Are deer-car collsions preventable?

[Paul_in_Maryland]

Everyone I know who has hit a deer insists there was nothing they could have done to prevent it. I'm sure this Iowa woman would agree, though she's collided with five deer in one year. There are many more article and blog posts about her.

Come on. For 15 years, I've lived in the boonies, miles from the nearest traffic light. The deer problem gets so bad that when I moved here, I accepted the common faith that sooner or later, I'd hit a deer. Well, I haven't. And I'll tell you why:

• I've equipped my car with Philips headlights that provide extra light off to the right side.
• I choose only white cars so I'm more visible against the road in all lighting conditions (except snow).
• During deer season, I drive more slowly...sometimes below the speed limit.
• When driving through a section of road where deer have been known to appear suddenly, I turn off the radio, fill my senses by opening the windows (no matter what the weather), and scan my eyes from side to side.
• If I see a deer, I slow down and turn on my blinkers till I'm well past that point.

If you've ever hit a deer, I won't blame you for responding that, in your case, the accident couldn't have been prevented. You may be right. But do you take all these precautions? Did the young lady now known as the Deer Magnet?

 

[Phaserburn]

I think being aware and actively looking is the best defence; I do it too. Most people zone on the road and confine their attention to it (which most of the time, is a good thing).

 

[LukeA]

Really the only time I see them is during rut.

Often when I'm on a 4-lane road I'll get into the fast lane so I can get a better look at the deer before I hit it. Ha.

I worry a lot more about stupid drivers than I do about stupid deer. The stupid drivers tend to be much heavier and harder than the deer.

At night you can see the eye glow.

 

[sigsour]

Do all those deer know when deer season is????

 

[alpg88]

most deer collisions happen on highways, places where you drive 60+mph, and deers jump out right in front of you.

 

[WadeF]

I put those little deer whistles on the front of our vehicle and I haven't had any close calls lately. Anyone know if they really work? Never the less I'm always watching for deer at all times since they are all over the place here.

Speaking of this, one time I was driving down a road and I saw deer up ahead in the middle of the road. There were cars coming at me from the other direction, also heading towards the deer. Now, these deer were already in the road, and the lead vehicle coming at me, a minivan, slammed right into one of them! I couldn't believe it. The deer then slid down the road, spinning around, right at my van, but it thankfully skidded on a diagonal and went off the road before it reached me. The van just kept driving along, with its smashed headlight. Morons.

 

[LukeA]

Do all those deer know when deer season is????

They do.

 

[blasterman]

So, if I buy Phillips bulbs and drive a white car while staring off to the right and ignoring what's in front of me I'll avoid deer?

Yeah....Ok.

I live in West Michigan, in one of the top five counties for deer collisions in the U.S. In the early fall it's like a video game from hell driving on a rural road at night. White tails bucks sprint across the road from the ditch at 40mph helter skelter and typically give you about .5 seconds to respond. If you swerve to avoid, and cross the center lane, you will be ticketed if a cop sees you.

Trust me, you could hire a PETA member to ride shotgun with a 100watt HID pointed at the right ditch and you'll still end up with deer fur embedded in a couple quarter panels.

The only way we've found to improve the odds is drive well below the speed limit on rural roads at night, and don't drive distracted so that you at least have a better chance of seeing a fleeing doe 1/2 mile down the road who's likely being chased.

In the spring the problem changes with the deer keeping in herds and getting very brave and wandering into surburban back yards with little fear of people. Makes them easier to spot because rather than darting across the road they just casually walk across it and give you dirty looks.

 

[daimleramg]

Did the young lady now known as the Deer Magnet?

Maybe she was hungry for some fresh venison? Sometimes I see deer when driving through the boonies and I think to myself... "how do I catch/kill one of these?".... lol a rack of venison sounds very tasty right about now.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Wish the one I had once had was prevented. It took two months to get that Jetta fixed.

You know, Paul, since you mentioned this you are probably now jinxed. Try not to hit Bambi please.

Geoff

 

[baterija]

I put those little deer whistles on the front of our vehicle and I haven't had any close calls lately. Anyone know if they really work?

Mostly they don't. Some of them aren't even audible to deer.

For strikes after dark the lights are already a pretty big attention grabber. I've rarely had an issue with deer knowing I was coming at night time when they are most active. It's their reaction once they become aware of the vehicle that is the key issue. They just don't make smart or consistent decisions when the threat is racing towards them.

I'm not sure I get Paul's window thing. I certainly can't smell or hear them at any useful range to allow reaction even though I usually have my window open ...unless it's Michigan's 6 months of winter. Flashers I don't see as useful either. My one kill and all my near misses were because the deer knew I was there even without flashers. They just reacted very badly to the knowledge. Maybe something about the flasher makes them more likely to freeze than run but I certainly have never heard about it before. The sure thing is that distracting myself briefly to turn them on comes at a cost in my reaction time. I'd rather focus on those cues in their behavior that tell me I have a runner.

 

[kingofwylietx]

We must go through some fairly desolate areas to get to our ranch. There are a lot of deer and it's always dark by the time we reach that point. My wife helps me spot them, I keep my speed in check, and put some serious lumens on the front of my truck. Since it is rare to have any other vehicles on this road, I light it up. I keep one pair of auxillary lights facing down the road, the other pair is angled outward a few degrees to illuminate the ditches & fence lines.

With all that light and an extra pair of eyes, we do pretty good.

 

[mrartillery]

Deer whistles are a crock, my dad total lossed his daily driver "beater" with them installed. :laughing:

 

[secarob]

Deer whistles are a crock, my dad total lossed his daily driver "beater" with them installed. :laughing:

Yeah, I rank those deer whistles right up there with those stupid little silent whistles that were supposed to call every dog in the neighborhood.

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

There is no such thing as an automotive accident, all of them are 100% preventable. Every single one of them is caused by at least one person screwing up in at least one way.

If you know you're in an area where deer like to fling themselves into traffic, SLOW THE HELL DOWN.

I've hit one deer. Yes, it was my fault, I screwed up and am the first one to admit it. I knew deer were in the area and was still driving full speed. Bambi didn't stand a chance, he got smeared across the bottom half of my truck. Took a couple hours with a pressure washer to get all the gore off the underside of my truck, and it still stank for weeks.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

So, if I buy Phillips bulbs and drive a white car while staring off to the right and ignoring what's in front of me I'll avoid deer?

Yeah....Ok.

I don't stare; I glance.

 

[jtr1962]

There is no such thing as an automotive accident, all of them are 100% preventable. Every single one of them is caused by at least one person screwing up in at least one way.

+1

I've been saying this for years. Not just in regards to automobile accidents, but also bike accidents. My operative word when cycling is "when in doubt, don't". I'm sure this has kept me alive on more than one occasion. I'd advise drivers to memorize this phrase also, and take it to heart.

No deer in NYC, but stray cats ( and raccoons after about midnight ) can sometimes be a cycling hazard. In fact, I nearly hit one last week. Totally my fault. A pedestrian started jaywalking on my right, so my eyes were on him just in case he didn't see me. Unfortunately at the same instant a cat ran across the street from my left. I saw it just as it stopped on a dime about a foot short of my bike. Totally my fault for concentrating solely on the pedestrian. I won't make that mistake again. Granted, no legal sanctions for hitting a stray cat, but being a cat lover I would have felt really, really awful about it for days afterward.

 

[nbp]

Yes. You can eliminate all the deer, or all the cars. Until one of those things happens, you will have deer hits. The deer are fairly plentiful here, and sometimes there's just nothing you can do. And alpg88 was right on. Most dead deer here are on freeways and highways. If you want to drive 30 in a 65 with your brights blasting be my guest but you won't be making friends. Sometimes the deer are just there and at 70 mph there's no recourse without creating an even more dangerous scenario.

 

[TedTheLed]

mmm according to what it says here in the wikipedia the highest legal speed allowed in Wisconsin is 65 mph..
here in 'lifornia the roads are dotted with many bicycle riders ofter riding in the car lanes, and I hardly ever hit them.
the law says they must be given a "wide berth" -- so if you hit one it's your fault, no matter what, I guess.
obviously the logic is: all deer should ride bicycles.

or, since there was no statistically significant increase in death and injury
(well, .04% maybe, but who cares about THEM..?) when the speed limit was raised from the national 55 mph to 65 and evento 80 in some places --
perhaps raising the limit still further, to 100 mph or 120mph would begin to actually lower the incidence of death for deer and human.

makes sense doesn't it?

 

[nbp]

Yup, and even if only traveling the legally allowed 65 mph, a large deer does a ton of damage. Ask the body shop that rebuilt the front of my mom's Honda after that big doe decided to rearrange it.

If the bicycle comment was meant in such a way as to imply that since we avoid bicycles we should be able to avoid deer too, I present this scenario: the bicyclist is now dressed in camouflage, riding at night with no lights on, on the freeway where he oughtn't be, and rather than moving with traffic, he rides across it. Probably a little more difficult to avoid him. That's what deer do every night.