I see your point in that braking to save one bug isn’t a good idea if it kills five people. But then you could say the same thing about braking to avoid hitting a person – if it kills five others then is it worth it? Braking in a car is always a judgement call and, obviously, always involves risk.

The one thing I would have to dismiss entirely is the idea that you shouldn’t brake because the person behind you might hit you. At the risk of sounding harsh about it – that is entirely their problem (legally as well as morally). Because I drive at the speed limit across the forest, I get people driving in my boot all the time, trying to pressure me into driving faster. They’ve never succeeded yet, and they ain’t likely to. You should always leave sufficient braking distance for precisely that reason – whether it’s a kid running out into the road (as happened to me once) or a rabbit or a butterfly or whatever, emergency stops are sometimes necessary. So if you damage your car by crashing into the car in front because you were driving too close to them then, I’m sorry to say, this is entirely your own fault – not the butterfly’s, and not the person who braked to avoid hitting it.

Having said that, you’re not often going to get emergency stops for bugs and butterflies (even if people wanted to) because by the time you see them it’s usually too late.

I would try to avoid running over a larger animal, but again, if I’m certain that the consequence of not running over the animal is significant economic or physical harm to me, my passengers, the driver behind me, and our vehicles, I’m likely to come down in favor of running over the animal.

I will get some of these roadkill toys though, they make perfect gifts!

These toys definitely won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I think they’re a lot of fun (and I’m a vegetarian and animal rights activist). When it comes to real animals on the roads, though, I am the most careful driver ever. I even brake for butterflies