I do it. If I'm driving, and I see something that looks dead, laying in the road, I drive right over it.

The way I see it is that if it's been knocked over once already, and is only half dead, then it will be in massive pain. I just want to end that misery.

I understand the logic of my actions, and that I may not always be correct, and that most of the time it's probably dead anyway. I just want to make sure so that it doesn't suffer anymore than it has done.

I need to add that I really do feel sorry for the odd rabbit/hedgehog/bird/delete as appropriate who's laying down, basking in the sun with it's legs up in the air thinking 'what a wonderful life this is'

:(

Those who know me well will know that I'm a good sort and care for animals and all things living, so don't judge me too harsly you lot!

Stagey x

i once hit a dog it just ran out in front of me i slammed the brakes on hoping to stop before i hit it the car did stop sadly the poor dog was under the wheels at the time so i skidded on it ..its back end was like a pancake poor thing was put down i felt so bad ..

It’s very unfortunate when it does happen but most of the time its unavoidable. I've only killed one animal on the road and I was totally hopeless to stop it. I was doing about 70 on the A50 and a blackbird decided that my bonnet looked like a good place to land! Bounced up and went straight over the car leaving a smear. I was honestly distraught about that for ages afterwards even though there was nothing I could have done.

Two lads from my school nearly died when the driver swerved to avoid a rabbit on Worral Road. I’ve been driving for 7 years now and I’ve done a lot of country driving and I’ve never once had a rabbit freeze as my headlights hit it. Is this a myth or has it happened to anyone else?

I was driving down a country lane this morning and as I came around a bend I noticed something on the road. It wasn't until I got a bit closer I realised tahat it was a Rabbit laying in the road. I initially thought the Rabbit was dead as it didn't seem to be moving, but as I was almost upon it, it darted away, by this time I was almost over it and I heard a bang. I braked hard as I got to it, but it was too late. I quickly looked through my rear view mirror to see the Rabbit laid out and eventually to limp off into the hedge.

The thing is, I'm feeling really bad about this. I hope it wasn't injured too much, but given the speed I hit it I would be surprised if it survives. Help, I'm feeling really guilty and bad. Has anyone else knocked down a wild animal and felt guilty afterwards?
You are lucky to see a rabbit these days.They have all been wiped out by a disease.We used to see hundreds as we were driving up the Rivelin Valley but today we only saw one.:confused:

I was driving down a country lane this morning and as I came around a bend I noticed something on the road. It wasn't until I got a bit closer I realised tahat it was a Rabbit laying in the road. I initially thought the Rabbit was dead as it didn't seem to be moving, but as I was almost upon it, it darted away, by this time I was almost over it and I heard a bang. I braked hard as I got to it, but it was too late. I quickly looked through my rear view mirror to see the Rabbit laid out and eventually to limp off into the hedge.

The thing is, I'm feeling really bad about this. I hope it wasn't injured too much, but given the speed I hit it I would be surprised if it survives. Help, I'm feeling really guilty and bad. Has anyone else knocked down a wild animal and felt guilty afterwards?

I take it you didnt read my thread from ages ago when we ran over a cat on the way back home from badminton one tuesday night- I was in shock for days afterwards with the feeling that we had killed an innocent animal- although I am happy to report that I have seen it in the area since which has lifted my spirits no end :)

Its just the initial feeling of guilt though thats the worst thing about it all.

I still have nightmares about the time that I hit a cat while out on the trike about 12 years ago. There was a bus in front of me when out from in between the bus wheels, in the middle of the carriageway, I saw a grey cat lying in the road. I assumed that it was dead, but as I approached, s/he lifted his/her head up and looked at me. Being on the trike my front wheel was exactly in the right path to hit the cat- there was simply nothing I could do but run straight over the poor thing- apart from swerving in a way that would probably have killed me too (trikes being trikes I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and there were no doors to prevent me exiting sideways if I swerved).

I was on a main road with traffic everywhere in an area that I didn't know (on a touring holiday) and there was no opportunity to pull over to go and check whether the poor thing was wearing a collar and tag. It was a couple of miles before I found somewhere to pull off and have a good cry. I still feel guilty to this day that I couldn't go to see the owner and apologise and make sure that they got to know what had happened.

Try not to feel too guilty Dick- you know that you didn't do it deliberately, and there's no way that you could have gone back and found the rabbit to get vet help- if it was still able to move then there's no way you would have caught it.

In some ways I try to apply the Stagewalker principle- the cat that I hit had obviously already been hit and was unable to get up and run away, so maybe a swift death was preferable to what could have happened. I can't help thinking that if I could have stopped and picked him/her up then maybe a vet could have helped though.