A deer ran into our car

[PhotonWrangler]

We were driving down a city street today, around 30mph, when I sudenly saw a deer running across the road. He was about 50 feet in front of me and he easily crossed the road without getting hit. But while I was looking at him as he bounded across the grass, there was a sudden BONK!! Looking in my rear-view mirror, I saw another deer that had tried to leap over our van as he crossed the road. He made it mostly, but one or both of his rear hooves just clipped the top of the luggage rack as he crossed.

He looked a little rattled but he wasn't seriously hurt, as he kept racing across the grass in pursuit of his friend (probably a sibling).

We pulled over and looked over the van, and there was no damage to speak of. So everyone came out of the event ok, except for being a little shaken.

This was the first time this has ever happened to me, and I hope it's the last. And I'm so glad that the animal wasn't seriously injured. I would've been crished if I'd hurt it.

Which leads to a question: how to avoid deer collisions? I've read that those bumper mounted whistles don't work. Can deer see either infrared or UV? Would it be possible to mount a bright, strobing IR lamp to the front of a vehicle to warn them?

 

[Flying Turtle]

About twenty years ago I hit a deer I couldn't avoid in an '85 Jetta. It just came out of nowhere. It happened about this time of year and it took two months to get the $2500 in repairs done. I think we were lucky it didn't come in through the windshield.

Geoff

 

[skalomax]

I hit a deer during thanksgiving, just managed to clip it. I was going around 75, but managed to slow down to at least 50mph.

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[MarNav1]

I was driving right before the sun came up in the work truck (33,000 gvw) and ran over 2 deer at the same time. Was probably going 65 or 70 mph at the time and they both ran under the left front wheel. No damage to the truck that I could see but I didn't have time to even hit the brake pedal. The deer didn't survive of course but no way to warn them that I know of. Glad you were not hurt or car damage done, you are lucky because I have seen caved in front ends and windshields from deer. Hitting cattle is much worse but generally you'll see them and avoid em.

 

[raggie33]

when i lived in south ga them crazy things was every where.glad ya r ok

 

[this_is_nascar]

More times than not, when you see a deer cross a road or street, there's at least one more behind it. Very seldom you'll see them by themselves.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Yes, I learned that today, Nascar. Thanks for the comments, everybody. I'm a little astonished to see that so many others have had some nasty encounters with deer also. They're so fast that they really do seem to come out of nowhere. Glad to see that no one else was hurt (except for the pain in the wallet).

 

[Sigman]

Granted moose are a LOT larger than deer -->(just one example of numerous moose/vehicle collisions here in Alaska)..deer are still responsible for too many deaths & injuries. Glad you all made it out alright!!

 

[raggie33]

this is why i support hunting .even though it ain't my cup a tea. its sure good to keep the population of these deer down

 

[Monocrom]

I hit a deer during thanksgiving, just managed to clip it. I was going around 75, but managed to slow down to at least 50mph.

Damn! :sick2:

How much was it to fix up your recently purchased Camry?

 

[Numbers]

Same thing happened to my daughter, the first deer was avoided the second left a deep hoof print in her hood. Thankfully, in this case too the deer did not come through the windshield.

 

[Coop]

I had a close encounter with some deer a couple of years ago when on holiday in france. I was driving in my tiny japanese car (daihatsu cuore) and was only just able to avoid them. Had I hit them, that little car would have been torn to shreds....

 

[Pydpiper]

To answer your original question, yes. Deer can see into the UV spectrum.
That past month or so is a very common time for deer/vehicle collisions, deer are finishing up their rutting stage, a time when the males are only thinking about females, that is why you are more likely to see them, they get on the scent trail of a doe and that is all that goes through their heads.

 

[rp42995]

$3,000. in damage .The deer ran into the side of the car. Front bumper messed up a little, drivers side door destroyed ,window shattered cut my wife on her face.rear passenger door some dents and rear bumper messed up to. By the way it is the 3rd deer she has hit in 12 years . There are alot of deer around here in this part of New York

 

[Grox]

Gee! I guess we're lucky here in Australia - we don't have deer to contend to. We do have wombats though, which are almost indestructable... kangaroos too

I always had the impression that deer ran out in front of cars, rather than jumping over them or running into their sides.

What kind of accidents are commonest?

 

[NA8]

I was in the back seat of a car that hit a deer a long time ago. We hit it broadside coming down a costal highway about 2am doing 65. I remember it fell on it's side and skidded waaay down the road from the impact. Remarkably a Highway Patrolman materialized out of nowhere and took over. Not much damage to the car, just a dent up front in the bumper. Then again, cars back then were a lot stiffer and didn't do the accordian thing on impact.

 

[Rzr800]

I always had the impression that deer ran out in front of cars, rather than jumping over them or running into their sides.
What kind of accidents are commonest?

I'm not sure that there are any statistics; yet some folks have been hit everywhere (several times) down the entire length of their vehicles..and I'm one of them. :mecry:

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

I've hit a deer once, but done the brake/maneuver thing many times. Poor critter didn't stand a chance, just got smeared all over the underside of my truck. Glad it didn't suffer or do any damage to my truck, but took me over 2 hours with a pressure washer to get all the gore off. My truck smelled funny for a couple days.

:buddies:

 

[Alan B]

Here in Northern California deer car collisions are not uncommon. I have had three over the years, and many near-misses. Deer run up to 40 mph, and if they cross your path at speed there is little to no reaction time. Two times I saw one coming from the right and swerved left, only to hit him on the left side. So turning away made it worse in those cases. Of those three collisions, only one seemed to do serious damage to the deer, and none did any damage to the vehicle (very lucky). The hits were on bumpers rather than sheet metal. Those big tube bumpers work well at protecting the vehicle.

Deer usually cross at dawn/dusk, so those times are especially dangerous. They usually cross at the same places, and often in groups, so if you remember those spots and watch for them you can often slow early enough. Their "collision brain processing" works at speeds they can run at, so when you are travelling faster than they can run they can't properly predict the collision. Lights can confuse them as well. They also, as was mentioned, lose some of their brainpower during the rut. One I hit was fleeing from the homeowner when he chased it out of his garden. In these cases they don't avoid the collision as well as usual.

-- Alan

 

[iced_theater]

A while back, a co-worker and I were driving when a couple of deer ran across the street. The one went in front of a car and the other tried to jump over the car. If the car had been moving any slower than it was, the deer would of landed on the trunk. Instead, it hit the street on it's hind legs and drug them about 5 feet until it was able to lift them up again. It didn't seem to hurt it too much as it kept going after that.