Hypothetical crash scenario
 

Say you are traveling at a reasonably moderate speed 65-70 mph with no traffic and all of a sudden a good sized dog (say 65lbs) sprints out directly in front of you, leaving roughly 5 yards between you and the dog? What course of action will you take?

constant throttle on, i would just plow through and get on my feet as shock absorbers. Hope for the best. Sorry dog, but you are going to take the hit.

I run these scenarios through my mind all the time, just thought I'd seek others input. I was wondering how many would actually try to increase speed vs trying to swerve or brake? I would fall into the increase speed or hold steady and hope for the best.

something like a big deer or bigger I would probably rethink and look for a lowside path.

I've only run over a snake and a squirrel thus far, almost took out a beaver the other day though.

think I'd continue on at the same speed, you never know which way they are going to go once they notice you are almost on them. damn things are worse than kids, at least kids will freeze for a little bit.

very simple answer for me is to brake as controllably as possible, in an effort to minimize the harm to the dog. I have a soft spot for dogs.

besides, this is exactly what you're taught in the MSF course, since it screws up the target line a dog takes.

I have a soft spot for dogs too but if it could possibly cause less damage by hitting it, it's going to have tire tracks on it somewhere.

3 deer, a dog, some cats and various other animals have committed suicide beneath my wheels over the years. I believe that you should stay straight, try to scrub off speed but release the front brake before impact. This has also helped me when dealing with junk on the freeway as well. After impact, keep your head and try to avoid locking up your brakes. Never give up and throw it away. I may be wrong here but I have managed to save myself in situations where others would have "thrown it away" by never giving up!

Assuming it's a big dog, rather than a rat dog, I'd grab all the brake i have, and hope i have enough for the dog to clear my path.

Definitely wouldn't accelerate, likewise for deer or anything else that has a center of mass above axle level.

Gas it for 'possums, because the fucker's gonna get run over no matter what you try to do.

Keep the same speed/course for squirrels, let them do the dodging because their reflexes are better.

I would not change my course if a deer ran in front of me...It's to risky IMHO with the trees and telephone poles around these parts...I'll take my chances running into it at a straight shot rather than swerving to avoid it and possibly messing up worse.

I went from closing the throttle, to braking, to braking as hard as I thought I could as I drifted towards the left part of my lane to give the deer as much room as possible.

Almost hit a black bear once. Resulted in my first and only stoppie.

I definitely didn't gas it. He was bigger than me and probably would have been pissed.

I picture you doing a stoppie right up to the bear and flipping over the handle bars looking up at the bear, who's looking down upon you like "Tmall the other white meat"

I'm on the brakes and not swerving.

Don't know if it's true or not, but I heard that dogs can't change their angle of attack once they lock on. It's like they get target fixation. My MSF instructor said either speed up suddenly or slow down and they should miss you. If they aren't looking at you and just crossing the street, I'd get off the seat lean back and hammer the throttle.

Assuming there was TIME to think ... I probably would still react instinctively and brake.
But I don't know. I've trained my lizard brain to react to outside stimulus...and I trust it to do the best thing in a given situation.
I hope it gets me through.

So you're saying wheelie right over that sucker?

Not true.

I agree! I watched Planet Earth a few weeks ago and those dogs ran all kinds of patterns, repeatedly changing course to match the prey.

Have a guy on my cbr forum get off the road and his body hit a tree. Wasn't good.



I'd at least attempt to slow down some.

I would have seen the dog on the side of the road before he even went out. When you ride year round, commute to work and play on the weekends, you see eveything.

No just get the front wheel light. Just like you would when you jump the 2x4 in the MSF class.

We jumped 4by4s when I took the MSF in MI. Prolly because the street potholes were bigger. hahaha

Yeah I think it was 4x4's now that you mention it. It was hilarious watching the MSF instructor demonstrating. He easily got a foot off the ground on a 250 nighthawk.

if I can eat it in one sitting, it's getting hit.