Hmmm. I wonder this every so often, usually over a Law nd Order or ER episode... I know that I swerve to avoid animals only if I think doing do will not cause an accident, so I have seemingly purposely run over various small beings, whereas I do avoid them if it's safe to do so. I've never had a human run out in front of my car, so that hasn't been tested. I grew up thinking of myself as a pretty rabid radical pacifist, but I've outgrown that. I've never been personally physically assaulted (the 2 times I've been punched, the puncher was aiming at someone else but too drunk to aim well), so I don't know how hard I'd fight back. When one of my sons was very slightly sexually abused, my concern was more for the 8-year old abuser (whom I thought was likely in some kind of real danger) than my son, who was not traumatized in the least, nor exposed to any dangerous fluids, but I don't know what I'd have done if it had been something awful at the, um, hands of an adult. But I like to think I'd be reasonable - not kill to avoid a punch in the mouth, but do whatever it takes to avoid the forcible rape of my child? And I have to admit that I have so little faith in the legal system that I don't think I'd take it into account in deciding what to do...