There are some very scary moments while driving a car. Probably the one we all fear is a child running out into the street in front of us. It is for that reason that I really try not to drive in the late afternoon or evening on Halloween.
For people who love critters, there are other scary moments which happen with some frequency. I had one of those moments this week while driving on Cathedral Oaks Road. A cute little ground squirrel bolted out of the bushes and right in between the tires of the car ahead of me.
The driver of that vehicle slammed on the brakes, but at 40 mph and with the critter already between the tires, the move couldn’t be counted on to save the critter. It was just a gut-instinct reaction to avoid killing a cute little critter. Fortunately, I was fast on my brake pedal and we didn’t have a car crash.
That little ground squirrel panicked and bolted like greased lightning, coming out just behind the rear tire on the other side of the car and streaked up a tree in the center divider. That is the luckiest little critter alive because it is amazing the little guy is still alive.
There is that split-second moment when a critter races into the street and under or directly ahead of a moving car. A driver has to decide whether to slam on the brakes, swerve to hopefully reduce the risk of running over and killing or maiming the critter, or perform some more creative (and usually panicked) special maneuver.
In that split-second decision, acts are done which cause serious car crashes. But it is so difficult to decide to maintain course and speed and hope the critter can adjust. All-in-all it is the safest option, but so difficult to do. We really don’t want to feel that bump as a tire rolls over the critter.
Usually, the critter has moved into harms way so fast that the driver doesn’t have a good opportunity to make a maneuver to avoid harming a critter that is somewhere under the car but can no longer be seen. But a panicked maneuver entails so much risk of a car crash that the right choice becomes clear.
It really is best to maintain course and speed and say a little prayer. The critter may or may not come through this, but probably has its best chance if the car’s speed and direction doesn’t change while the critter is trying to make it out with all the speed and agility it can muster.
So, as we sea captains are fond of saying, “Steady as she goes, Matey, steady as she goes.”
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
