OMG. Why are people so irresponsible? Did I do the right thing?

Question

Tonite on my way home from school, I hit a dog. The highway is super dark at night. Anyway, I tried to swerve and slammed on my brakes, but the road was wet, so i was sliding along , and the dog turned around and ran into the path of my truck. I freaked out. I don't think that I killed him, but I was too scared to stop, because the road is kinda spooky, and anyway, I went to a store about a mile away, and some men said that they would go check on him for me, and bring him to me if he was hurt. They came back and said that he was not there, and that they didn't see blood or anything, so I'm kinda relieved that he's not dead, but I'm worried that he is hurt somewhere suffering. Why don't people keep their animals safe? I know that sometimes they can escape, but one of the guys that went to check for me said he sees that dog on the highway all of the time. I feel so bad. What else could I have done? Or can I do anything about it now?

I've decide that I am gonna go and look for him first thing in the morning, and if he is still alive, I will take him to the vet. I feel bad for the dog, and it makes me soo angry that he is suffering or dead, and I can't sleep just because some irresponsible people decided to let their dog run loose, or build a suitable enclosure. If he is wearing a tag, I am going to give the previous owners a call, and let them know what happened and if they are willing to pay the vet bills and build a suitable area for the dog I will give him back. They will probably get mad, but I will not take their anger on as a problem of mine.

Answer 1

You say the road is spooky. Do you mean that it is dark and doesn't have any houses nearby?
You probably wish now you had stopped and checked the dog. It is good you are concerned about the dog but bad that you didn't take the time to look for it.
If that would ever happen again, please, if you are afraid to leave the car, turn around so your lights are shining where the dog might be. That way you can see if it is there. If it is not, that means it took off and is trying to make it home. Chasing a wounded dog in the dark can be dangerous. Don't do that.

If the dog is still there you should put your flashers on and get out to check it. Be careful, it might be confused and afraid. If it will let you near try to assess its injuries. If it is hurt you might do more injury if you try to move it. Call for help if you have a cell phone or stay until another car comes along.

No matter how scary the road is what would you do if you hit a person who was foolishly wearing dark clothes on a dark road. If that happens, park your car with lights flashing to protect the person from other cars and call for help or hope someone comes along with a cell phone.

Also, when trying to stop fast on wet roads be very careful about turning the steering wheel. It is very lucky you didn't skid off the road and be seriously injured. Next time try pumping the brake pedal that lets the tires have another chance to grip the road. You can do a tap tap tap on the brake pedal which is a bit like having anti lock brakes. The faster you can tap the better the car will stop on wet or snowy roads.

Answer 2

I'm about to be the thorn on the rosebush. In most states if you hit a dog and don't stop, it qualifies as hit and run and may be punishable with a fine, jail time, or both. Dark, wet, rainy and scary don't qualify as reasons for not not pulling over and checking to see if you could find the dog. You should have made a quick sweep of the area with your headlights or a flashlight, and then driven to the store for assistance. Unfortunately, there was a good chance that the animal had internal injuries, which would account for the lack of blood on the pavement. It's adrenalin kicked in and the dog ran as far and as fast as it could before it collapsed and possibly died. Can you do something else about this situation? Yes! You can post a notice in the local paper describing the dog, giving the date and location of the accident, and noting that it may have been mortally injured. If the dog does not come home, the owners will at least have some kind of closure, even though they themselves were totally irresponsible for the dog's well-being.

Answer 3

You did a good job at least you did stop somewhere and told someone,,, and your were smart for not stopping on a dark road, I wouldnt have stopped cause nowa days you have to be very careful when it comes to things like that, im sure the dog is fine if the men didnt see him or any blood or if it will ease your mind then go and look for it in the daylight,,, but remember to never stop and see if an animal is ok in the dark for one thing you can see anything and if the dog is hurt then more then likely the dog will bite you also if you would have stopped and waited to for another car to come by then your life might have been in danger so you did a good job by stopping at a store and told someone about it

Answer 4

I think you did what you could. Hopfully the dog was not hurt badly and just made its way home. I would be scared stopping on a dark road at night too. Too many things can happen. Maybe drive down that road tomorrow and see if there is any signs of him. Don't feel bad. It wasn't your fault. Some dogs will not be kept in. They will jump a fence, dig under a fence, etc. And of course there are the irresponsible people who do not try to contain the animals. I hope the dog is okay.

Answer 5

why are people so irresponsible? They are very selfish, and basically dont give a damn about anyone or anything else, except their own emotions!

Did it occur to you that possibly the animal (dog) got out on accident? Some dogs are very hard to keep in. There could be a variety of reasons!

speaking of responsible people, you left the animal there! not knowing if it was hurt severely, or even dead! How responsible is that? You have justified your actions, and put the blame on others. Could it possibly be that you were going to fast? Or your bright beams wernt on? ( you said it was a dark road!) Or possibly you wernt paying attention..

Im not trying to come down on you, really im not, but just sit back and look at the incident again. ok?1

and remember, theres always a different way to look at things, and there are 3 sides to every story, "your side-their side-and the real side! Good luck

Answer 6

What else could you have done? What else could you have done? Are you seriously asking this question? You could have stopped the car immediately and helped the animal! You really and honestly think that those people you asked to go check on it really did exactly that? I highly doubt it. They probably just went out in that direction to keep you happy, found the dog, then went back and told you differently. People are sick for letting their pets run wild, it may not be your fault that you hit the dog, but it is your fault if you did a hit and run situation and left it possibly dying on the side of the road because the road was too "spooky" for you to stop on. How would you like it if it was you who got hit by the car crossing a road and someone said "I didnt stop to make sure you were okay, cus it was just too spooky"??? Not impressive to say the least.

Answer 7

You really need to call your local animal control and tell them what happened. Tell them you hit the dog on the highway, and the dog is out there all the time (as reported by others).

In a lot of states it is illegal to hit a dog and then not report it. The animal could be suffering, like you said. In fact, I am pretty sure he is suffering a lot. Go ahead and call animal control so they can try to find him.


Take Care.

Answer 8

Honestly, as mean as it sounds, don't swerve your truck/car that bad to where you're going to slide or lock up the brakes. You're going to end up wrecking your truck or worse killing yourself or someone else. I'm always looking around, and aware of what cars are around me. If I see an animal in the road or off to the side(I try to watch for them too, look for their glowing eyes)I'll slow down and try to anticipate which way they're going, and honk the horn.

If that guy always sees the dog out there, could've been a stray. But I agree, people should take better care of their animals.

EDIT: Don't pump your brakes if you have anti lock brakes.

Answer 9

call your local SPCA too.. and report it just incase somebody has reported loosing a dog matching the desrciption so at least they may know where to look

you cannot help these things.. I had a cat get killed by a car once.. the person had to have known they hit her - I was of course sad she was dead but I was more mad they didnt even stop to check.. I couldnt yell at them for hitting her becuase ultimately it was me who let her out (she always stayed in the yard before that.. but that day there was commotion with neighbours moving out so it must have caused her to leave the back yard)
after that I fenced so my other 2 cats were in a "cat run" only

Answer 10

It seems like you did the right thing. There wasn't much more you could do, since you didn't know who the owner of the dog was. At least you told someone about what happened, and if the dog had been injured, they could have gotten help for it. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation.