Poll: would you kill a dog or pay $

Recommended Videos

Valkyr71

New member
Jul 2, 2011
80
0
0
your father is misguided on the law or misunderstands it. 99% of the time in a rear end accident situation, its the person who hits you who is at fault. So yeah dont hit said dog.
 

ZeroMachine

New member
Oct 11, 2008
4,397
0
0
Your dad doesn't understand law.

Yes, you would be at fault if you were rear ended.

No, you are not legally obligated to run through the dog. The dog being there is incidental. You would be just as much at fault if you stopped for a child and got rear ended.

EDIT: Just saw, you live in MA? Yeah, me too. That confirms it. It isn't law.
 

dibblywibbles

New member
Mar 20, 2009
313
0
0
you should've hit the dog, that'd learn it, the stupid mutt. seriously though I'm pretty sure the dude that rear ends you is always at fault, at least here it is. Here being Ontario, and not some other lazy stupid province. so let puppy have a gander or a sniff of your automobile. that or start moving forward, they tend to move when that happens.
 

Matt Oliver

New member
Mar 15, 2011
238
0
0
ZeroMachine said:
Your dad doesn't understand law.

Yes, you would be at fault if you were rear ended.

No, you are not legally obligated to run through the dog. The dog being there is incidental. You would be just as much at fault if you stopped for a child and got rear ended.
human life =/= a dog life human life>dog life
 

toue

New member
Jan 12, 2011
12
0
0
Sammisaurus said:
I HATE that law. When we were taking driver's ed class the teacher told us that if an animal runs out in front of you just keep going. The only exception, she said, is if it's a large animal that would damage your car. And I was like "No consideration for the damage to the LIVING THING?!" Then we were out on the actually driving part and I slammed on the brakes when a chipmunk ran out and she TOOK POINTS OFF for that. It's barbaric and evil and a blight to the world.
It's hard to tell but there is a reason for what she was saying, I've seen many an animal try to cross the street while my dad was driving and so far as I can tell not a single one has been hit. Most animals small enough to not damage the car have a good chance of getting out of the way, the bigger ones have to avoid more than just the wheels.
 

ZeroMachine

New member
Oct 11, 2008
4,397
0
0
Matt Oliver said:
ZeroMachine said:
Your dad doesn't understand law.

Yes, you would be at fault if you were rear ended.

No, you are not legally obligated to run through the dog. The dog being there is incidental. You would be just as much at fault if you stopped for a child and got rear ended.
human life =/= a dog life human life>dog life
Never said that. I said that you would be just as much at fault for being rear ended if you stopped for a child or a dog.

It's the way the legal system works. What you stopped for is irrelevant to whether or not you're at fault- though anyone that would fine you for causing an accident for stopping for a child is just downright insane.

We're talking fault here, legal fault- not morality.
 

manaman

New member
Sep 2, 2007
3,218
0
0
Matt Oliver said:
When I got home my dad told me I was legally required to kill the dog because I would of been at fault if I got rear-ended.
Where do you live so I know not to go there?

I'm saying I highly doubt your dad was correct. Very, very highly doubt that. Say it was a person in the road, would you think you would legally be obligated to run them over? There are very few cases where it's actually the person that got rear ended's fault. This doesn't seem to be one of those.
 

Darwins_Folly

New member
Jan 16, 2010
347
0
0
That sounds pretty bass ackwards. In Canada, the person who rear-ends someone is always at fault. If you hit someone or something in front of you, you are not driving with due care and attention. If you hit a lamppost or some other stationary object, is it the objects fault?
 

TheGabe

New member
Sep 30, 2009
4
0
0
I don't know about the law regarding this, but here (UK) if an animal runs out in the road while you're taking your driving test and you brake, it's an instant fail.
 

frizzlebyte

New member
Oct 20, 2008
641
0
0
Assuming that a little thing called mitigating circumstances didn't help your legal situation, yeah, I'd pay money rather than run the dog down.

money is worth < a dog's life
 

ZeroMachine

New member
Oct 11, 2008
4,397
0
0
I think I understand what's going on here.

Your dad thinks that you're required, by law, to keep going and run the dog, or any other animal that gets in your way, over. He simply has a lesser understanding of the law. If you caused an accident by stopping, then you'd have to pay a fine, possibly go to court, etc. But, if you stop when there isn't anyone behind you, and you don't cause an accident, then there is nothing wrong. There is nothing to be at fault for.

Your dad is just a bit confused.
 

WouldYouKindly

New member
Apr 17, 2011
1,431
0
0
You are not legally required to kill it. That's pure bullshit.

Sammisaurus said:
I HATE that law. When we were taking driver's ed class the teacher told us that if an animal runs out in front of you just keep going. The only exception, she said, is if it's a large animal that would damage your car. And I was like "No consideration for the damage to the LIVING THING?!" Then we were out on the actually driving part and I slammed on the brakes when a chipmunk ran out and she TOOK POINTS OFF for that. It's barbaric and evil and a blight to the world.
I'm not going to swerve for a squirrel or a rabbit. I'll let off the gas, touch the break if I know no one is behind me, but I'm not slamming on the breaks or anything. You're a living thing too. The primary concern is that your nature may cause you to either swerve into oncoming traffic or cause someone to rear end you. Now, if it's that or hit a moose, that's understandable. But for small animals, it's not worth your life or the increase of insurance.
 

Matt Oliver

New member
Mar 15, 2011
238
0
0
ZeroMachine said:
I think I understand what's going on here.

Your dad thinks that you're required, by law, to keep going and run the dog, or any other animal that gets in your way, over. He simply has a lesser understanding of the law. If you caused an accident by stopping, then you'd have to pay a fine, possibly go to court, etc. But, if you stop when there isn't anyone behind you, and you don't cause an accident, then there is nothing wrong. There is nothing to be at fault for.

Your dad is just a bit confused.
but what if some1 later on when i did stop come up from behind and rear-end me?
 

SenseOfTumour

New member
Jul 11, 2008
4,514
0
0
Can you ask your dad if it applies to rhinos?

I'm assuming he's saying you should drive at speed directly into an elephant or hippo standing in the middle of the road too, legally.

Also, as a non driver, it drives me buggy when I'm being driven somewhere and the driver flatly refuses to let more than a car length go between us and the car in front. Cars can't teleport, no-one's going to get between us, and even if they did, for fuck's sake, you've just lost 3 seconds. Take it easy, everyone will be happier.
 

ZeroMachine

New member
Oct 11, 2008
4,397
0
0
Matt Oliver said:
ZeroMachine said:
I think I understand what's going on here.

Your dad thinks that you're required, by law, to keep going and run the dog, or any other animal that gets in your way, over. He simply has a lesser understanding of the law. If you caused an accident by stopping, then you'd have to pay a fine, possibly go to court, etc. But, if you stop when there isn't anyone behind you, and you don't cause an accident, then there is nothing wrong. There is nothing to be at fault for.

Your dad is just a bit confused.
but what if some1 later on when i did stop come up from behind and rear-end me?
Then you'd be at fault for the accident. It's really a pretty shitty situation.

You either:
A) keep going and risk killing the dog or
B) stop and risk an accident, with you being at fault.

Best thing to do is to just learn to be alert. If there is a car behind you, try not to stop. A car accident is far more troublesome, and potentially far more damaging and deadly to you and others in the accident, then it's worth. Plus, the dog could still be killed in the chaos of an especially BAD accident.

If there is no car behind you, then hey... there shouldn't be a problem. Plus, there are other mitigating circumstances.

Point is, you didn't break any laws. Took a bit of a risk, yes, but no harm was done whatsoever this time. Just be alert for next time, if it happens again.