Seriously, universe?
 

I did NOT need to be dealing with a cat vs. my car event tonight.

Could you tell us a bit more?

Driving Ed to the store for his thrice weekly sugar/processed 'food' load, and a black cat popped up fromthe drainage ditch on the right side of the road.

Zero time to react... thump, thump. Pull over, back to the site... pretty little all black house cat with a VERY broken neck. Hands on chest, heart racing, then slowing. Breathing slows, then stops.

Awww. Poor little, cant cross the road, kitty.

Don't beat yourself up Brother.

Awww... that's really sad. :( I'm sorry...

There was nothing you could do... I remember earlier this month, I saw a raccoon on the side of the road. I thought it was dead, but when I watched it, I saw very slow, barely perceptible heartbeats... I touched the thing very lightly. No response. Touched a bit more, stroked it. Nothing except that sad, slow heartbeat. I sang it a little song and was kinda sad for the rest of the ride.

I remember I once ran over what I thought was a pile of rubbish on the road (this was at night)... when I looked back, I saw it give violent kicks and then stop... it had already been run over before I got to it, but the thought the I ran it over made me sick. :(

Posting this has made me very sad :(.

That's happened to me. It's a horrible thing. But it's not your fault and there's nothing you can do. Don't beat ourself up over it.

- Peter.

I've never hit an animal and thought I could help it by stopping....not to say it couldn't happen but so far never thought it would be possible to help it.

Nothing to be done for this poor soul other than to offer him/her a proper burial beneath the wisteria in our front yard and to try and find some human who may be wondering about their missing kitty.

I would strongly recommend against this including any type of face to face contact or personal information, I have heard too many stories of someone trying to do the right thing and being the recipient of physical violence from the owner of the deceased pet.

...and there is always this. A pet loose is the responsibility of its owner, yet emotionally they will often feel wronged.

The correct protocol is to spit in the road and keep going.

Well done. As an owner of a black cat, (indoor), I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You might want to put up some signs in the neighborhood saying that the cat has passed (seriously). If you see a missing pet sign, contact the owner anonymously. You never know how the owner would react -- he might beat you up physically or emotionally.

Well it sounds like it was a quick death at least. And, it is a good thing you maintained control of the Vehicle.
Some People try to get out of the way of Animals and end up in a Car Accident because they swerved to avoid hitting it. Unless it is a large Animal like a Deer or a Cow don't take a chance on swerving and hurting Yourself or someone else.

I own 5 Cats and there is nothing you can do to stop them from doing what Cats do.

I have gone out at night and found one of My Cats rolling around in the middle of the Road. There is just nothing you can do short of keeping them caged to save them from themselves.