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  1. #1
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    Best way to protect your self?

    I am wondering if you are driving 70 miles per hour down the high way and a deer jumps in front of you how do you protect your self the best way without getting killed or hurt to bad? Reason I asked is one of the daughters of a high offical of Montana got killed Thursday night (she was 24 years old) by hitting a deer.

    I know this sounds like a strange question, but is there really any way to protect your self? She did have her seat belt on and air bag was working, ect.

  2. #2
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    I don't think there really is a way except for trying to avoid the deer without hitting other cars and such.
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  3. #3
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    Brake hard, don't leave your lane or the road. A deer yields alot more than another car or a tree.

  4. #4
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    I've heard that if you can't avoid hitting it, you want to apply to the brakes, but not too much. If you really slam the brakes, the front of the car dips down and the deer will fly over the hood and into the windshield, causing more harm to the people inside.

  5. #5
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    You want to brake as hard as you can without losing control of the car. If you go into an uncontrolled skid there's no telling what kind of collision you might have. I doubt the part of the front of the car dipping down enough to make a difference. If you hit the deer it will probably fly over the hood anyway. The more velocity you can lose before impact, the less chance of it coming through the windshield hard enough to kill you.

    If you can avoid hitting it that can be best, but it depends on what path if any is available to you, and what if anything you would hit trying to miss the deer.

    If you can see deer near the road well in advance you should reduce speed to have more control as you get closer.

  6. #6
    Definatly do not lose control of the car, that is the worst thing that can happen.

  7. #7
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    When we go to see my family in West Virginia each year we see tons of deer laying on the roads from getting hit, all of my family has hit deer and I think the only real thing you can do is get a BIG car or truck to better your chances, I know if I ever lived there that is probably what I would do in combination with wearing a seatbelt.

    I don't think during the day it would be as bad as at night because you really have no time to see it ahead of time in the dark, It is also VERY foggy there quite often which makes it worse.

  8. #8
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    Where there is one deer, there are usually 2-3. Whenever I see a deer, I start honking my horn like crazy, and the deer always run off in the opposite direction.

    I've saved myself several times while driving, see a deer up ahead starting to cross the road, so I start honking my horn and the deer takes off the way it came, along with the other 2 deer behind it.

  9. #9
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    Yeah day time is not so bad (though once in a while you will get one of the crazy deers trying to jump in front of you), but night time is when it is horrible. I usually see about 10 to 30 deer a night driving home.


    Originally posted by OKIHost
    When we go to see my family in West Virginia each year we see tons of deer laying on the roads from getting hit, all of my family has hit deer and I think the only real thing you can do is get a BIG car or truck to better your chances, I know if I ever lived there that is probably what I would do in combination with wearing a seatbelt.

    I don't think during the day it would be as bad as at night because you really have no time to see it ahead of time in the dark, It is also VERY foggy there quite often which makes it worse.

  10. #10
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    The "best" thing to do is hit the deer. If you can't avoid it, you'd rather damage your car and stay in your lane than swerve over into another one and get into a worse wreck and possibly kill some humans. Honking and flashing the headlights usually helps though.

  11. #11
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    Edit: double post. Stupid database crashed for a minute there.

  12. #12
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    Drive a big truck.

    Seriously though, hit the brakes hard, then let go as youre about to hit the deer. When you hit the brakes hard, all the weight gets transfered to the front forcing the front of the car down a good 6-10". If you let go of the breaks a moment before impact, the front will rise again reducing the risk of it going through your windshield, and breaking for an additional half a second wont reduce your speed too much.
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  13. #13
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    Try and hit it with the front corners rather than the centre of the car....preferably the offside corner.
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  14. #14
    I drive on mountain passes quite frequently and have seen my fair share of deer in the road. Believe it or not, honking the horn actually will get them to move in most cases. I would have thought it would make the freeze, but it has worked for me twice.

    Also, if you hit the brakes hard and dont have ABS, you will slide. You should pump the brakes hard if you don't have ABS
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  15. #15
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    Your chances of not getting too seriously injured -- or killed -- are bettered by bigger cars. So, if you live in a mountainous or generally rural place, drive a pickup truck, huge SUV, or minivan. Luckily, my uncle had his family's minivan when he rammed into a deer at 65 miles per hour while taking his daughter (my cousin) to camp several summers ago. That deer went flying a few yards, and it only dented the bumper of their car, as well as splashing a bit of blood and other "bodily fluids" atop the bumper, hood, and windshield of the car. Needless to say, the deer was in pretty bad shape, and I don't remember what they did with it. My other cousin hit one as well, but fortunately she was going slower, as she saw it with enough time to brake significantly, and therefore only made contact at about 30 MPH. The deer was mutilated, and her car was almost totaled, as it was a small little Corolla. Nonetheless, my cousin escaped without injury.

    If we could just control the deer population, a lot of these incidents wouldn't be a problem. It is only because of the irrational hunting laws and regulations that cause so many of the tragedies I so often hear about, where individuals and even entire families are killed or critically injured upon smashing into a deer at 65 miles per hour, sending the deer flying through the windshield, landing atop the two front seat passengers, still being alive, and kicking and clubbing the dying or seriously injured passengers. The latter isn't always the case, but I've heard about a couple incidents where indeed this did happen; even if the deer is disabled, it can and you better believe it will do everything to "protect" itself from harm.

  16. #16
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    Buy those "Deer Away" things for your car. They make a silent noise only deer can hear and it scares them away back into the woods.

    Drive slow on roads that are known to have deer (slower = always better). This gives you additional time to break and move.

    Don't drive like a maniac.

  17. #17
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    yeah, i agree with most of the posts here.

    - don't panic! worst thing you could possibly do! use the adrenaline to yr advantage.
    - honk yr horn to try and get it to move, while braking firmly, but not too hard.
    - don't switch lanes unless you can do it without swerving or hitting another car.
    - don't risk loss of control of the car, just hit the deer if you have to.
    - if yr reflexes are quick enough, duck if you think its going to crash through the windshield.
    - pull off to the side of the road so you don't get reamed by other cars.

    it happens very fast, but you gotta keep yr head on straight. i'm from west virginia aka deer land, and they are all over the roads at night. i've been lucky enough to never have hit one. i've never had to go past the honk & brake stage.

    deer are scaredy cats by nature and don't think much of highways, so honking is usually enough. a few times though, i've been in the situation where the oncoming traffic scared the deer into my lanes and the deer were still in process of fleeing. they move quick though, chances are it'll be out of yr way before you get to it. its the ones that are scared stiff that you need to worry about!
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  18. #18
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    Jun 2004
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    the thing about deers is that they have the reflex of jumping... what happens often is that it jumps and the legs break the windshield and impale the driver....sounds weird but trust me...ive seen it happen.

  19. #19
    Many people will argue, because of the damage it will do to your car, but hey its your life, do as you will with it, but as your slamming on your ABS breaks, drop the car into 1st it will slow you down 10x quicker, Now granted, your tranny will probably fall out at the same time, you will stop ALOT quicker than just breaks

    Also someone else said not to hit the deer head on, this is EXACTLY what you want to do, if you try and hit him with just the corner of your car, you are going to be "pitting" him, which has a very very high change of sending you into an uncontrollable spin, which could put you in a 3rd collision.

    If you have airbags, drop your hands to 4pm / 8pm positions so you will not have the bag blow your hands off the wheel, keep it straight

    At 65-70+ MPH you are moving at over 255ft per second!! Think about how fast that is, you really don't have time to do much at all, keep your choices simple and quick, get into habbits of keeping your hands / feet in actions that you are going to do...

    If your on a highway, (which I hope you are doing those speeds) run it on cruise, so you can "hover" your foot on the break.

    If you think deer are around, drive like you are expecting to hit one, so if and when (hopefully never) it happens, your a few simple moves away from exectuing a stopping sequence that will be more efficient than throwing your hands up and screaming like a girl..
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  20. #20
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    Jan 2004
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    I actually have experience hitting a deer. It was a snowy night and the roads were kinda icy, I was only going about 50 km/h and all of a sudden the deer was just there, I touched the brakes but didn't slam on them. It ended up hitting the piller on the passenger side, lucky it didn't hit the windshield. I think not slamming the brakes helped. Anyway the deer did a lot of damage to the vehicle, but we were both alright so I guess that was the important part.
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  21. #21
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    Dec 2001
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    Originally posted by Trifolic
    Many people will argue, because of the damage it will do to your car, but hey its your life, do as you will with it, but as your slamming on your ABS breaks, drop the car into 1st it will slow you down 10x quicker, Now granted, your tranny will probably fall out at the same time, you will stop ALOT quicker than just breaks

    Also someone else said not to hit the deer head on, this is EXACTLY what you want to do, if you try and hit him with just the corner of your car, you are going to be "pitting" him, which has a very very high change of sending you into an uncontrollable spin, which could put you in a 3rd collision.

    If you have airbags, drop your hands to 4pm / 8pm positions so you will not have the bag blow your hands off the wheel, keep it straight

    At 65-70+ MPH you are moving at over 255ft per second!! Think about how fast that is, you really don't have time to do much at all, keep your choices simple and quick, get into habbits of keeping your hands / feet in actions that you are going to do...

    If your on a highway, (which I hope you are doing those speeds) run it on cruise, so you can "hover" your foot on the break.

    If you think deer are around, drive like you are expecting to hit one, so if and when (hopefully never) it happens, your a few simple moves away from exectuing a stopping sequence that will be more efficient than throwing your hands up and screaming like a girl..
    Thats probably some of the worst advice I've ever heard:

    Dropping your car into 1st gear should have no more effect then stomping your brakes to the floor. If your brakes are unable to completely lock up all 4 wheels (ignoring ABS granted), then you've got a serious problem. Telling people to switch gears, involves extra steps (clutch/shifter on a standard); And if you mean forcing an automatic into a lower gear, well it wont actually work on any car that I know of, as they all have failsafes to prevent dropping from overdrive, into Drive1, etc. [try dropping your automatic into park doing 10mph, there is a little pin that must fall into a groove in the shaft for it to lock into park, thus it shouldn't work]).

    Brakes should *always* be able to lock your wheels up (or darn near it given ABS), at which point it doesen't matter what else you do(aside from steering around the deer, as your wheels should be the only point of contact between the road and your vehicle, meaning that nothing else can contribute to slow your vehicle, unless you have a rocket engine strapped to your hood).

    If your brakes cannot lock up your wheels (making you skid/squeel) take your car to a mechanics immediatly. Maybe you need a heftier set depending on your vehicles configuration (as a general rule, brakes should always be able to excert a minimum of 4x the engines peak force). If you want to stop faster (and are serious about it) increase your friction surface with the road (aka switch the brand/type/ratings of your tires, racing tires will have better grip, but wear faster, or put wider/larger tires on your vehicle).

    Realistically speaking, the easiest thing I can think of (at least on Ontario highways) is to drive in the middle, or left hand lane (avoiding the right hand lane). You'll normally find deer outside the highway (not in the median); therefore you're far less likely to strike one in the left hand lane. You can also avoid driving beside other vehicles to ensure you have an available escape path. Aside from that, if you have your highbeams on, turn them off ("deer in the headlights").
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  22. #22
    Originally posted by porcupine
    Thats probably some of the worst advice I've ever heard:

    Dropping your car into 1st gear should have no more effect then stomping your brakes to the floor. If your brakes are unable to completely lock up all 4 wheels (ignoring ABS granted), then you've got a serious problem. Telling people to switch gears, involves extra steps (clutch/shifter on a standard); And if you mean forcing an automatic into a lower gear, well it wont actually work on any car that I know of, as they all have failsafes to prevent dropping from overdrive, into Drive1, etc. [try dropping your automatic into park doing 10mph, there is a little pin that must fall into a groove in the shaft for it to lock into park, thus it shouldn't work]).

    Brakes should *always* be able to lock your wheels up (or darn near it given ABS), at which point it doesen't matter what else you do(aside from steering around the deer, as your wheels should be the only point of contact between the road and your vehicle, meaning that nothing else can contribute to slow your vehicle, unless you have a rocket engine strapped to your hood).

    If your brakes cannot lock up your wheels (making you skid/squeel) take your car to a mechanics immediatly. Maybe you need a heftier set depending on your vehicles configuration (as a general rule, brakes should always be able to excert a minimum of 4x the engines peak force). If you want to stop faster (and are serious about it) increase your friction surface with the road (aka switch the brand/type/ratings of your tires, racing tires will have better grip, but wear faster, or put wider/larger tires on your vehicle).

    Realistically speaking, the easiest thing I can think of (at least on Ontario highways) is to drive in the middle, or left hand lane (avoiding the right hand lane). You'll normally find deer outside the highway (not in the median); therefore you're far less likely to strike one in the left hand lane. You can also avoid driving beside other vehicles to ensure you have an available escape path. Aside from that, if you have your highbeams on, turn them off ("deer in the headlights").
    Of course you can't drop it into park while you are in gear, there's a pin thats released when you hit the brakes, There are plenty of times that I was going down steep hills, that I dropped it down into 3rd when the brakes didn't cut it, and it will drop just as eaisly down to 1st or 2nd if your car has it, I suggest you try it yourself, N D OD 1st 2nd 3rd are all free shifting gears that you can shift on the fly in just about EVERY car.. The only places you can't go are Reverse and Park. for obvious reasons..

    And if your breaks LOCK with ABS like you say, then you DEFINETLY have a problem, if anything your car should skip, not EVER skid

    Like I said in the first line, most people will disagree and argue that its the worst thing to do, and yes, it is, but it works, it aids in the slowing of the car and acts like an engine brake (aka "Jake Brake") on rigs. And like I said you probably won't have a tranny left afterwards, but its your life.. Personally I'd rather blow a tranny, than be dead or in the hospital... And well if I die, then who really cares about the tranny..

    But shifting does work in every car on the fly from Neutral all the way down to 1st, without applying the brakes at all. Try it, it will work.
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  23. #23
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    Originally posted by Trifolic
    Of course you can't drop it into park while you are in gear, there's a pin thats released when you hit the brakes, There are plenty of times that I was going down steep hills, that I dropped it down into 3rd when the brakes didn't cut it, and it will drop just as eaisly down to 1st or 2nd if your car has it, I suggest you try it yourself, N D OD 1st 2nd 3rd are all free shifting gears that you can shift on the fly in just about EVERY car.. The only places you can't go are Reverse and Park. for obvious reasons..

    And if your breaks LOCK with ABS like you say, then you DEFINETLY have a problem, if anything your car should skip, not EVER skid

    Like I said in the first line, most people will disagree and argue that its the worst thing to do, and yes, it is, but it works, it aids in the slowing of the car and acts like an engine brake (aka "Jake Brake") on rigs. And like I said you probably won't have a tranny left afterwards, but its your life.. Personally I'd rather blow a tranny, than be dead or in the hospital... And well if I die, then who really cares about the tranny..

    But shifting does work in every car on the fly from Neutral all the way down to 1st, without applying the brakes at all. Try it, it will work.
    That depends on the vehicle, I remember in my moms old van, you could hear the pin bouncing off the socket, it had nothing to do with the brakes, once you were going slow enough (around 3-5kph), it would simply fall in, regardless of brakes.

    I drive a Mzda 626 5 speed (manual), so the automatic part doesen't apply (to me); However my car, along with *MANY* other 5 speeds will not shift into 1st gear above a set speed (mines around 15kph, or 10mph).

    My old car (a '94 Chrysler Intrepid) would not shift into the lowest gear (D1), if you were travelling over 60-70kph, the second lowest (D2) if you were travelling over around 90-120kph. This is standard amongst *MANY* vehicles.

    Most vehicles will be able to lock the wheels with ABS, as it takes a second or two to normalize generally speaking (thus will lock, and then release, ABS doesen't trigger every time you brake after all, it needs time to activate). ABS is not an exact science by any means.

    If you can lock up your wheels with your brakes, that is your entire contact surface with the road, simple physics, thus your transmission can't have any additional affect (unless in theory it falls out, and drags against the ground, further slowing your vehicle, or breaks off, and reduces the weight [and thus momentum] of your vehicle), but in realistic terms, it has no additional benefits if your brakes are working properly.
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  24. #24
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    Originally posted by SniperDevil
    Your chances of not getting too seriously injured -- or killed -- are bettered by bigger cars. So, if you live in a mountainous or generally rural place, drive a pickup truck, huge SUV, or minivan. Luckily, my uncle had his family's minivan when he rammed into a deer at 65 miles per hour while taking his daughter (my cousin) to camp several summers ago. That deer went flying a few yards, and it only dented the bumper of their car, as well as splashing a bit of blood and other "bodily fluids" atop the bumper, hood, and windshield of the car. Needless to say, the deer was in pretty bad shape, and I don't remember what they did with it. My other cousin hit one as well, but fortunately she was going slower, as she saw it with enough time to brake significantly, and therefore only made contact at about 30 MPH. The deer was mutilated, and her car was almost totaled, as it was a small little Corolla. Nonetheless, my cousin escaped without injury.
    Bigger cars or SUVs are not necessarily saver at all. The first instant that a driver has when something blocks their way on the road is to swerve around it. With a larger vehicle, or SUV, you run the risk of it tipping over and rolling.

    The best way to prevent death when hitting a deer is simple. If you know you will hit the animal, duck under the dashboard with your head tucked under your legs. When a car hits a deer, it tends to push its feet into the windshield.

  25. #25
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    Actually, hitting it dead on is not a good idea, because then you have a full sized deer flying straight to the windscreen. My dad has hit a few deer up in scotlnad and each time he makes sure he hits it with the side of the car. The car barely moves from its path.
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