damn, drove over a duck today on the motorway

londonTiger

Had a slight shock, motorways were wide open I was in lane 1, lane 2 and 3 were clear. Duck was crossing the motorway right to left. It was on on lane 2 when I spotted it. I was thinking it was going to fly off any time, like most birds do. But no, duck is just progressing onwards without a care in the world. But the time I realised the duck was not going to get evasive action and I was going to collide onto it, it was too late. I would have had to make a dangerous swerve/avoiding action at 77mph and potentioanlly get myself into a lot of troouible.

Car went thumph thump. Got the duck under both wheels.

Was in a bit of a shock for a while.

It was a grey/black/white duck with long tail, tail was much longer than a regular duck.

Rolandtheroadie

Well done. Right course of action.

Strider590

Yes, stopping would have been extremely dangerous, not only for yourself but for other road users too.

Iceweasel

You were right in your action - of course.

Shame about the duck though.

Unfortunately ducks are not like crows, rooks or pigeons - they do not have the auto-reaction to avoid traffic.

From your description it was likely to be a Long Tailed Duck (surprise, surprise) - they breed in the Artic and overwinter in the UK.

Pretty pics here:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/l/longtailedduck/

Richard53

And, if you can stomach it, check the underneath of the car where the bird was hit. Ducks are big birds and there's a lot of energy transfer hitting one at 70 mph*. Your brake hoses or something equally critical could have taken a knock.


* I hit a linnet once at 60 mph on a motorbike, and it nearly knocked me out. Linnets weight around 20g. Your duck might have weighed 50 times that.

brat

We get a lot of swans on our section of motorway. They can cause chaos and congestion when they land. The motorway is parallel and adjacent to a canal, so the swans mistake the motorway for the canal. Unfortunately by the time we arrive to deal with them they've usually been squashed.

pendragon_arther

Quuaaack!!! Not only were you exceeding the speed limit, sir, but you failed to collect the duck for eating purposes :eek:

arcon5

RIP Duck

Geodark

Iceweasel wrote: »

You were right in your action - of course.

Shame about the duck though.

Unfortunately ducks are not like crows, rooks or pigeons - they do not have the auto-reaction to avoid traffic.

From your description it was likely to be a Long Tailed Duck (surprise, surprise) - they breed in the Artic and overwinter in the UK.

Pretty pics here:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/l/longtailedduck/

Still half asleep and only had one coffee so far, I misread that as cows! had to read it again. oops.:D

loskie

70mph is the limit

Prothet_of_Doom

I once hit a Swan in the fast lane of the M65 in the fog in the dark
I was along side a lorry, and the car in front suddenly swerved into the middle lane, and there suddenly in front was a swan looking straight at me. I just braced myself, and hit it square on. at the last moment it seemed to close it's eyes. (probably the bright headlights)
I then stopped on the hard shoulder about 1/2 mile up and phoned the emergency phone to let the police know that there was now a hazard in the carriage way.
No damage, but for weeks feathers would turn up across the back of the car.
My wife's great uncle Ira, (RIP) told me a story of how as a 16 year old he was a dispatch rider for the Birmingham Post, and had to travel to South Wales on a regular basis on a big BSA. He had a short cut via a farm yard and a goose would chase him as he rode past. One day he wound it up to 60 and stuck his leg out. and hour later he arrived back in Birmingham, to find not only had he killed the goose, but he'd broken his leg too.
Big !!!!!!s these geese.