What if a deer jumps out in front of your car?
Friday, July 10th, 2009 at
2:09 am
scott A asked:
What is the best way to hit a deer? Should you just keep going straight and brake, should you swerve, etc? What about after you hit it?
What is the best way to hit a deer? Should you just keep going straight and brake, should you swerve, etc? What about after you hit it?
Tagged with: avoid hitting deer • deer car crash • deer vs car • what if a deer jumps out
Filed under: Deer and Cars Q & A
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DON’T SWERVE…..if there is on-coming traffic and you cause an accident it’ll be your fault. Even if there isn’t on-coming traffic, don’t get in the habit of doing so. Best bet is to try and stop and if you can’t, pray to God, that deer isn’t coming through the windsheild! There are deer whistles that go on your ‘hubcaps’, but I’m not sure exactly how well the work.
You should slow down, dont swerve….there is another deer either in front of or behind the one you saw about 97% of the time. I am a maintenance manager for a lumber company/trucking company….had a deer actually jump between the cab and the cab guard on the trailed before….weird what deer will do.
There is no “best” way to hit a deer. They can change direction in an instant. I have hit 2 in the hills where I live and there really isn’t anything you can do to avoid them. I have been told to honk the horn, told to turn towards the back end of the deer, etc. nothing really works since you are dealing with a living thing.
If one jumps in front of you, start braking gently, then pull off the road do so safely, if there is no place to pull over and the car still runs, turn on the emergency flashers, and slowly drive to a safe haven where you can check on the damage and make any necessary phone calls.
Place the deer between the headlights,take your foot of the gas and place it over the brake pedal without applying the brakes. Once the vehicle has made contact with the deer slow the vehicle down to a controlled stop off to the side of the road. Before driving away,check for damage to vehicle and call the proper authorities before leaving. Take pictures if you have a camera. The insurance should cover it.
I hit a deer in a truck in Texas a few years ago and did $4000.00 damage to a brand new truck. It only had 5200 miles on it. I received no repercussions for the incident. Unfortunately, the deer didn’t fare as well. I broke hard and stayed in my lane because, like listed above, you have no idea where the deer is going to go.
Two weeks after my incident with the deer, another driver from our company had a similar situation, but he swerved onto the shoulder to miss the deer. Unfortunately for him and the deer, things did not work out so well. The deer changed lanes with him and not only did he hit the deer, but scraped the whole right side of the truck on a guardrail in the process. He ended up with a chargeable accident for it. Had he not hit the guardrail, he would have been ok, but because he chose to swerve to miss the deer, it changed “an act of god” to the level of an accident. He ended up doing more damage to the truck than what happened to me.
My suggestion, brake hard to lessen the impact, but do not swerve out of your lane.
Drive slower in areas where you see deer signs, and always be prepared to stop (if you can). Get deer whistles to put on your car. I guess if it would be safe to swerve a bit…..don’t be in an accident! But, I have heard of people loosing their life because they ’swerved’ to avoid a deer! Just drive carefully, and watch for their eyes. Also, if you see one, chances are there are more.
If possible, either drive around the deer without hitting other cars or stop without hitting the deer. Do not swerve into the path of another car, off the edge of a cliff, into a tree or mountain, etc. Keep straight and just try to slow slowly.
Depends on how close the deer is, instinctively you’re likely to brake and hard. Good idea, it will lessen the damage on impact – may even give the beast a chance of getting out of the way- milliseconds count. If it is far enough ahead and you have enough time you can take evasive action to avoid a collision, but swevering can be worse than that a collision depending on the road you are on. Just slow down in the deer areas especially where you see the signs.
The best way is to slow down and hit it slow. You can’t predict the way it’s going to move, so the only alternative is to slow down and lessen the impact. You can try to dodge it if you see that it starts to move a certain direction, but the impact is what is going to do the damage. Swerving can cause worse damage if you hit a tree or something. The bulk of the deers weight is above the legs, so if you hit it the body is coming at you at windshield level. Hit it hard enough and it will come through the windshield. If you swerve the wrong way, you may either hit another car head-on or drive off the road into a tree or a ditch. Hitting another car head-on or hitting a tree will be much more destructive than the deer. So your best bet is to slow down in a straight line then just hit it.
I always hit the brakes and watch what the deer does. If I need to swerve, I wait until the deer has commited to move. That way I know the best direction to go, and I’ve slowed enough to do it without wrecking. Also, if it’s night and the brights are on, dim your headlights if you can. Deer’s eyes are best suited for nightime. They get blinded and confused, and will wildly dart in any direction they can instead of out of your path. And watch out for other deer. Many times one will cross the road far in front of me only to be followed by one or two more. I slow until I get past the crossing point. So far, I’ve not hit any, but it could just be dumb luck.