Canine Impact

Shannon was with me. We were driving to my parents place, to cool off in their pool, late last night. In an unforseen turn of events, a dog ran in front of my car. I was going 80km/h (50mph) at the time, southbound on Howard Ave, just past 6th Concession Rd. Dark black, it ran from the east. I saw it on the gravel at road’s edge, and hit the breaks. Probably a good thing I didn’t try to swerve, would have lost control of the vehicle. How fast I was going at impact, I doubt I’ll ever know. Definatly not enough to deploy the airbags, though I suspect it was under 40km/h. The dog still lurched somewhat at road’s edge, though did not stand.

A local came forward, and offered no useful information. He had a calming effect, despite. He could not identify the dog, having never seen it before; it certainly wasn’t his he knew. I’m glad he was around. Not much I could do at the site, certainly not call the humaine society at fast-approaching-midnight; drove home warily, woke my father up nearing midnight. Surveyed the damage. Breakage to the plastic front grill. The Toyota logo is long-gone, last seen spinning gracefully off into the night. The plate is mangled, but can be hammered flat. Lower bumper’s decorative strut snapped off. Hood edge is curled inward, will need straightening and a repaint. I found some of the plastic bits.