Apparently, Mark Rober has a lot of free time in his hands, which is something you wouldn't normally expect from someone who works as a Mechanical Engineer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the same unit that is responsible for the Mars Curiosity Rover.
What you would expect from a scientist like Rober is to have diverse interests and an inquisitive mindset, which would explain his latest experiment about motorists and roadkills.
"I read a long time ago that people will swerve more to hit turtles over snakes... as a firm believer in the scientific method, I decided to test this hypothesis," says Rober.
And how did he conduct this experiment? Well, Rober hit the field placing rubber animals including a tarantula (spider), snake and a turtle along with a leaf on a certain section of the road and then sat down and checked the reactions of…1,000 drivers.
Rober discovered that 94 percent of all drivers didn't do anything but 6 percent went out of their way to run over the animals, most of which targeted the tarantulas (3.2%), followed by the snake (1.8%) and the turtle (1%), while nobody hit the leaf.
The "killers'" vehicles of choice were trucks and SUVs (89%), while Rober also found out that drivers were more prone to save the turtle than any other animal.
You can watch the video for yourself right past the break.
Story References: YouTube via Gizmodo
7 Comments:
Why would you swerve to intentionally kill a turtle, let alone any animal? I don't understand people.
The reason 94% didn't do anything is probably because they were texting while driving...
Very interesting study. One day I saw a turtle JUST make it across a somewhat busy road. He got onto the shoulder on the opposite side of the road when an 18 wheeler purposely swerved ONTO THE SHOULDER to run the turtle over. Man that really pissed me off!!! I don't understand some people either sometimes.
I grew up with rednecks, swerving their big jacked up trucks to run over cats, dogs, possums etc. was a given, that's just who they were, killing anything that crossed their path was apparently their God-given right, or so they believe. And some would do the same with human beings.
Once you begin devaluing life, even the smallest lives, animals and insects, eventually you'll devalue all life. A warning to all those who choose to go down this road. It's the kind of behavior which ultimately leads to war and the destruction of all life. When you see people doing it, don't let them get away with it.
If I were a redneck and you were around I would have run over you and left the other animals alone.
EVIL-----------I Believe in KARMA.
EVIL--I Believe In KARMA...........
This
was incredibly difficult to watch. I will never understand how
people can have such disregard for animal
welfare. It's sadistic by the very definition of the word.
I think humans by nature can be quite malicious, but when animals or
children are involved, who can't protect themselves, something must
be done straight away!
It
really is sad to think this type of thing still goes on in 2012.
Post a Comment