My little Dougal got hit (I assume) by a car and I found him peacfully lying by the side of the road - he looked asleep). He was probably hit on the nearby main road, and managed to crawl to the side road where I found him in the morning.
his sister, Darcy, was a lot more affectionate to us over the next few weeks, but that was the only difference.
I'm not an emotional bloke at all (all hairy and tattooed), but animals in pain/cruelty always gets to me - I can feel myself welling up in work now.
We bit the bullet and had a new rescue kitten a few months later, and the two cats get on like a house on fire (ie sparks and loud noises).
As pointed out, sometimes drivers don't notice that they hit animals sometimes. Equally, I had the misfortune to hit a cat a few years ago. I stopped immediately, but absolutely no sign of it - this was also in a built up area. I looked under the parked cars, etc - nothing.
One of my parents cats also got hit by a car where they live, and he managed to get himself home before sadly passing on.
It's always sad, but I do believe it's nice to believe that it ended swiftly - my Dougal looked very at peace in the end : (