Florida Woman Dies After Swerving Car To Avoid Turtle

WFTV ^ | 6/30/04

[11th Earl of Mar]

Florida Woman Dies After Swerving Car To Avoid Turtle

POSTED: 10:03 am EDT June 30, 2004

INDIANTOWN, Fla. -- A 20-year-old woman who veered her car to avoid a turtle flipped the vehicle several times and died Tuesday, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.

Rachel Marie Martin of Sebring was traveling southeast on State Road 710 between Indiantown and Okeechobee in western Martin County when she suddenly turned away from a turtle crossing the roadway, according to an FHP report. The car overturned and landed in the middle of the road.

A passenger, 19-year-old Julie Christine Evans of Tampa, was treated and released from a local hospital. Martin's 1999 Oldsmobile SUV was totaled.

Authorities said Martin was wearing her seat belt and that alcohol was not involved in the crash.

[nuconvert]

Sad.
Those SUV's will kill ya.

[Independentamerican]

" I've hit two dogs, a puppy, a cat, one possum and countless squirrels.
I try to avoid the deer and humans"

Now that is what I call defensive driving. :-)

[cinFLA]

Of course, if she had been driving a passenger car, or knew how to better handle her SUV, she probably wouldn't have rolled over.

I can tell the difference when I drive my wife's SUV. I keep telling her it cannot be expected to handle like her previous BMW in an emergency maneuver. I like SUV's but too many think they will handle like a sports car as they travel 85 mph down the interstate. Trouble waiting to happen.

[murdoog]

Darwin Award nominee.

No she's not. She just made a bad judgement call. Before I read this story, it wouldn't have occured to me that swerving to avoid an animal would cause my car to turn over.

[mlbford2]

~~As a motorcycle rider, I learned long ago to override the reflex. I've hit two dogs, a puppy, a cat, one possum and countless squirrels.~~

That's noth'n. I my boat I've run over 20 manatee, 2 Bow whales, and 4 tripple nippled pelicans. In my car I have run over 1 snow leapard, 7 egrits, and 1 , what I beleived to be, a do-do bird.

not reflex reaction here.

[mewzilla]

I know more about the SUVs my family and friends drive, with one exception, than they do. Sigh.

[Fintan]

PETA will give her some kind of award.
 

I doubt it. The passenger survived.

[11th Earl of Mar]

I've hit two dogs, a puppy, a cat, one possum and countless squirrels.

Sounds like Saving Silverman...

Kidnap victim Judith: "You guys aren't killers!"
Kidnapper Jack Black: "Oh yeah? I ran over a squirrel once. And I'm pretty sure he died."

[Osage Orange]

Yes it is a tragic story.

As we live in the country..And I have two young drivers in my household...I've instructed them both...to try and avoid animals in the roadway if possible...but to NOT risk their lives to do it.

FRegards,

[Fiddlstix]

Ping

[mewzilla]

...that swerving to avoid an animal would cause my car to turn over.

You're passenger car, probably not. Your light truck, more likely. And drivers being unaware of that is the problem.

[norraad]

Yes, tragic, which reminds me to tell everyone to lower your tire pressure to increase patch pressure to increase you hold on the road.

Almost every oil change tech. pumps up tires too much, which makes maybe 1~2 mph better mileage but could cost you your life.

Experiment with your vehicle, I find mine holds the road best & stops w/o skidding best at 28psi.

I first found out the hard way by almost crashing doing an avoidance with expected 28psi patch pressure only to slide & spin because the oil change tech. had pumped me up to 34psi.

[dfwgator]

It's like my old driving instructor said, "if you're driving and little 'Fluffy' comes across the street, SMOKE FLUFFY!"

[Bob J]

If it shows up in the headlights, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and hope for the best...heheh.

[apackof2]

A Puppy!!!!

[RobRoy]

Hey, one of the dogs had REALLY sharp teeth.

Oh, and I have "straddled" a couple of squirrels as well. I'm sure they died of a heart attack later though. 8^>

[Dysart]

I have a confession: About a month ago I found a box turtle wandering through the parking lot of my office building(after heavy flooding), which is adjacent to a major freeway. I snatched him up and drove to a more rural area with a nice lake, and released him. Now many here would exploit this as an opportunity to make soup, but I have a soft spot for turtles.

[RobRoy]

Oh yeah?!!! Well I ran over a UNICORN! I'd show you the horn but he somehow limped away. I think he was being helped by the pink elephant he was walking with at the time.

Stupid elephant!

Other than that, I think you got me beat. Nice targeting, btw!

[dangus]

>>[turtle wax image]<<
*Laugh*

Girl Scout:"Are there real lemons in your lemonade?"
Tuesday:"Are those real girl scouts in your cookies?"

[Tall_Texan]

I once hit a cat that was committing suicide by running across a busy street. There were cars on either side of me so there was nowhere to swerve. I just gritted my teeth and hoped I wouldn't hear a thump. I did. I could see the cat in the rear view mirror flopping around in pain. When I pulled up to the next light, an old woman pulled along side of my car, rolled down her window and started cussing me out and pointing back toward the cat. What the heck was I supposed to do? If I'd gone back to try to help the cat, I could have been hit myself and likely bitten if I'd tried to pick it up.

Yeah, I felt a little guilty but there's really nothing you can do.

Now, if we're talking about a turtle as opposed to a giant tortoise, you just have to stay on the road if you can't change lanes. If it's a giant tortoise, the chick should have seen it soon enough to avoid it but was probably too busy yakking on her cell phone or talking to her friend to pay attention before it was too late.

Of course, I'm one of those weird old-fashion types that think human life is more important than animal life but she made the wrong decision, probably in a moment of panic.