bgott
Veteran Member
Re: somethin\'s been worryin\' me
I've hit a few deer and been in a truck that hit a horse. I've also helped clean up the mess from a few cars hitting cattle. The theory is that the shorter legs and lower center of gravity on a cow will push it under or in front of the vehicle when you hit it. The longer legs and higher center of gravity on a deer or a horse catapult it onto the hood. That was always what the old men at the corner cafe told me and, in my experience, has proven true. When we hit the mustang out in the middle of the Nevada desert with a '60 International pick-up it didn't make it through the windshield but it blew the windshield and about a hundred pounds of horse crap through the hole. It also pushed the hood about halfway through the truck, also. I saw it coming and had slid down in the seat and put my knees on the dash and rolled to the left. That saved me from the hood and also saved the girl sitting in the center. The driver ate the wheel but the impact was on the left side so the hood wasn't an issue on his side. We came out of it O.K., The three mile walk back to the nearest ranch to borrow a tractor to pull the dead horse ( we had to shoot it) and the dead truck out of the middle of the road was a PITA on my sore knees. Looking back on the situation the biggest problem would have been if there had been any traffic on that road at all. When we hit it stopped the truck, in the middle of the road, within twenty feet of impact. The horse landed in the other lane. We had no flares, flashlight or other signalling device. People usually ran 90 to 100 MPH on that road, if someone had of come along we would have had a way bigger mess than we already had. The point is, if you survive the initial wreck make sure there isn't a second one. Carry flares and a good flashlight, look behind you after the wreck before you try to get out of the car and make sure you aren't going to get run over if you get out of the car, mark the scene to try to keep someone else from hitting it and watch where the other traffic might be. Kind of like changing a tire on the side of the freeway or getting in a wreck in a snowstorm. Another thing to watch for, buzzards. A friend and I were driving through Mississippi back to Louisiana one time after running our crab traps and a flock of buzzards, or vultures or whatever they call them there, took off out of the trees, crossing the road. A buzzard doesn't just flitter off when it takes flight, it drops out of the tree and builds some airspeed to get going. We went charging into this flock of buzzards and caught one with the leading edge of the hood. It bounced off the leading edge of the hood and then busted he!! out of the windshield before going over the top of the truck. It dumped it's load on impact with the hood and finished on impact with the windshield. He had a full load. The stuff buzzards are full of just ain't nice. It doesn't wipe off busted glass and it took us twelve of the most gut wrenching miles I've ever had the misfortune to live through to find a hose to clean it off with. Sure glad it wasn't my truck. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I've hit a few deer and been in a truck that hit a horse. I've also helped clean up the mess from a few cars hitting cattle. The theory is that the shorter legs and lower center of gravity on a cow will push it under or in front of the vehicle when you hit it. The longer legs and higher center of gravity on a deer or a horse catapult it onto the hood. That was always what the old men at the corner cafe told me and, in my experience, has proven true. When we hit the mustang out in the middle of the Nevada desert with a '60 International pick-up it didn't make it through the windshield but it blew the windshield and about a hundred pounds of horse crap through the hole. It also pushed the hood about halfway through the truck, also. I saw it coming and had slid down in the seat and put my knees on the dash and rolled to the left. That saved me from the hood and also saved the girl sitting in the center. The driver ate the wheel but the impact was on the left side so the hood wasn't an issue on his side. We came out of it O.K., The three mile walk back to the nearest ranch to borrow a tractor to pull the dead horse ( we had to shoot it) and the dead truck out of the middle of the road was a PITA on my sore knees. Looking back on the situation the biggest problem would have been if there had been any traffic on that road at all. When we hit it stopped the truck, in the middle of the road, within twenty feet of impact. The horse landed in the other lane. We had no flares, flashlight or other signalling device. People usually ran 90 to 100 MPH on that road, if someone had of come along we would have had a way bigger mess than we already had. The point is, if you survive the initial wreck make sure there isn't a second one. Carry flares and a good flashlight, look behind you after the wreck before you try to get out of the car and make sure you aren't going to get run over if you get out of the car, mark the scene to try to keep someone else from hitting it and watch where the other traffic might be. Kind of like changing a tire on the side of the freeway or getting in a wreck in a snowstorm. Another thing to watch for, buzzards. A friend and I were driving through Mississippi back to Louisiana one time after running our crab traps and a flock of buzzards, or vultures or whatever they call them there, took off out of the trees, crossing the road. A buzzard doesn't just flitter off when it takes flight, it drops out of the tree and builds some airspeed to get going. We went charging into this flock of buzzards and caught one with the leading edge of the hood. It bounced off the leading edge of the hood and then busted he!! out of the windshield before going over the top of the truck. It dumped it's load on impact with the hood and finished on impact with the windshield. He had a full load. The stuff buzzards are full of just ain't nice. It doesn't wipe off busted glass and it took us twelve of the most gut wrenching miles I've ever had the misfortune to live through to find a hose to clean it off with. Sure glad it wasn't my truck. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
