A famous DJ crashed his Mercedes to avoid a cat on the road. Would you? This is nice – for the cat and cat lovers. I guess the DJ concerned – Nick Grimshaw who was an X Factor judge until recently – is at least sensitive towards animal welfare. Great. He had only just left his home in north London and turned a corner when he saw a ginger cat in the middle of the road.
He was travelling at 15 miles per hour he said and he genuinely meant it. In order to avoid the cat he drove into a parked car (parked on the side of the road, I presume). The way his car impacted the other car caused it to flip over. He was worried that he had hit the cat but he had not. Grimshaw was unharmed.
A witness reporting to the Metro newspaper said:
“He was fine and the cat was fine….He was a lovely man, he said he would have felt terrible if the cat had been hurt.”
Both airbags in the car went off. Grimshaw was at the accident site for a long time as police and the fire service arrived. A big event in the neighbourhood. His neighbours and friends helped out.
Grimshaw said:
“The car went upside down. I’m absolutely fine…I turned out of my house, my car flipped over and went over on its side…I came out of my street, turned right, saw quite a large ginger cat. I was like, ‘Oh no, a cat.’ Rather than killing the cat, I drove into a car….The car that I hit made my car tip over. The woman’s car is absolutely fine… She needs a new wheel arch, which I guess I’m paying for.”
The interesting thing about this event is that Nick Grimshaw deliberately went out of his way and endangered his health and safety. Perhaps he did not deliberately decide to do that and acted instinctively instead but some people would just have driven on.
The fact that instinctive reactions kicked in to protect the cat indicates that Grimshaw has a tender regard for animal welfare.
His passenger, who is also okay, said she’d report the cat to the police! If she really meant that she is silly. That said there are a lot of cats in the UK on the road in quiet suburban areas. They are a hazard to motorists if you want to see it from the driver’s point of view. Obviously they are also in perilous danger themselves but they are unaware of it.
Sometimes it will be impossible to avoid a cat on a road. The advantage of going at 15 mph is that it gives the driver time to avoid a cat. There is an argument that the speed limit in suburban roads should be reduced to 20 mph. When driving down streets in London where there are lots of residents, I am watchful of the potential for cats to rush across the road. Drivers should be aware of the possibility that a cat can suddenly be on the road. It would be extremely upsetting if I killed a cat this way.
wow what a story
Yes, Darlene, it’s a good story for all of us who love cats and animals.
I answered this one in a similar question earlier last week. but to reiterate, No, probably not.I would be devastated if an animal [ any animal were injured ] but my family and friends come first. A vehicle is a very powerful and dangerous weapon, and behind the wheel others could perish if I made a sudden wrong choice at the last moment.
Mr. Grimshaw is fortunate that the vehicle he ran into did not have a mother with her children inside of it when he ran into it & flipped it over.
Eva_
The only info I could find on this was: to drive at a safe, defensive speed to begin with; and that insurance coverage differs in this kind of accident. Only collision coverage will cover a collision between your car and a stationary object.
A collision between your car and a stationary object is always considered an at-fault accident. STRIKING AN ANIMAL is always considered a comprehensive claim, and thus not at-fault. This kind of claim would be if you struck a large animal that does damage to your car. A quick stat I found is in New South Whales (population approx. 8 million) for the 11 years between ’96 and ’05, only 2 people per year died from swerving to avoid animals, and the total accidents were only 5,000. That includes wild animals too, so I’ll look for a stat on house cats in urban areas. The best advice to drivers everywhere is to slow down in the first place and brake straight… NOT run over cats with callous disregard.
I would not crash my car because that would mean putting my own safety at risk. I have swerved to avoid a cat and also a mongoose. Only yesterday, my neighbor’s free roaming cat ran in front of my car. Fortunately I was only going about 10 miles an hour in my mobile home park, and saw the cat dart out from the corner of my eye. If I’d been looking at the lovely roses on my right, I might not have missed her.
Most people don’t want to hit an animal, but there’s no time to think, only react.
As for the bumper sticker, I think it could have been worded in a better way. I’d never use this bumper sticker.
And I’m suspecting that because of the harsh judgment voiced, Casey Miller might be a relative of Woody?
I thought of Woody too.
You betcha’ I would. I have stopped traffic in the middle of a busy intersection to help a turtle cross to the other side. There isn’t much of anything that I wouldn’t do for any animal in need.
I’ve done that for our shelled friends out here. And I made my husband watch the road.
I suggest you read-up on insurance statistics and learn about the hundreds of thousands of people who have senselessly lost their lives and the lives of their families or had to live with lifelong debilitating injuries from trying to avoid hitting a free-roaming cat. You don’t care about any other lives on this planet than your own and what you want, including not caring one bit about the lives of your cats if you let them roam free. Think for once what this says about you. Everyone else already knows what this says about you — LOUD AND CLEAR.
In fact, in the USA there are even public-service announcements to NEVER swerve your car to avoid hitting an animal unless that animal is large enough to do major damage to your own vehicle. That is also a common lesson taught in all driver’s-ed classes today. There’s a new bumper-sticker going around because of people just like you, your lack of any socially-redeeming values, and the negligent behavior that you promote: “SAVE A LOVING FAMILY OF 4 — FLATTEN A CAT”
OMG Casey, what a belligerent attitude you have! I think you exaggerated your claim and are needlessly offensive in order to advocate killing cats, especially with the glib way you put it. You’re the one who isn’t morally redeeming. Wow!
It’s a good news piece and I think the man is a hero to rather bend a fender than purposely kill a cat. He swerved just as he should if it were a child in the road. I’ve done it myself many, many times and I’ve killed no one.
Geeze Casey get a grip… you’re horrible.
$30,000+ in damages to two vehicles and putting the lives of humans in danger over the life of just one expendable cat that nobody loved nor wanted in the first place, a cat with no more value to anyone than a bit of used toilet-tissue blowing down the street. Yeah, you sure know about socially-redeeming values, don’t you.
A hero with the funds to replace any damages. This does make a difference. I’m not in that position, and would still feel horrible to hit any animal or child. If I had the presence of mind, I wouldn’t choose to risk my life to avoid hitting an animal or child. Fortunately in my 73 years, I never have had to.
Let us all hope then that next time he swerves to avoid hitting a cat that instead of hitting an unoccupied parked-car that he takes-out a group of children on the side of the road who are waiting for their school-bus. Maybe then you’ll “get it”. He’s no hero, he’s a dangerous FOOL.
Go away. We don’t want you here. I am banning you for the Nth time.
I think like you. My answer would depend on the circumstances. But despite my love of cats and all animals I don’t know if I’d be as good as Mr Grimshaw.
GET LOST, JIM!
Your words are like dung!
That’s okay Dee. We already know about all your cats that died of your loving and humane TNR attrition from you throwing them into traffic, because you “love” them so much. Try to sleep at night while you dream about how many cats you have purposely thrown under the wheels of cars. We all got your number, everyone does. Your road to a permanent hell has already been paved with your misguided and deceitful cat-torturing intentions.
Jim, you know better than to bring on that crap to me. If you want to go face to face or toe to toe, bring it on. You know where I’m at, Coward.
Excellent example of cat hate there. Which is why I suspect you’re here.
I have a lot of experience with trolls like you. Casey you take facts and twist them to suit your own personal agenda. Hate cats and if you see one in the road mow it down, even if you have to swerve TO hit it. Of course in the US it’s pretty much accepted cats should not be on the road. Neither should my SILs dogs or small children. Squirrels, birds lots of animals end up road pancakes. Most of them unavoidable. In your case I’m sure you have a proud record of smashing cats for fun.
I have just banned him ME for the 100th time. He’s Woody.
I think he has a crush on you. 😉 A little more serious he’s an excellent example of what cat haters stand for.
I have a rear view mirror reflex when I see an animal in the road. If I can I will. We have prairie dogs and often they choose the most inopportune moment to dash out onto the road. Today they were mowing the weeds along the rural roads. The body count goes down significantly when that happens. Being aware of the drivers around you , not tailgating and keeping your eyes on the road help. I see a lot of cats hit on the side of the road. What I suspect as deliberate hits.
He just likes to try and wind me up. I does not work. I feel sorry for him and hate him at the same time.