Road Killers

One test of human nature is whether a driver tries to avoid hitting a turtle when it is safe to do so.  A more interesting test is what kind of driver would go out of the way to hit one.  An interesting "scientific study" has provided the answer.

An investigator put either a rubber snake, a rubber turtle or a rubber tarantula on the shoulder of a highway and recorded who swerved to hit them.  He used a rubber leaf as a control although that might have been harder to see from a car.  The results from 1000 vehicles studied were very interesting.

• Four percent of drivers stopped to move the "animal" to safety. (Never the tarantula)
• Six percent swerved onto the shoulder to hit it
• The frequency of attempted animal murder?  Turtle- 1%  Snake-  1.8%  Tarantula- 3.2%
• The "killer vehicles"?  Trucks and SUVs- 89%  Cars- 11%

For the "gory" examples and a little naturalist fun, watch this Youtube video.