# How does road kill get to the side of the road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833 "2012-04-15T12:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spunkymuzicnote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@spunkymuzicnote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spunkymuzicnote)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/1 "2012-04-15T12:57:31Z")
Cecil’s latest article prompted another question that has been bothering me for awhile. Why do I often see road kill on the side of the road, rather than in the middle? It seems to me that for someone to hit the unsuspecting animal over in the break down lane they would have to do a lot of intentional swerving, which would be a sad comment on the human species. Does someone come along and move the road kill to the side of the road so that someone else can come later and take it away? That seems pretty silly to me, since that means two steps to take care of a problem that could easily be solved in one. For that matter, how does someone safely get road kill out of the middle of a busy road (particularly a highway) without becoming road kill themselves? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/2 "2012-04-15T13:17:21Z")
police officers will move it, they will put on their lights to alert traffic. road maintenance crews will remove though it might be lower priority if it is safely off the road. drivers, especially commuters of that route, may move it. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/3 "2012-04-15T13:28:43Z")
Occasionally it crawls off and dies at the side as well. Most of the “squished” remains I see are on the road, and the more “natural” bodies are on the side. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/4 "2012-04-15T13:31:46Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > police officers will move it, they will put on their lights to alert traffic. road maintenance crews will remove though it might be lower priority if it is safely off the road. > > drivers, especially commuters of that route, may move it. This. A police officer in his cruiser can’t pick up the dead animal and haul it anywhere, so he does the next best thing for traffic: Drags it to the side of the road. Then he puts out a call to the road maintenance crew to bring a truck and enough burly guys to lift the animal into the truck. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/5 "2012-04-15T14:07:43Z")
Depending on the animal, there’s something of a tendency for it to be propelled off the carriageway by the impact - if it was running across the road fast when it was struck, its initial velocity is a component of the collision, and if it was not moving fast, but was near the gutter side of the road, it’s likely to be struck by the corner of the vehicle, again, bouncing it back away from the road. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/6 "2012-04-15T16:14:39Z")
Those that do not get to the side of the road get mashed up so badly that you don’t recognize them any more! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/7 "2012-04-15T16:34:44Z")
Using nothing but my own observations to judge by, I’d say that 80% of the road kill I see is well inside the boundaries of the road surface, not off to the side. Mostly possums and squirrels and (probably) startled birds. Some are pretty torn up or flattened with a few hours. When I do see bigger critters, like deer and cows and even dogs or cats, most are off to the side – for whatever reason. If it matters, I try to swerve to miss critters, not hit them, unless it’s into oncoming traffic. ---
**Author:** ![yahoogle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@yahoogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yahoogle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/8 "2012-04-17T08:55:46Z")
I think I’ve actually seen more in the middle of the road, on the yellow lines. Guess more things get hit crossing the middle than hanging on the edge? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/9 "2012-04-17T10:41:58Z")
I moved a dead cat from the middle of the road last night. It was just a young kitten too. I stopped to see whether or not it was dead. It was so I moved it so that it did not pose a traffic hazard. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/10 "2012-04-17T10:52:12Z")
What do you think the chicken is carrying when he crosses the road? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/11 "2012-04-17T11:47:31Z")
Buzzards also drag thebodies to the side of the road where they can eat them in peace. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/12 "2012-04-17T17:02:56Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > police officers will move it, they will put on their lights to alert traffic. road maintenance crews will remove […] Or maybe the road maintenance crows… I’ve seen animals in the road more often than on the side of the road. Maybe it depends on available funding in your location. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/13 "2012-04-18T21:18:30Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > If it matters, I try to swerve to miss critters, not hit them, unless it’s into oncoming traffic. So, you only hit animals if the situation allows you to head into oncoming traffic to get them? ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/14 "2012-04-18T21:48:41Z")
If roadkill is in the lane of traffic, it will likely be hit again. Each time it is hit, it will be pushed to a different location. If that new location is still in the lane of traffic, repeat. If it is on the shoulder, it probably will not be hit (moved) again. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/15 "2012-04-18T22:42:42Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > So, you only hit animals if the situation allows you to head into oncoming traffic to get them? Not exactly what I meant but I have come close before. Critter dodged in time for me to dodge the car. The driver’s eyes looked like hubcaps. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-road-kill-get-to-the-side-of-the-road/618833/16 "2012-04-19T02:15:34Z")
I’ve moved a few cats and small dogs to the side of the road, after stopping to check for life and look for a tag. If there is no tag, I will sometimes move a mostly intact body in hopes that the owner will find them while they are still recognizable and at least have some closure.