Bison--The Nature of The Animal

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DO NOT HONK YOUR CAR HORN AT A BISON. 

 YOU DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHASE THEM OFF THE ROAD

This road sign depicts what will happen if your vehicle should encounter a bison head-on. 

The first thoroughfares of North America , except for the time-obliterated paths of mastodon or musk-ox were the traces made by bison and deer in seasonal migration between feeding grounds and salt licks. Many of these routes, hammered by countless hoofs instinctively following watersheds and the crests of ridges in avoidance of lower places, summer muck, and winter snowdrifts, were followed by the natives as courses to hunting grounds and as warrior's paths they were invaluable to explorers, were adopted by pioneers and many became our modern highways.

As massive and bulky as they appear, many people--especially Hollywood Movie Producers, some artists, and politicly motivated historians--are under the impression that bison are delicate, slow, stupid and awkward.
Nothing could be further from the truth
In REALITY, bison can outrun and easily out-manoeuvre horses. They have the agility of a mountain goat. And if on the run, they can, just as easily, break through seemingly adequate corrals that hold the biggest and strongest cattle--but then bison are far from being dumb cattle.
Instead of running, or stampeding, as many might suppose; bison will often stand and face, or as early rail-roads quickly found out, ATTACK their attackers--they were responsible for more than one TRAIN derailment.
Bison are very protective and operate as a group when threatened. They face into the threat and back each other up

 Well-known and admired for their stamina,when they do run, bison are lightening fast and can turn on half of a dime. 
Unlike horses they can run for many miles, sprint at upwards of 40-miles per hour, and have the ability to jump straight up from a complete standstill. 
Much like that mountain goat, a bison can traverse rough, rocky terrain. At the same time, they are content on the flat prairies or in the wooded-areas that many Canadian bison call home.

Although bison normally appear quite docile and may even allow predators or people to approach them, they are very unpredictable and will charge predators, people, or machines in the blink of an eye. You DO NOT honk a car horn at a bison and you definitely do not attempt to chase one off the road.
Nearly five times as many people are killed or seriously injured each year in North America by bison as by all predators combined.
They can pivot instantly on their hind legs as well as the front and contrary to popular belief they are quite capable of and will attack when on the run but unlike their European cousins, they are "head butters" and do not try to hook  their attackers with their horns.