I have only had my '07 HCH for two weeks, and have already had TWO cats stroll out in front of my car while driving. I know the engine is very quiet, but I don't know how much my brakes can take! My car stopped on a dime, which is great, but I feel like one of these times, I might not see it or stop in time. Has anyone else had this happen?

I work at Marshall Space Flight Center and we have a lot of game and the occasional cow wanders over the roads. Deer strikes are common but by ordinary vehicles. However, I have been following some of discussions by blind advocates.

Some of the blind have proposed adding a sound generator to all hybrids. I've suggested that such a device should also be usable as a smart cruise control device for following traffic as well as avoidance. But I've speculated that using modulated, ultrasonic beams could project a zone with what sounds like a vicious barking dog, pack of wild dogs or wolves. Projected in front of the car, it would evoke a natural 'flight' reaction in most critters and reduce roadkill.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Stray cats tend to be night creatures.

If this helps, dawn/early morning is the most likely time they will get roadkilled - afternoon/early evening commutes are nowhere as bad.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

It could be worse. A deer hit me last December in my blazer. I say it hit me because I swerved to avoid it, but it bolted right into my front fender, pushing the fender in, cracking the windshield and breaking off the side mirror. It walked away, but did about $1100 worth of damage.

I say take out the stray cats. Too many loose pets on our streets, especially cats, who terrorize the wildlife (such as it is) in our cities and towns.
Might I suggest a gunsight mounted on the dash calibrated with the drivers side tire.
Always avoid larger dogs. Can cause damage to the vehicle.

R. Mark Owens - Casper Desert Mist

And just why are there stray cats?

Irresponsible people that don't bother to neuter them.

So kill them for what people did?

Without getting into a long rant that would explore the mentality of people like Michael Vick that have dogfights for pleasure, I find the above post extremely distasteful.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Back in the 60s there was an urban legend about drivers who took delight in running over critters in the road until they tried with with high desert, Jack rabbits. These western Jack rabbits were reported to have much stronger, tougher bones that could puncture and ruin the old cross-belted tires.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

Where I'm coming from is I've helped place homeless dogs and cats with rescue groups.

Long story short, the reason they are out on the streets is totally man-made. The solution is neuter cats and dogs except the few purebreds that are in cat/dog show until the population is under control.

The death penality for stray cats is not only inhumane, but counterproductive - they multiply faster than pounds can euthanize them.

San Diego in the 1990's proved the stray cat population could be halfed without killing them ( www.feralcat.com , www.alleycat.org ). They traped, neutered, and returned them (TNR). Feral cats fight tooth and nail to other cats. Any Brits here could testify Europe has reduced the stray population the last 3-4 decades this way. Very interesting to note: this non-lethal way of cutting the feral/stray cat population in half saved the tax payers of San Diego thousands of dollars with reduced cat attacks, Animal Control trappings, animal impoundings/euthanizations.

I was active at pet forums before hybrid forums, but there is a common theme of mine - be responsible. In this case - it's prevent pet overpopulation. My nick name there was SpencerTheLion


My boss cat doing his MGM lion impersonation
You might say when Spencer(TheLion) is riding in my car, I'm LiON powered.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

I think Bob's idea is really interesting, if a little creepy. Ultrasonic speakers playing wolf pack noises? I mean, that's just so distopian.

Also, cars are so ubiquitous now, if you made that type of sound ubiquitous, too, wouldn't it just stop working? The deer or whatever would be hearing that so often and from so many directions, without ever associating it with any of the usual consequences of that noise (ie: deadly peril) that the effectiveness could wear off, and you might end up confusing the animals enough in wild areas that they'd end up being easier prey for real predators. Just a theory, though. Besides, we'd have to have a way to turn it off, because you wouldn't want that in national parks, messing with the natural rythyms and scaring away the wildlife that visitors come to see. Though I expect there's a fair amount of roadkill in national parks, so it wouldn't be terribly effective.

Umm....I never considered this, but if it was an option, I would have paid for it.