Why You Shouldn't Swerve Around Deer (or Other Animals) in the Road-Doing so can actually make things more dangerous for you, the deer, or both

Life Hacker ^ | 3-8-22 | Beth Skwarecki

[SJackson]

There are a lot of bad decisions you might make if a deer appears in front of you in the road while you’re driving. You’ll be startled, it will freeze, and your brain will sound the alarm that you should do something now—but please, avoid the urge to swerve around it.

[RainMan]

20 years ago I was crossing the country, driving thru east MT in the middle of the night doing 60 or so. Popped over a small rise and there were about 10 deer on the freeway 200 feet ahead with only the narrowest of gaps between 2 of them that were directly in front of me. Grabbed the wheel tight and prepared to duck as I also tried to brake without losing control, and made it between the 2. Not one of them moved as I passed by ... I honestly think they were asleep.

[Migraine]

Nice yard.

We get them occasionally; but mainly it’s javelinas, skunks, coons and squirrels.

[lula]

Driving an F350 in Texas, saw the doe...slowed down but along came the huge buck. It was horrible. I was alone at 11pm at night. They want you to get out of the car and move the deer off the road? 100lbs of me could never do that. Cried all the way home. Thank God I had a guard on the front of the truck. Lived to tell about it and so did the truck... not so much for the buck. My daughter however totaled her car on one and she survived..unlike the deer.

[Does so]

With modern ABS brakes, you can brake AND swerve.

BTW, deer account for 150 driving deaths every year:
https://healthresearchfunding.org/21-significant-deer-car-accidents-statistics/

[Olog-hai]

Only a stressed moose behaves like that, FWICS. And the staccato beeping makes an animal react differently from yelling or dog barking.

[OldMissileer]

A missile crew in North Dakota was driving out to their Launch Control Facility in the standard issue Chevy Suburban. A moose stepped out in front of them and the hood of the truck went under the beast and the roof was crushed, killing both of the crew dogs.

[GaryCrow]

I live in a rural part of Mississippi with the highest deer densities in the country so consequently we have a LOT of deer collisions. The rapid fire horn blowing is by far the best way to prevent a collision, deer tend to freeze when seeing a car and the horn blowing will jolt them into action. They also run AWAY from the sound of the horn blowing unlike when they see lights and are confused as to which way to move. Swerving as mentioned will more likely cause you to do more damage than just hitting the deer.

Spotting them early is key, drive with your high beams on in rural areas and if you can't do that then make sure your driving/fog lights are on if your vehicle has them, it illuminates the sides of the road better. If you see deer immediately slow down as much as possible while simultaneously blowing the horn in a staccato. If none of that works then hit the deer, don't go into the ditch or into another car to avoid it, the result will be much worse than just hitting the deer.

[null and void]

Star Trek teleporting deer. The most dangerous of all.

Darks may disagree.

Protip:
Don't give Darksheare Coffee to deer.

[null and void]

Star Trek teleporting deer. The most dangerous of all.

Darks may disagree.

Protip:
Don't give Darksheare Coffee to deer.

[null and void]

The only thing that I am swerving for is a human.

Me too, but it does depend on the human...

[null and void]

Personally I had a flying turkey crack the wind fairing above the roof of my tractor. If he would have been a foot lower he would’ve been through the windshield in my face.

Dad had a similar experience with a Kamikaze on the Maryland...

[nascarnation]

I remember at the GM proving ground a car going 120 mph hit a goose and it pretty much destroyed the whole front end. What a mess to clean up too.

[null and void]

One of the few times I vividly recall my father losing his temper on me was when he was giving me driving lessons and I swerved to miss a squirrel.

I got a lecture about the time my dad hit a dog late one night outside Phoenix.

Mom was asleep in the back, no seat belts in those dark times, very pregnant with me. Hit the dog or risk my mom and me.

Sucks to be the dog.

He felt bad about the poor beastie for years, but no where near as bad as he would have felt if mom or I were injured or killed.

See up thread, wildcard_redneck, “I love my kids more than I love that rabbit."

[null and void]

I once swerved a Cessna 172 around a deer. Does that count?

Depends on opposing traffic and tail dragging tailgaters...

[null and void]

Dang. When it’s your time, it’s your time.

[null and void]

It also makes people stutttter when posting.

[Born to Conserve]

Do you speed around dangerously with your family in the car?

[gnarledmaw]

Needling me wont change that you believe strange and ridiculous things.

[Mogger]

Only a stressed moose behaves like that, FWICS. And the staccato beeping makes an animal react differently from yelling or dog barking.

Generally, yes. Chances are, the moose in the road is stressed, from previous traffic.

But then on the other hand, in over 3,000 moose encounters, it seems even the moose often has no idea what he is going to do.

From what I've seen, when they re in rut, a low pitched horn sound pisses them off, as they probably sense it as another male in their territory.

[Justa]

Early am 2 years ago I hit a deer heading in to work. Totaled my Corolla’s front end. I had a deer whistle but apparently they’re only so effective. I read up the deer get used to them and still hypno-gaze into the headlights.

My solution was 3 deer whistles of different pitch and effect. One high, one low and warbling and one medium tone. They’re all too high to hear by humans. I have yet to see a ‘tranced’ deer. They’re usually turning away, moving back down the bank, etc.