The big car slowed for a moment and faces looked back, and then it gathered greater speed and disappeared. And the dog, a blot of blood and tangled, burst intestines, kicked slowly in the road.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 13. When the Joads stop to refuel their truck, their dog is struck and killed by a passing car. The large car slows down momentarily and then speeds off, its occupants showing no concern for the harm done. The incident is foreshadowing of the difficulties the Joads will face on their journey west.