I was going to drop my kid off at school when a dog ran between two cars and my back tire ran over a portion of the dog. I slowed down and stopped not knowing what to do and watched the dog hop up and hobble away into an adjoining back yard. What seemed to be the owner followed the dog into the back yard. I immediately pulled over but had to roll up my windows as my dog was riding along. I waited a few houses away not really knowing how to react and asking my kid what she thought I should do. When the dog quickly wandered off she wasn’t sure how I should act either.
What do I do? My initial hesitancy is tied to the dog quickly walking away into what looked like it’s home and the owner slowly following it away. I’m concerned of getting into the middle of a highly emotional situation if the dog needs to go to the vet. If the dog lay lifeless I would have had no issue with getting out and consoling as needed. Is there a difference? I think also am concerned I’ll get told I’m responsible and need to help cover any vet costs.
At 20mph, if something sprints into the SIDE of your car and under you back wheel, you’re not going to stop in time.
You don’t have precognition or superhuman reactions (and even if you did have the reactions of an F1 driver, physics are still going to happen). I applaud your approach to safety but your overconfidence is confusing.
At 20 mph you have time between when the space in front of a car becomes visible and the time your back wheel comes to match that point, to stop the car.
There is a speed at which you can see and respond to the thing that’s trying to dive under your car. That’s the whole model.
You’re watching as new spaces becomes visible as your position with regard to obstacles changes. As soon as you can detect there’s someone unexpected in front of that car, you can stop.