someone had to slam on the brakes

Was the dog was moving from left to right, and the heavier skidmarks were from the front tires?

The heavier skidmarks were from the left hand tires, front and rear. The car was going sideways at 75 per...

And yeah, Rover was going from left to right.

Oh, looking at it again, I see how both the heavier ones originate on the left side of the lane. Ayup, that's hairy stuff.

My Dad used to be a truck driver. One time he unintentionally "dispatched" a coyote who ran out in from of him and instead of continuing on across the road, in which case it would have easily survived, the dumb thing turned and tried to outrun the truck (my Dad didn't have time to slow down)

Just thought to add, here's another testament to the quality of Mercedes engineering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdH-J6UoYI

If the same thing happened with a lot of other makes, that guy wouldn't be alive.

Indeed. And if *I'D* been in a lesser vehicle, I might not have been around to tell this tale...

that poor dog

sucks the dog died

The humans in these sort of stories usually end up hurt. At least Mar got out of it alright. And no harm to the vehicle, but the tires might have needed to be checked.
Too bad about the dog, but it could always have been worse.

You were lucky! I've heard of a lot of others who tried avoiding animals and wound up in the hospital - or worse. Me, as bad as it sounds, I would've taken the dog out if there was no other way around it. I value my safety and the car more than I value the dog.

I've only hit and killed one animal in my life. I was driving to my parent's house one night and a cat ran out from under a car and right into my path. I didn't have time to react or anything; it's like the cat wanted to commit suicide or something. Anyway I heard a loud, dreadful "THUMP!" and I knew it wasn't gonna be pretty. When I doubled back I saw it lying in the middle of the road, dead. Poor kitty! I felt terrible for a while afterwards. I knew there wasn't anything I could do for it by that point, but I picked it up and carried it to the grassy part between the curb and sidewalk anyway. I guess I felt it was bad enough I killed the little fella; it didn't need to be run over multiple times until it was a bloody, unrecognizable mess to make things worse.

A lifetime of city driving has left me rather adept at swerving and stopping to avoid various critters (four and two-legged). Paid off here, I suppose...

I guess. But there are some times when even the best drivers are caught unprepared for. Just ask your NASCAR driver.

Yeah it could've ended up differently - good driving there Mitch.

Fancy driving, there, getting a tank of a car like that to move.

I guess you never seen the kind of tests they put the older Mercedes into.

Yow. Fancy driving, man.

I was about to say "Dude, have you been out boilin' rubber again? Tires are expensive!"
Nice wide stance to the car, looks like nice wide rubber, and nice BIG sway bars and good springs I imagine they do pretty well!

Kept me upright, that's for sure!

poor dog, lucky You!
an army driving-instructor once told me that most of the deadly roadside accidents
with animals could be prevented by NOT breaking instead of driving on like normal
and hit the target if it is to late for an evasive maneuver. For example: Deer X-ing
at a curvy road through a forest - saved my life once. Car was smashed anyway but
i did not get of the road into the spruces...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFkO4rXnnqM

I would hit the brake for moose, cows or horses.
They are to massive to hit without getting out unharmed.

Heh. One of my Canadian Benz buds got the nickname "Deerslayer" because he kept taking 'em out with various MBs...

Wish I drove one at that time.
Happened to me with a Peugeot 309 at 70mph.
What a mess...

He was annoyed because he kept having to buy new grilles.

his mechanic is rich!

Naw, he's a DIYer with beater Benzes.

just for amusement / title is wrong, these are all finns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbKC05Wd7sw

Heh. Something similar happened to me (i.e. the car got caught on the soft shoulder and went sideways), but I kept it upright.

No M-Bs in those crashes, near as I can tell.

but some are quite catchy, aren't they? maybe some "germs" will have uploaded some.
let's see if i can find some. DTM - Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft is a good source
for wrecked Benz, Opel, BMW, Audi, ect...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG02uDFtBUc

no crash - only cool and hard driving

Nifty!

You do know what CLK-GTR means, don't you?

Car Leaving Kourse, Going To Reck.

let's go high-tech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4k0FWvGoSM

still -

Well, with a Mercedes, the crumple zone is the other guy. ;)

LeMans onboard cam is cool, too

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOhYNq9HhcM

You'll just flip over that one!

most amazing is that the driver was treated for minor injuries only.

Congratulations on your skill+skill and luck!

Thanks! I also credit the 116 chassis Mercedes' low center of gravity and wide stance...

All those older Mercedes handled very well, specially on the hands of someone willing to make them do what they were supposed to do, which was not cruising slowly on the boulevard.

Yep. Every single Mercedes I ever owned loved going up into the hills and playing on the twisty roads of the Ozarks. :D

It is always fun to scare the Mustang/Camaro crowd on the twisties.

Yus!

Sideways huh...wow...don't want to ever experience that

As an aside, an ex co-worker always told me, if a dog crosses the road in front of your (speeding) car, you hit the dog not the brakes. Or else you may get into a serious accident (because of braking and swerving) and the dog gets off scot-free. It sounds cruel, but the way I see it, better I live than the dog.

Of course, that's not what happened in your case. Good driving there!

Sideways is not that bad. You can always power slide/drift if you need to be. In a Mercedes, of course, it takes a lot to make it loose its tail if driven right.