Glad I drove my SUV.......

[blackbeagle]

We normally drive our Smart 95% of the time, but last night, we drove the Murano. We had to pick up a friend. On our way to dinner, a HUGE raccoon crossed the road in front of me, I didn't panic and swerve. I just let my foot off the gas but kept on going. Well the Coon crossed from right to left and made it, but decided to run back and ran underneath my left rear tire. THUMP!!!!!! No harm was done to the Murano but it was a BIG bump. The noise was just downright loud.

I would be curious to see what damage our Smart would have endured if I ran over something that big. Has anyone ran over something in the road similar to this? Any damage?

[jefferios]

Did you stop to make sure the Raccoon was okay?

[cubefx]

Ran over armadillo couple of month ago at around 30MPH (Did not have a chance to do anything, poor SOB jumped out of nowhere right in front of me). Felt really bad, so half a mile later decided to turn around and check if he might still alive. Right when I was passing dead body at around 5 MPH another armadillo jumped right under the car from the other side.
Two roadkills in less then 5 minutes......

There is was no any damage to the "Surfmobile". There is a lot of wildlife here. I have seen deers, boars and even bobcats in my backyard.


CUBE

[Wdhitch]

Originally Posted by cubefx

Ran over armadillo couple of month ago at around 30MPH (Did not have a chance to do anything, poor SOB jumped out of nowhere right in front of me). Felt really bad, so half a mile later decided to turn around and check if he might still alive. Right when I was passing dead body at around 5 MPH another one jumped right under the car from the other side.
Two roadkills in less then 5 minutes......

There is was no any damage to the "Surfmobile". There is a lot of wildlife here. I have seen deers, boars and even bobcats in my backyard.


CUBE

So dillo's like the smart... I'll have to remember that. Jenn almost took out a deer down here the other night driving Serendipity. Scared the crap out of her.

[orangecones3]

took off a goose's head with a 2005 Malibu going around 45mph. No damage to the car, can't say the same for the goose. Although there is good wildlife here (lots of deer, seen a coyote a few times in my back yard)...never hit anything (except the goose).

[SmartDigger]

We have many small and large critters that love to jump out infront of you here in ohio. I have hit many ground hogs, squarles, rabits, 2 Deer Just can't miss then all the time.

[orangecones3]

a lesson i learned the hard way: if you can't get out of the deer's way safely, HIT THE DAMN DEER!

My bro's gf's sister wrecked a early 2000s Lincoln Navigator when she avoided a deer and slammed into a car in the other lane.

[mdfortwoguy]

I hit a chunk of cinder block about 2 weeks ago... what a mess.

I had a standoff with a squirrel when I was in Ohio... I stopped and he wouldn't move, I honked and it sat there... creeped forward and it sat there. I laid on the horn and it finally waddled off...

[xrisnothing]

because I like to be annoying...

Had you taken the smart you would have almost certainly never had the encounter with the raccoon. The very act of taking the smart would have put you on a different course. The car accelerates differently, handles differently, etc.

But let's ignore the butterfly effect. If you hit the raccoon with the rear tire, then there's a chance that in the smart the raccoon would have crossed behind the car instead of under it, because the car is shorter.

RIP Rocky.

[blackbeagle]

Originally Posted by jefferios

Did you stop to make sure the Raccoon was okay?

We were on a country road and I was driving 55mph+. I wanted to stop, but I think that would have made it more dangerous. It was dark and it was only a one-lane country road. I'm sure it didn't make it.