Deer Vs. Car

[gygmy]

We've had the STS in for warranty repair and they have been having problems in getting the right parts. OK, no problem, I told them to take their time because the wife has got Pneumonia and there is no rush to complete the job, just do it right. That night I punted a deer into the woods while taking my daughter to band practice. So much for having a spare car. It was a big, at least four point buck from what I could see after the un-pleasant meeting. He did a spectacular break dance in the bushes where my Chevy Silverado launched him and then got up and ran away. All the plastic grill and lite assemblies were totaled and the hood was bashed-up. We were OK and the air bag on my side did not activate. I had the passenger side turned off for the kid. Any way, I'm slightly annoyed at the Bambi's of this world and I am wondering if anybody else has had run-ins with these critters. If we were in a smaller vehicle the deer would of landed in our laps. Also, my bro gave us a ride home because the truck could not be operated at nite. On the way home he had to lay on the brakes to avoid a deer that ran in front of the car. Man it was spooky after what had just happened. So are deer a problem in your neck of the woods and have you ever bashed one with your Caddy or any other car? I am pre-disposed to think those deer alert whistles are snake-oil.

[Dasher]

In central lower Michigan we have a lot of deer and a lot of accidents caused by them. It's especially bad during hunting season when they're all being stirred up.

I have never hit one but I've come close many times. They have had it on television a lot and there have been a lot of fatalities (people) and they said that most people get hurt or die in trying to avoid them.

[gygmy]

I never had time to avoid this fur bomb but my way of driving is I will do most anything to avoid causing another person harm but those chipmunks and such have to avoid me. I will not throw my car into a tree to spare an animals life. I certainly will not try to drive them over even when they make it extreamly tempting.

[Marika]

I'm not sure that it's safe to say the deer cause the accidents. The deer are doing what nature intends them to do, rut and mate and since they can't seem to understand our road signs and they don't seem to know what a car is or how to react to it, we the humans have to be the cautious ones.

When driving at night you are not supposed to **over drive** your headlights. According to the New Jersey Driver's Manual, your sight distance at night is about 350 feet with low beams and 500 feet with high beams. You should always be able to stop **within** those distances. While driving at night:

At 20mph, your stopping distance is 69 feet

At 40mph, your stopping distance is 189 feet

At 60mph, your stopping distance is 359 feet

Therefore, at 60mph, you've already over driven the distance of your headlights. Slow down at night and watch out for those deer. They don't know any better, but you do.

http://www.state.nj.us/mvc/driver_manual/Chapter_5.pdf

(A public service reminder from little ol' me)

[jgr7]

It doesn't pay to try to avoid the little critters sometimes. We had a young college girl staying with us a couple years ago and she totaled her Camry avoiding a ground squirrel. It was just like that GIECO tv add. She said oh my god I didn't want to kill the little squirrel.

[gygmy]

I estimate I was going 30 mph in 40 mph posted zone because I was slowing down for a red light. This deer in a way hit me, it came out of the darkness to my left. I realize that you can avoid accidents alot of times. I have no doubt in my mind that there was nothing that I could of done that I have'nt already done in my driving to have avoided this hit. Please believe me that I am very critical of myself in what I can control. My mind is suprisingly very composed concerning this "accident." It stinks but sometimes you do everthing right and you get hit. It's like the time I got rear ended by a guy who fell asleep at the wheel. Whatcha gonna do?

[Marika]

I estimate I was going 30 mph in 40 mph posted zone because I was slowing down for a red light. This deer in a way hit me, it came out of the darkness to my left. I realize that you can avoid accidents alot of times. I have no doubt in my mind that there was nothing that I could of done that I have'nt already done in my driving to have avoided this hit. Please believe me that I am very critical of myself in what I can control. My mind is suprisingly very composed concerning this "accident." It stinks but sometimes you do everthing right and you get hit. It's like the time I got rear ended by a guy who fell asleep at the wheel. Whatcha gonna do?

Yes, I agree, deer tend to run blindly into roads and sometimes run directly into a car. I'm not faulting you on this. I only posted my previous comment as a reminder to everyone that we are dealing with animals that are in the rage of sexual heat. Anything is possible. I've seen deer ram cars with their antlers, punching massive holes into doors and fenders and causing flat tires. They can become very dangerous and deadly animals.

Drive slowly, carefully and watch those dark areas off the side of the road. Another suggestion, turn down your interior lights at night, especially the lights on your dashboard to a point where you can only see the dash slightly if at all. You will find that your night vision will improve and this will help you see into the darkness better. Everyone knows their car well enough to know how fast they are going based on the sound of their engine. You don't really need to have your dashlights so brightly lit that the people driving behind you can read them...LOL!!

(If we could only get car manufacturers to use "aviation red" dashboard lights. Would help everyone see better at night)

[gygmy]

If deer could be fitted with reflective coats I think alot of accidents could be avoided. The general economy would benefit if these coats could be "branded" with commercial messages, such as " Joe's Auto Body." I also think that having advertising on air bags could help consumers in making thier choices. Such as "Cheetum and Steele, Dial 1-800-Law-Suit." It is a day before a holiday and I hope that most of you can have the time off to spend as you wish.

[maydog]

I hit a yearling on an interstate in northern Minnesota several years ago, or should I say it hit me. As I approached, I saw it standing in the middle of the interstate looking in the other direction, an oncoming car gave it a nice sillouete. As I hit the brakes and slowed, the deer was spooked by the oncoming car and started running in my direction. I was not going very fast when it hit, but it was in a full on sprint.

My girlfriend at the time, now my wife, was sleeping in the passenger seat. She awoke to a large tounge travelling across the windshield - scared the bejeesus out of her. The deer was launched skyward and landed off to the shoulder.

I pulled over to survey the damage. The deer, not much larger than a dog, was still lying. I could see its chest heaving rapidly, so I went over to check it out and finish it off if need be. As soon as I got close the little guy jumped up and trotted off - It must have just been dazed.

The car was driveable, on headlight was broken, the hood was crumpled and the latch mechanism was bent. $2000 later everything was back to usual.

My dad has hit 3-4 deer totaling 2-3 cars in his lifetime and he is a very cautious driver. My grandfather has hit several as have other family members. It is not so much a case of overdriving your headlights as it is that deer can bound from deep cover to the middle of a highway in a single bounce.

An important point to remember is to hit the brakes and slow to a stop, do not swerve - especially when there is other traffic around). I would rather hit a deer and ding up a car than hit another vehicle or a tree.

[gygmy]

This is the first time I have ever hit a deer. More times than I can recount they have gone into the road infront of me. I have always told anybody in my car, "Man watch-out!, there are bound too be more," and usually a bunch more bolt across the street.

[Marika]

As a child I remember a doctor who lived in our building hit a deer in Southern New Jersey. He was driving an old Volvo, remember those? Tanks.

The car was totalled but he was ok. Not a scratch on him and this was in the days before airbags.

He attributed his survival to that Volvo.

[fubar0715]

Hey gygmy.

Was that law a subsidary of the famous:

Dewey, Steele, Cheetum, and Howe

[KHE]

In November, 1991, my Dad and I were traveling home from his house in Northern lower Michigan in an '85 Fleetwood Brougham (RWD). Out of nowhere, a huge doe jumped out in front of the car and we hit it and drove right over it. I thought we were going to land up in the ditch.....The grill and driver side headlights were gone; the hood was buckled and the driver's door could not be opened as the left fender was pushed back slightly and would not allow the door to be opened.

The auxillary transmission cooler was punctured and trans. fluid was leaking. We started to think about how we were going to get home as it was 9:30 on a Sunday night when somene stopped to see if we were OK as they saw the dead deer. We talked with the guy for awhile and he asked if we needed anything and my Dad asked him if he had some 3/8" tubing. The guy said he had some in his workshop and after a few minutes, he returned with it. We bypassed the auxillary cooler and were back on the road in about 15 minutes.

That deer did $3500 in damage to the car...

[95SLS]

I hit one last year in my 95, Total cost was over 6K and it only got the hood, fender and ac condensor. Plus all the stuff connected of course. The hood was over $800.00 The paint was the most, they did have problems finding the parts. The healight wire harness was also $400.00 And, I learn that GM bodyshop is disallowed to buy all those cheap parts you see. They had a contract to buy from house parts dept. This took 1 month to fix. It went back 3 times (AC did not work, they ran a screw through the new condensor when they put it together) They left parts off, charged me for parts that they did not put on. And I recently discovered taht they did not tighten the hoise clamp on the radiator. I doubt I will go there (GM CADDY STEALRER again) My insurance co ensured me if I did they would cancel me.

I drive over 100.000 miles a year easily, almost always at night. This night the deer crasses, and I was in the clear, bu tthe last deer in the pack changed his mind and went back across just as I was passing. It was ugly!

In all my driving, and that's over 2 mllion miles, I say, NEVER swerve to miss! Brake only. A change in speed will sometimes move a otherwise steady Deer. No Brights! Never touch a deer you think is Dead, they do come to life sometimes, I

seen someone seriously gored by a Deer he swore was dead. And most importantly remember that the person you are following may suddenly encounter a Deer and suddenly STOP, SWERVE or totaly wipe out! So keep your distance. If you do hit one, DO file a report. (You might need it for insurace) And always always always remember that YOU NEVER HIT A DEER! A DEER ALWAYS HITS YOU! Those are very important words. If you work as a driver and you say I hit a Deer, that is a chargeable accident. If you say the Deer hit you and discribe it as such, You will likely get off clean. Same goes for your insurance Co. )You know they do have Rednecks that actually HUNT deer with Pickup trucks!) LOL Ask Jeff Foxworthy!

Mike

[Ranger]

After many many near misses my luck ran out a few years ago (one month after I purchased my '92 Deville). She walked right out in front of me a 60 MPH and there was no avoiding her. Launched her over the top of the car. She landed on the other side of the road where she was DOA. $2500 damage. Ever since then I think of them as vermin.

After that I put deer whistles on the car and one night I was coming home from work at about midnight traveling down a dark back road through corn fields. A group of deer (half dozen at least) had apparently just crossed the road ahead of me and out of my headlight range. They were well off the road and into the field on my left and I never would have seen them except for the fact that they had stopped and looked toward me and I saw the telltale glow of their eyes in the dark. I can only attribute their stopping and looking in my direction to the deer whistles. Based on that expirience I would say that they do work. Having said that there is always the possibility that they will stop in the road in front of you.

[Norton1]

Deer whistles work. After a couple of us, not me, hit deer several of us put them on. No one with a whistle has hit a deer in years.

I run into them, not literally, in the early morning hours on my commute - but I know the area pretty well and have never hit one.

Steve

[TDK]

Personally, I think the "deer whistles" work, so they might be cheap insurance.

In the wide open Western US, you can have both deer and cattle vs vehicles.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) owns 90% or so of Nevada for example. They set the rules - so the towns, interstates, and private property are fenced in. The roads going outside of civilization have "cattle guards". The wildlife and cattle have free access over all most all other land including all secondary roads, etc.

Yea, deer do jump in front and its usually "all over but the shouting". In most cases, the car suffers - but it and the occupants - might not be totaled.

However, smack a 800+# cow with almost any vehicle and that's it. Most everything stops like a concrete wall was in the road. And no, cows are not reflectorized. They also don't bother to look at headlights - so there's no "heads up" display of eyes.

I was moving slowly through the end of a herd on our road in daylight and one doubled back on me when she went up a slight hill. She dented the front fender, broke out the lights and slobbered all over the windshield. This was with me stopped and her at "stumbling speed".

And then there are the packs of coyotes working the vast, lonely highways for "oppertunities". They are smart and fast enough to cause accidents and then dine on the aftermath.

[ByStorm]

I think I will be getting a couple of sets of those "Deer Whistles" b/c my mom lives in a heaveily populated deer area , and I go out there enough.

The only problem is when deer season is over I would want to take them off.

Peace,

ByStorm.

[Ranger]

I think I will be getting a couple of sets of those "Deer Whistles" b/c my mom lives in a heaveily populated deer area , and I go out there enough.

The only problem is when deer season is over I would want to take them off.

Peace,

ByStorm.

Deer can be a problem all year long. If you put them on, it would be wise to keep them on all year long. If you are creative you can tuck them in your grill and paint them to match or buy chrome ones and they will be almost invisible.

[tjtjwdad]

I've never hit one but I've come awfully close. On those dark roads I drive much slower at night. On one occasion an elk ran out in front of me. Whew .... Another time I was coming around a curve and a large horse was in the middle of the road and I almost clipped him.

Jim

[PAUL T]

I just got through fixing my 96 F250 crewcab and the same day I picked it up a deer almost creamed the other side on the way home. Over the years I hit one in my 92 Deville, 88 F150, and 85 Toyota truck. I usually take the roadkill home and cut off the good meat and give the rest to the dogs. The last one I got was an old doe and her meat was tougher that a board.

I just read some info on the West Virginia deer road kill and it said that in West Virginia there are 4000 deer roadkills a day. Yes I said, A DAY. I just hope the deer hunting season in the next couple of weeks will thin them out a lot.

[Ranger]

I just read some info on the West Virginia deer road kill and it said that in West Virginia there are 4000 deer roadkills a day. Yes I said, A DAY. I just hope the deer hunting season in the next couple of weeks will thin them out a lot.

Ever since I hit one I have always maintained that instead of a hunting season there should be a bounty one them.

[Bob D]

> If you do hit one, DO file a report. (You might need it for insurace) And always always always remember that YOU NEVER HIT A DEER! A DEER ALWAYS HITS YOU! Those are very important words. If you work as a driver and you say I hit a Deer, that is a chargeable accident. If you say the Deer hit you and discribe it as such, You will likely get off clean. Same goes for your insurance Co.<

Mike

Darn good tip, thank you Mike. I have four sons and a wife driving, and this time if year the deer are really out up here in the foothills. I'll make sure I pass that along to everyone that drives up here.

[Marika]

I just hope the deer hunting season in the next couple of weeks will thin them out a lot.

If the hunters don't thin them out, don't worry, nature will.

When herds grow that large, disease usually takes over.

[PAUL T]

If the hunters don't thin them out, don't worry, nature will.

When herds grow that large, disease usually takes over.

That does sound good on paper. Man though, has almost wiped out all the natural predators,(bear, mountain lions, wolves, etc.) and the grazing grounds are vast, so I do not see any relief coming soon from mother nature. There was a program here a few years ago that a farmer could kill as many as 25 per farm if the deer were damaging there crops. If you farm and have a garden that is raided every night or replanted a field in alfalfa only to have it distroyed by deer, 25 per farm may not be enough. I am not saying wipe them out, just thin them out. I say let the hunters have fun. If they do not want the carcass then donate it to a food shelter, or homeless program. There is a lot of good meat on a deer and it could keep a lot of people from going hungry.