[The Deuce]

First I would say that it is a natural reaction of mine to grab the brakes when anything runs in front of me. It's usually coupled with a check of the rearview to see if I'm going to get hit. Which I did once in highschool. Was driving my 944 (hydrolic bumpers) got rearended, totalled the front of a new C-class and only bent my plate. Hehe, I won that one.

Second, there is a whole lot of room between the tires on a car. I have "run over" a number of animals and never made contact. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I'd hit the brakes and nail the gas to get the heck out of the way. Who loses? Depends on how fast the cat and car are.