And once again there has been another nasty accident involving wandering stock. This time it was Cows,again.I think its about time gates along the roadside are somehow properly locked up. Like a chain and padlock maybe. Yes probably inconvenient but being dead or maimed is as well. Ive heard all the reasons (excuses) it happens but I think a harder line needs to be taken. I know there are morons who do indeed think its funny to open gates at nite or disgruntaled workers doing the same but perhaps if a secure lock was in place it may not happen, as much anyway. Im pretty sure ther are hundreds of near misses everyday we never hear about. And how many time have you had the shit scared out of you when a bloody great cow appears in front of you. As we know they sometimes are impossable to see untill its to late. Yes stock can break fences as well but if thats the case maybe a better fence is needed and some maintanince as well. Or maybe large stock could be two paddocks off the road side! When the stocks owner is found rarely is anything done as proving it is nigh on impossable as all they say is "they were secure when I went to bed". I dont ecspect Farmers to be patroling the road side 24 7 but its time some proper deterents and more secure gates were put in place. Yes it may cost abit but whats a life worth! This issue is one I feel strongly about as Ive come close that many times to being taken out by loose stock its not funny. And if you say, "well your just not paying attention" then you havent had it happen to you yet. And paying attention has whats kept me alive. Oh and the incident was a truck hitting wandering cows in the early hours (3am ish) and the driver is not to well at all. And this idea may seem stupid but.Refletive items for stock! least you would see them a ways off.
gman35,
Jun 2, 7:51am
And did you see the news item (last night or Thurs) from Australia where a sheep truck had crashed on an overpass bridge raining them on cars passing below ! Not something they teach you to avoid in the driving test !
skin1235,
Jun 2, 8:59am
had an argument with the animal control officer over the same thing, they have no teeth - they have to round up stock and put them back through the gate, even if the fence is down 20 mts away, all they can do is notify the owner, if the fence is not fixed within 20 days ( 20 days of school buses and other traffic on the road) they can then send him a letter if he manages to stumble out and put a hot wire around where the fence is down that is suffice to restart the cycle meanwhile the school bus and other traffic are at great risk If I leave my gate open in town and my dog wanders out he will be impounded, I have to pay a fine t get him back, and if he is caught again within a month he will be destroyed different rules for different folk
they should be able to back up to the nearest set of ramps and load errant cattle etc on and impound them, levy a fine per animal and if the fine is not paid ( same as for my dog) the animals will be destroyed, and then send the removals bill to the owner too, non payment would be straight to baycorp -etc - hard to get overdrafts or new accounts anywhere once that happens
there is no excuse, they charge on your rates and charge you to rego your dog to fund the animal services, then spent more than 50% of their time on non dog matters such as wandering stock
mrfxit,
Jun 2, 9:54am
Yep know only too well the pain of wondering stock & car accidents. My daughter was a passenger in a car driven by her long term boyfriend late at night when they hit a horse. Crushed the drivers side of the roof & killed her boyfriend. As far as I know, Nothing happened to the local horse owner about all that. To add insult to injury, the horses were often known to be on the road at night.
mrfxit,
Jun 2, 9:56am
Yea, pretty nasty & freaky
a.woodrow,
Jun 2, 10:04am
From what I've hear the truckie has lost his leg. Hope the farmer gets the book thrown at him
floscey,
Jun 2, 10:07am
If you find wandering stock ,make sure your driving a ute and have a large freezer.
thats fine trh, but how are you supposed to know a cow is going to trot from the dark sides of the road into you headlight beam ( as they do) - your visible clear road may have been close to 600 mt now suddenly is down to less than 60 mts unless we creep along everywhere at less than 50k after dark there is no way we can stop in half the clear road visible
you also often find it is the same owners of the animals, animals that are often on the road, and known by the locals to be on the roads, not a lot of good if you're not local and privy to that info though
sw20,
Jun 2, 5:50pm
Almost hit a horse @ 100km/h in thick fog on SH6 coming into Rai Valley about ten years ago. Missed it by about about a foot at most.
skiff1,
Jun 2, 8:32pm
all i can say is allways be prepared to stop in half the clear distance,
skiff1,
Jun 2, 8:33pm
so 100 kph in thick fog! genius. would have been a good investment of a horse to rid the roads of you
gunhand,
Jun 2, 8:42pm
Yea thats tossed about for sure but in reallity you would be doin 20kph at night as theres so much you just can not see. You out drive your headlights all the timeat 100kph and can only see effectivly for about 2 seconds in front of you on full beam. Try it sometime you will be surprised. Maybe different with a bunch of spotties but not all cars have them. And cattle have a bad habbit of blending nicely into the night sky, even on a clear night.Ask people who survive this kind of thing, or even near misses. they will say they never saw them till right on top of them or worse hit them. And also driving at such a speed to be able to stop if something runs out in front of 30m ahead means, well you may as well walk. Its easy to say what should be done but thats not always the reality.
poppajn,
Jun 2, 10:01pm
There,s a lot more to this story than reported, BUT it does,nt alter the fact the the driver is in a bad way and caused by stock that got out, not once, but twice that night.
sw20,
Jun 2, 10:08pm
Yeah 2am, dead quiet road an had plenty of visibility. The horse leapt up the bank as we were driving past.
Thought we got rid of the cunts from this board! Clearly you are still here.
thejazzpianoma,
Jun 2, 10:15pm
I stopped fora goat in the middle of a 100km/h blind corner only to have it back up and deliberately ram itself into the side of the car. If I hadn't have come out of a side road just before the corner it would have been a high speed crash. Found out the owner was notorious for doing this (rough gang type looking house), couldn't get animal control to do much. Rang the cops about it and got "oh we don't get involved in that sort of thing". Yeah, nah. actually doing something to prevent a high speed accident isn't "their sort of thing" forgot about that. Couldn't claim insurance as I couldn't get the details of the owner and it wasn't worth driving hours back in the hope that they would be home (not that I would likely get anywhere with them anyway).
pup2,
Jun 3, 8:14am
Have given up ringing the police and stock control down this end of the country. Always the same farms. Used to also goto the farmers house and let them know (nicely). Gave up on that also. Was out running one day and come across a pile of sheep on the road. Paddock gate wide open. Tried getting them back in. Must have looked funny as I head someone laughing across the way. Thought, whatever mate and started chasing them down the road as I carried on with my run. Turns out he was the farmer. He was a tad upset.
gunhand,
Jun 3, 8:31am
Yes, id imagine you have seen a few wandering aniamls on ya daily country commute.
tonyrockyhorror,
Jun 3, 8:40am
Yes, I agree they shouldn't be there in the first place.
richardmayes,
Jun 3, 9:02am
I came around a blind corner once and ran straight over the rear 3-4 of a Mother Duck's line of 8-9 little ducklings.
Ever since then I've been a lot fussier about that "must be able to stop in the length of clear road ahead" thing - i.e. actually doing it.
gunhand,
Jun 3, 9:07am
Yes, there something about running over Ducklings that stays with you forever. They do have a habit of crossing roads in dangerous places though, like Motorways.
bitsy_boffin,
Jun 3, 2:22pm
Nearly hit a cow once. on my motorbike.That would have been an unfortunate end - for me, probably not the cow.
skiff1,
Jun 3, 7:35pm
plenty of visibilty, you said it was thick fog. As for that sort of language, chill out, try and use big people words
offrd1,
Jun 3, 7:48pm
Yeh right i've seen stock actually leap off a bank onto the bonnet of a car and through the windscreen whichpart of stopping distance do you suggest should be used.not a one off either.most times the stock have not been seen at all till hit .night time mostly
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.