I instinctively braked for an idiot squirrel that ran across my path yesterday. A moment later I thought, WTH, it was only a damned squirrel! Having read this thread, I realize maybe it was a good thing for my own sake that I braked.
Interesting and very freakish failure mode for a fender. Low occurence, high severity.
Good stories and glad to hear the recoveries went/go well. For my header story, see the thread "stupidest thing you did on a bike".