05/22/2026
Let's have one of the less pleasant insurance conversations: "What do I do if I'm about to hit an animal with my car? Do I brake or not?" (Well, to start, for liability purposes, the following conversation is a professional opinion supported by real-life experience, but it's not a "legal recommendation")
Here are the things to keep in mind:
1) Are there other cars around you? If you want to slam on your brakes, and there's no one behind you to risk getting rear-ended by, that's up to you! But if you're traveling at a high rate of speed and there's a good chance of involving another vehicle in an incident based on whether or not you hit an animal, prioritize avoiding a collision with another vehicle. Otherwise, you may be deemed liable for the collision, regardless of the animal's involvement.
2) How fast are you going? Traveling at a high rate of speed means that a collision with an animal has a higher risk of causing damage to your vehicle in a collision, and swerving to avoid hitting an animal runs a much higher risk of you as the driver not being able to correct the vehicle properly. A good rule of thumb is that if the vehicle is larger than a deer, try to avoid hitting it, but if it's large-dog sized or smaller, don't stop. As sad as that may be, you'll likely do less damage and be less likely to cause an accident if you keep driving, then pull over and evaluate if/when safe to do so.
3) How big is the animal? Circling back to this subject: Big animals cause big damage. Hitting a bear or a moose head on is likely to damage your vehicle beyond the point of drivability, at which point, it may cause a collision with the vehicles around you. If possible, avoid hitting the animal, whether that means coming to a sharp stop or swerving out of the way (but never into another vehicle).
4) What is the alternative? In the middle of a residential neighborhood, coming to a stop to let a cat or a squirrel cross the street is easy, and seldom has repercussions. On a back country road, swerving to avoid hitting a dog may be a feasible option. But on a busy highway, that same action can have disastrous results, and if avoiding hitting an animals results in a collision with another vehicle or a single-vehicle collision (a rollover or going through a fence), it's very likely that your insurance will find you at fault.
So, our professional opinion, is BRAKE if safe to do so, but if not, then DO NOT STOP and DO NOT SWERVE.
