Moose-vehicle crashes spark class action against Newfoundland Government
19 replies, posted
[img]http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/4094683.bin?size=620x465[/img]
[quote]They're one of the calm gentle giants of the Canadian wilderness. But should a moose stroll in front of your vehicle, the damage could be significant, and, in some cases, fatal. This week, 40 Newfoundland residents who had been hospitalized due to moose-vehicle crashes filed a class-action lawsuit against the province for allowing the moose population to surge beyond control (there are about 150,000, with about 40,000 added to the Newfoundland population each year) and thus pose a danger to drivers. They're right to blame the government for the population explosion, says Newfoundland personal injury lawyer Ches Crosbie, who is representing the victims. He spoke to the Post's Sarah Boesveld from his St. John's office:[/quote]
[quote]Q Clearly, a person can't sue a moose for damage and personal injury. But why is the government to blame?
A It looks a lot less strange when you realize that Parks Canada has been studying Gros Morne Park (in Newfoundland) and have decided to eliminate 4,000 moose out of 5,000 within the boundaries this year. The moose are eating us out of house and home, changing the composition of the landscape in the province and destroying the young trees so that we're losing forest cover. But the park has 25 moose vehicle collisions a year, too. One of the benefits of reducing the density of the animal is if you have fewer animals in the woods, you'll have fewer animals on the road.[/quote]
[quote]Q Canadians tend to think of moose as an indigenous and iconic Canadian animal. You say in your statement of claim that it really isn't the case, at least not in Newfoundland.
A It's a Canadian animal all right, but back in the last Ice Age, the glaciers covered Newfoundland and it had to be colonized by flora and fauna all over again around 18,000 years ago. And the truth of the matter is that moose did not colonize the island, they were brought here 100 years ago by an act of the government.[/quote]
[quote]Q But how can you hold today's government to account for something their predecessors did 100 years ago? How would they know that in a century, the moose would become a threat to drivers?
A The government runs a chain of accountability and responsibility, but that's only one factor. It does make us unique in that the animal is exotic and, introduced to Newfoundland, it can be called an invasive species. And whenever introduction is done, the outcome is never predictable. The other very important factor is that moose have been breeding like rabbits, far in excess of the ecological capacity of the land to carry them.[/quote]
[quote]Q What can happen to you if your vehicle's hit by a moose?
A Moose are 1,000-pround rabbits on stilts. When a vehicle hits them, the front grill strikes the legs, usually breaking them, and the centre mass of the moose is in the upper body behind the shoulder. At highway speeds, the bulk of the moose hits the windscreen and the support pillars of a passenger vehicle crashes through the windscreen and lands on top of the front-seat passenger and driver.[/quote]
[quote]Q So how have moose-vehicle crashes impacted your clients?
A We're not doing this lawsuit to collect for property damage and we're not trying to get compensation for people who might have had to go to emergency but not admitted to hospital. We're suing for people who were admitted as inpatients, and particularly for the most catastrophically injured of those.[/quote]
[quote]Q What about the recommendation to "remove" populations of moose. Have you heard from anyone opposed to a cull?
A No. In Newfoundland, we like our moose.... The fact remains that there are 40,000 new moose deposited onto the landscape of this island every year.[/quote]
[quote]Q What are some other ways to reduce the collisions?
A There are proven methods of reducing, dramatically, the rate of collision and injury. One example would be moose fencing, and we've seen that implemented in a nearby province, New Brunswick.[/quote]
[quote]Q Any word from the province just yet?
A No. It'll be interesting to see.
[/quote]
[url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Moose+vehicle+crashes+spark+class+action+against+province/4094682/story.html]**SOURCE**[/url]
I guess the one cool thing about the moose being an invasive species is that as opposed to most invasive species, you can eat a moose. :chef:
Q What are some other ways to reduce the collisions?
A Look out for Moose.
[QUOTE=macacan;27366300]Q What are some other ways to reduce the collisions?
A Look out for Moose.[/QUOTE]
It's nighttime, you're rounding a corner, everything looks go- SLAM
moose
Do Moose dash out infront of traffic like Dear do around here?
[QUOTE=macacan;27366300]Q What are some other ways to reduce the collisions?
A Look out for Moose.[/QUOTE]
Something tells me you've never driven on rural roads at night.
Something tells me you've never driven, anywhere, at anytime.
Moose's are like white-tail assep for their more lazy, and a lot more bitchy... Come to think of it their like a driver from New Jersey.
[QUOTE=MIPS;27366205]
I guess the one cool thing about the moose being an invasive species is that as opposed to most invasive species, you can eat a moose. :chef:[/QUOTE]
You can eat most animals.
But yeah. moose are assholes.
thats what you motherfuckers get for trying to run me over with a prius
buy a real car faggots
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;27366874]Something tells me you've never driven on rural roads at night.
Something tells me you've never driven, anywhere, at anytime.[/QUOTE]
Not owning a car has been quite the hindrance on this matter. A license too.
Not to mention the lack of Moose in my area.
[QUOTE=Moose;27366972]thats what you motherfuckers get for trying to run me over with a prius
buy a real car faggots[/QUOTE]
[IMG_THUMB]http://filesmelt.com/dl/mercedes-benz-unimog.jpg[/IMG_THUMB]
This'll do
Why not just hit VTEC?
[quote]Q What can happen to you if your vehicle's hit by a moose?
[B]A Moose are[/B] 1,000-pround rabbits on stilts. When a vehicle hits them, the front grill strikes the legs, usually breaking them, and the centre mass of the moose is in the upper body behind the shoulder. At highway speeds, the bulk of the moose hits the windscreen and the support pillars of a passenger vehicle crashes through the windscreen and lands on top of the front-seat passenger and driver.[/quote]
[quote][B]A Moose are[/B] 1,000-pround rabbits on stilts. [/quote]
[quote]A Moose are[/quote]
:psyboom:
The poor moose.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;27366410]It's nighttime, you're rounding a corner, everything looks go- SLAM
moose[/QUOTE]
If I accidentally hit one I'd zip into reverse and vamoose
[QUOTE=tinhead50;27369787]:psyboom:
The poor moose.[/QUOTE]
The A means Answer, not A as in "A moose is fucking stupid"
[QUOTE=Dr. Fishtastic;27369954]If I accidentally hit one I'd zip into reverse and vamoose[/QUOTE]
Seeing how deer can totally fuck up a hood, a moose will anihelate the car.
[QUOTE=MIPS;27372472]Seeing how deer can totally fuck up a hood, a moose will anihelate the car.[/QUOTE]
I know a guy who hit a moose, his truck was a complete write-off.
Fashion ramps that will sweep a moose off it's feet, slide up and over the ramp and land on the ground behind the car, simple.
Sometimes I wish I was a moose so I could pretend to be the Juggernaught and run into cars full pelt.
[QUOTE=Dr. Fishtastic;27369954]If I accidentally hit one I'd zip into reverse and vamoose[/QUOTE]
Yeah you could do that if you hit it at 3 MPH. A car hitting a moose at 40MPH will basically look like a crushed up soda can with blood leaking out of the cabin or engine compartment, moreso if the car is a sedan or other low-slung vehicle, because the front of the car will hit the legs of the moose, then the body of the moose will go flying into the cabin, crush the skulls and upper torsos of anyone riding, then get lodged inside the cabin.
[img_thumb]http://www.ashdownforest.org/images/car_deer.gif[/img_thumb]
That's just a deer impact, and probably just a fawn at that. Adult deer weigh about a third of an adult moose (800-1500 lbs)
[QUOTE=Ama-zake;27368241]Why not just hit VTEC?[/QUOTE]
Because that would make you a douchebag.
I'll take my chances with the moose.
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