Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Chevy Malibu @ 70+ mph vs. 800 lb steer...............

Here is what happens when a 800 lb black angus steer stands in the road at about midnight. We came accross this young man (17 or 18) as we were nearing the end of our long trip from Missouri to the Texas panhandle. The young man was out of his car and staggering around the middle of the road. We had had to take evasive actions to miss the kid and ended up running over the already dead steer ourselves.

If any of you have ever traveled through the Texas Panhandle you know it's pretty much wide open green flag racing on those straight as a string roads.. We were going about 85 mph!

Let me say that a 3/4 ton Duramax handles beef better than a Malibu........ After getting stopped, we spoke with the kid to make sure he was alright. He said, "I was going about 75 then I came to a sudden stop". A black angus at midnight on a black top road does'nt exactly stick out like a sore thumb! Still shaken as I was behind the wheel when the kid stagered across the center line, all I could manage at the moment was, "You are one lucky kid".............


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That looks like a Bear and a man with a rifle to me :P

All I can say is ouch, someone was looking over his shoulder. Les

I once came within a couple feet of doing the same thing with a Jeep CJ3A and a black horse. The Jeeps top speed, though was about 45. I was buzzing down the road at night when I found a horse that was tied to a fence on too long of a rope. He was standing in the traffic lane. I was able to dodge that one.

Dick

God had his hand on that boy for sure.

The rolled edge at the roof line was caused by the side of steers head. The hole in the windshield is from right side of it's face/nose. Couple of inches lower and the would have butted heads at a high rate of speed! Note the hair on the windshield!!!

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I guess the answer to what's for dinner is "pre-tenderized Black Angus beef" for the foreseeable future.

If that boy didn't believe in miracles before his accident, he sure should now.

Here in Alabama they could add insult to injury by holding him liable for the damage done to the steer. The law dates back to the days when agricultural interests trumped just about everything.

If it was open range that would be true. Otherwise around here the steer owner is totally liable. I know that law very well since my neighbor has black angus that he failed to keep in his fence until I had it explained to him by the cops and the animal control officer.

About 25 years ago a kid was going about 70 on a crotch rocket near our house about 2 AM. A quarter horse had escaped from a local stable and was standing in the road. They both died. That was one of the deciding factors in why I don't ride street bikes.

Yes, here if the animal is inside the city limits the animals owner is liable. Otherwise, the driver can be left holding the bag.

in wyoming the driver, then highway department are liable

In Scandanavia, there is a crash test called the Elk test.

One of those countries lost their Prime Minister. He was trying to get re-elected. He was compaigning. I think he was asleep in the passenger seat and an aide was driving him from one po-dunk town to another. It was late in the year so many, many dark hours. It is likely that they were traveling at a high rate of speed.

They hit what they call an elk. We call them moose. He, the PM, died.

The elk test, as I remember it, is a 40 gallon oil barrel filled with water and wrapped with inch-and-a-half copper cable. That masses out to about the front half of a moose body with the cable representing ribs. The mass-enhanced barrel is suspended so the bottom is either flush with the base of the windshield or at 50%ile moose titty level. I think the hit is biased so one windshield post hits the middle of the barrel.

You have to pass that test if you want to sell automobiles in at least one of the Scandinavian countries.

BTB, that car's hood looks more like a Cavalier than a Malibu.

Same in the TX Panhandle!


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Ouch. I've seen quite a few cars up here that look similiar to that after hitting a moose.

My Moose didn't do that bad, his azz just came thru the windshield into my Buddies lap. Scared the crap out of the both of us. I was a whopping 17 years old at the time, and way back on Fort Richardson fishing the big lake back there. Dad didn't beleive I hit a Moose til he came home and saw the car. I drove thru Fort Richardson, up the Glenn Hwy to Muldoon Road, up Mulddon Rd to the Totem Theatre, an not one Cop stopped me, I must have passed 4 or 5 of them. Picture this, 78 Pontiac Grand Am, Big Hole in the Passenger side of the Windshield, Drivers side all spider webbed up, and me with my head out the Drivers door window. Did see a Van hit a Moose on the Glenn Hwy heading toward Wasilla, must have been doing 70 or more, that moose went thruoug the windshield and out the back doors of the van, I don't think anyone survived. Les

A friend's son was killed a year or two back here in Sterling, hitting a cow moose with his snow machine at night. A few years before that, a guy in Kenai was killed doing the same thing on a motorcycle.

About 20 years ago, some gal down in Kasilof started our "Give Moose A Brake" program, basically trying to get people to slow down, especially in the winter at night.

I was working swing shift, getting off about 2 a.m.the first time I heard the ad, and thought it was a heckuva good idea, especially given the time and my state of fatigue. So instead of my usual 60 mph, I cut her back to 45 that very night. 400 yards before my highway turnoff point unto snakey, slow-speed gravel road, a cow came out of the pitch-black, deep, grass-lined ditch on the right and raced across the road, found an even deeper ditch on that side, turned back, then turned straight away- right in the middle of my lane. I was down to 30-35 by that time, but we were both out of options.

Both she and my half-ton had to be put down.

Ironically, if I'd been up at my usual speed/brake for the turnoff at the last second thing, I'd probably have missed her.

A few years ago, a lady from Kasilof called into the local "Sound-off" program, demanding F&G do something about all those damned moose on the road in the dark winter time.

"I've already hit three of them this winter!" she exclaimed. Well, Duh!!!

In TX the owner is liable for the animal. Not the highway dept or driver. At least in my area of TX. Being a small state, I'd think it might be different in areas....

Me too

Had a 1200 LB Brama get out of a pen at one of the packing houses i used to work at, Pen rider came by asked if i had seen it I was on the loading dock at the time. I knew what bull he was talking about and told him you see me standing here? We found the bull ten minutes later a mile down the road, it went head on at a cadddy. 4000.00 damage to the caddy bull had a nose bleed. We put him in the cooler two days later. Took four shots to the forehead to put him down. This was in the mid seventies.