Originally Posted By: gman2304
A local woman slammed on her brakes to avoid a Canada goose and her chicks here recently, and caused a chain reaction accident that sent 3 people to the hospital, with one vehicle turning over and coming to rest on it's top. The local TV station gave a brief description of the NC state law about hitting animals while driving. It is against the law here to intentionally hit an animal, but common sense should kick in occasionally and one should not jeopardize human lives in trying to avoid an animal in the roadway.
To be fair not a single one of the cars involved in the accident was following at an even remotely safe distance then. If they were at a safe distance, they could have stopped in time regardless of how fast the first person stop.
^ To be fair,^ This happened on a 4 lane road with a center turning lane, 5 lanes total. The woman who avoided the goose swerved to miss the bird and hit the car beside her which went into oncoming traffic striking another vehicle causing it to over turn, sending 3 people to the local hospital. Following too close had nothing to do with the accident. None of the vehicles were hit from behind. If the woman had been aware of the other vehicles around her and had stayed in her lane and sacrificed the goose, then 3 people wouldn't have been sent to the hospital.