My two cents is:

The first car gets a ticket for ?????????

The second car is always wrong for hitting someone, in the rear.

I've actually seen this happen twice here (and nowhere else in the country in my 45 years of driving). I'm glad the o.p. brought it up.

One instance I came upon was on Canal Street (no shoulder, and she stopped the car and took up the diamond bike/cart lane and part of the car lane, so actually, all motorists and bike riders were blocked). I couldn't believe she did this as I have seen what snapping turtles can do to human hands and toes. She left her brain at home.

She was lucky I and other motorists saw her from far behind and knew we had to slow down and stop.

Second instance I came upon was about 3 months ago on 466 headed westbound, nearing the entrances on the right to the farms/estates where the developers (I've heard) live. This one stopped in the driveway, got out, and picked up the turtle and leisurely made a show of carrying the turtle across the road. Given the 45 mph traffic, she left her brain at home, too. Motorists were coming along fast and all had to stop in both directions, all lanes.

If anyone thinks a turtle is that important, they're losing sight of the value of human life. I love animals and wildlife, but they are not equal to human life.

No matter the opinions, assured clear distance is always the determining factor.

Compassionate people stop and help turtles and wounded animals all the time. I wouldn't like that to stop but not when putting themselves or other drivers at real risk. I agree with The Buckeyes.

Person not see a stopped car. For whatever reason it's not ok to hit it. So it's ok to run into a stopped car that has Stopped to assist a turtle, what if it was a dog, what if it was a person. I'm confused I thought you Always stopped if there was a car not moving ahead. :shrug: how would you know why the person had stopped. Running into the back of them just seems stupid maybe just not paying attention.

Driver who stopped for ducks gets jail, 10-year driving ban

This is a sad story out of Canada.

People should show some common sense when stopping like this to help wildlife.

There was a turtle crossing CR101 a few weeks ago and it was in a spot where you cannot see what is ahead of you because of a rise in the road. So I did not stop. I did watch the road for a while from Doggie Doo Run Run and did see another driver coming from the other direction-- who probably had a better view of the road ahead, stop and pick up the turtle. There was no one behind him, There had been a few cars behind me and I just hoped that the turtle would make it.

I have had to stop before because of people helping ducks cross the road as well as rescuing turtles.

As a former firefighter/EMT in rural Maine, I can tell you I've seen many instances where a human life was taken because the driver veered off the road to avoid a deer or some other animal. I will attempt to not hit the animal, but will not put my life or those of my passengers in danger.

Why in the world would you be called out of bed to work a wreck? Was this a one cop town? Mayberry?

:shrug: He didn't say he was home!! :police:

Thanks for helping the turtle !
 

Great point. Not everything in life comes down to what the written law is (especially considering the lack of judgment of some of our less than wonderful politicians who write the laws)
I say if there is a question, always error on the side of Life !
If the driver was paying attention, he/she would not have hit the rear of a stopped car. I would have hoped the stopped car had turned on his / her flashers.

dbussone: That is a common scenario. In Minneapolis/St Paul like many cities I am sure, Canadian geese strut across interstates with their little goslings. You would expect to hear the continuing percussion of metal crashing but God's hand direct traffic well. However the rules of the road clearly state a driver's obligation to maintain safe clear distance.

Personal Best Regards:

Aah Carl You see why I wrote that an investigator, et al would not answer a hypothetical question. The OP does not tell us how long she was stopped only that she stopped to get out to...... And even if the car was stopped for sometime the LOE could still cite the second driver for a number of contributing factors if s/he plowed into the stopped vehicle. Clearly contributory negligence applies in most of the scenario's listed on this thread . What is still undecided is the comparative fault
(ie % of negligence) attributed to each owner/driver

Personal Best Regards:

I understand and appreciate the education.

Thank you, Rubicon.