[Dean]

Driving is not purely instinct, IMHO it is mostly a learned skill, but most peaople have not been taught the right skills/responses.

I'm not talking soccer moms with no training, I am talking about what do professional, and enthusiast organizations teach. The answer is lane toss because it works. I have run literally thousands of students through many severe lane tosses each, and never once seen a spin or true loss of control at about 25-40 MPH.

We teach it so people have the mental and muscle memory to not be surprised by the weight shift of the car, to give them confidence in their and their car/tire's ability to make such a maneuver and to not lift off the gas while performing it. Unfortunately, most parents/driver's ed courses and/or common belief is that braking is the best thing to do in a crisis.

Physics says it isn't. Tires are amazing tools, and the amount of friction required to lane shift to avoid somehting is minuscule compared to stopping the same vehicle from any typical road speed.

Is it 100% effective in every situation, no, but it combined with other skills such as increasing visual awareness, smooth inputs, "looking ahead", etc. has statistically shown to improve driving skills/accident avoidence enough to some insurance companies that they will give you a brake on your insurance if you have received this sort of instruction/training.

And as I said, I would rather rely on those crumple zones and rollover protection than tempt fate with the body mass of a large animal vs. 2 laminated sheets of glass.

I hope to never come into the situation where I need it, but I hope that if I do, I can make the right directional changes to keep that animal from coming through the windshield.