That time of year

[repete]

The deer are running and the days are getting shorter and the roads are slick with rain and soon ice. I was reminded about this last week when I hit a large deer on I90 The truck had to be towed ($780!) and is still waiting for parts. Last night I just happened to spot the roof of a car well off the road down in ditch covered with brush. I stopped and started walking back thinking it would be nothing, when I heard crying ! Turns out the young girl tried to miss a deer and spin out slammed the rail and went off road. She wasn't hurt but shook up and in shock. She had no idea where she was had no flash light and the lights on the car were dead. This could've gotten real bad for her as she lost her cell phone when she got bounced around.
Keep your eyes open for deer and remember if your gonna hit a deer go ahead and hit it! DON'T SLAM ON YOUR BRAKES AND WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T SWERVE!! Have a safe trip!

[Mr. Ford95]

Contrary to popular belief, I am going to get on the binders if I can to lessen the impact. I'm not going to lock it down but I will try to slow down for deer if the opportunity is there. I had one the other morning on the edge of the road that kept playing chicken with me. It would step back then step forward like it was trying to decide if it could make it or not.

Calling for the chance of a mixed bag here in Central VA Saturday night. Supposed to get down to 35 once the sun goes down real quick with rain falling, some of the bottoms could have traces of the slick stuff develop overnight. Closer to the mountains will see some snow and ice from it. Anyone who will be around the Mid-Atlantic this weekend, be warned the weather could get a little nasty with the ice possibilities.

[CleeIB]

repete - That's a good thing you did for that lady.

For what to do when hitting deer, I've seen everything on the Internet from accelerating to braking to getting on the horn. What's the right answer???

[repete]

repete - That's a good thing you did for that lady.

For what to do when hitting deer, I've seen everything on the Internet from accelerating to braking to getting on the horn. What's the right answer???

No real right answer 100% of the time. What I'd do is different in my truck vs. car. Small car with a low front end? I'm gonna do everything I can to avoid a deer with the execption of hitting a hard fixed object. In other words crowd another car, hit a swampy ditch ect. Blowing the horn sometimes will make them bolt, but ya never know what way!
I used to work in a auto body shop and saw first hand what a deer can do, even had one car towed in that hit one and the deer came in the car and kicked dents in the roof!
In a big truck I will slow as fast and as much as possible and change lanes if safe to do so I may even take the shoulder, BUT I WILL NOT GO OFF ROAD.
I have my truck in the shop now from a deer and the co. gave me another (permenent change) and wouldn't ya know it. Less than one week with it and only 10,000 I hit another one them %$##@ deer! Atleast it's still driveable.

[Orangetxguy]

repete - That's a good thing you did for that lady.

For what to do when hitting deer, I've seen everything on the Internet from accelerating to braking to getting on the horn. What's the right answer???

The easiest answer.....Pay attention to the road ahead. Use you bright lights at night as much as traffic allows, and remember.....deer are out there even in very high traffic volumes. Watch the ditches with your peripheral vision....you would be surprised. Learn to see the difference in "reflectors". State road reflectors shine bright white, orange, blue and red...eyes from various animals reflect differently. Most deer have eyes that reflect light green and very shiney...but not bright. Elk and Moose have more of a pink shine to their eyes. Wilds hogs are a dull white...and very low to the ground.

Those little plastic "deer alert" whistles. They really do work. Placement for proper air flow helps immensely, but you can see animals reacting to the high frequency pitch of those cheap plastic whistles. They are usually turning away from the sound when you see the movement.

[Mr. Ford95]

From what I understand and it makes perfect sense, slow down as much as possible and right before you know your going to hit a deer, let off the brakes and pop the throttle. Deer like to basically lay down and duck right before they get hit. If your on the binders hard your vehicle will dip the front end. Get off the brakes and maybe even punch the gas at the last second to allow the front end to get up in the air to reduce the damage. Now if the SOB simply runs out at the last second your just SOL'ed. I'm not swerving, I'm grabbing a good fistful of steering wheel just in case it hits my tire. The deer around here are oblivious to blowing your horn at them. The problem with doing it is that you have no idea which way they will run when you blow it, best bet is to not blow it at all.

[CleeIB]

Thanks, everyone, for the answers. It makes sense that driver behavior should be different for truck vs. car.

"Punching it" before hitting a deer makes sense if the intent is to raise one's front end (though this might depend on the placement of one's engine). But I'm not sure how many people would have the balls/with-it-ness to accelerate *into* a deer.

I'd think that by virtue of doing more night driving than most, truckers are attuned than normal car drivers to differences between nighttime reflectors. I know that as a fairly colorblind normal driver, I just look at reflectors to judge positioning, not type. It also seems like if one could recognize "reflectors" as deer eyes, then it might be too late to do anything.

[Mr. Ford95]

Clee, insurance companies have started telling people as a reminder this time of year to not swerve and stuff but then they say to get off the brakes right before you hit the deer. All these new cars today though have a fly by wire throttle system, punching it at the last second won't help, you have to punch it about 2 seconds before impact. There is a slight delay on cars today. My 99 pickup has no delay, as soon as I mat it, it goes. I forgot about that when I said to punch it at the last second. I don't know of any cars on our roads today that are mid-engine standard so that shouldn't matter.

[Roadhog]

I hit my first deer "unintentionally"... (I'll explain) this year. First time in 45 years of driving.

Clee... in northern mitchiegun, it's common to see pickup trucks with a big brush buster bumper, that works real well on deer.
Sometimes we've had to spill our beer...and take to the ditch, going through 1" saplings to hit that sumnabitche... but
oh yeah...I once came to a stop on a 10" tree, because of the tequila.... it seemed real funny at the time.

Well, that may sound ignorant, but you can thank yoopers for teaching the world how to properly hit a deer.

[GMAN]

I keep my engine brake on most of the time. It has discouraged deer from bolting in front of me on more than one occasion. Deer are very unpredictable in their behavior. I remember being in Iowa one winter with ice on the roads. A deer bolted and lost his footing. He barely got traction just before I would have hit him.

[old mover]

The deer are running and the days are getting shorter and the roads are slick with rain and soon ice. I was reminded about this last week when I hit a large deer on I90 The truck had to be towed ($780!) and is still waiting for parts. Last night I just happened to spot the roof of a car well off the road down in ditch covered with brush. I stopped and started walking back thinking it would be nothing, when I heard crying ! Turns out the young girl tried to miss a deer and spin out slammed the rail and went off road. She wasn't hurt but shook up and in shock. She had no idea where she was had no flash light and the lights on the car were dead. This could've gotten real bad for her as she lost her cell phone when she got bounced around.
Keep your eyes open for deer and remember if your gonna hit a deer go ahead and hit it! DON'T SLAM ON YOUR BRAKES AND WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T SWERVE!! Have a safe trip!

I was going through there around that time. Happy I didn't hit a deer. sorry for your luck on hittin that Bambi. Glad to hear the girl was ok and just shook up a bit, That kind of thing can get real ugly.
Keep the shinny side up and the rubber on the road!!!!

[golfhobo]

For what to do when hitting deer, I've seen everything on the Internet from accelerating to braking to getting on the horn. What's the right answer???

I suspect the RIGHT answer would be to lay down suppressing fire out of the passenger window [see team driving.]

I believe the only "progressive" answer is to stop the truck, get out and introduce yourself to the deer, take him to the nearest "deer crossing" sign and teach him to read English.... or at least "signage."

Convince him that it is in his interest to learn to stay within the rules set down for him by an ever increasingly intrusive Republican congress, and assure him that he can SUE if he is run over while following the rules.

I believe in a "no deer left behind" policy. But... our state gov'ts have been very liberal in their "allocation" of deer crossing areas, and it is time for the deer to "toe the line." Deerwalking should be punishable by "trucker" whenever possible to diminish the affect on "productive" society, and to reward truckers for their "herd thinning accomplishments."

And I think we should raise TAXES on the underprivileged deer, to make them PAY for the cost of having their heads stuffed and mounted over our fireplaces after we've spent so much on programs to help them survive.

Just brainstorming here... not really an accomplished "hunter." Never had a problem slowing down when I saw a deer. Run my foglights on clear nights in "open areas" because they give me more visibility on the side of the road.

Don't just drive along trusting the deer to "cross" in the areas where I see the signs.