Haven't hit a deer yet

[supermike]

I hit a deer in clear dark night in Grand Canyon NP and the system did not do a damn thing. I guess a deer is not a car....

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[azjl#3]

Anti-skid, stability control and traction control will usually keep you going in a straight line when you completely lose traction, correct? There's no miracle in technology to correct that. Going around a 2-lane curve when this happens either puts you into the oncoming lane or off the road. I've had it happen before in a vehicle equipped with all of that. And while it might've kept me from rear-ending the traffic stopped on a large patch of ice around a blind corner, whatever happened while sliding in the wrong lane was certainly unpredictable af for someone that's never experienced them all trying to work at once, if nothing else.

And I rarely see deer in the rain around here, but during hunting season in late November through most of January, hunters often get them moving with plenty of snow or ice on the road. Usually not with frequency of travel seen during rut, but still quite common and situations I've been in countless times.

700lb elk would certainly be worth avoiding a direct hit if possible. A much smaller 150lb whitetail? Maybe, maybe not. I'm definitely thankful for the times I've managed quick, but gentle slow-downs only to tap the deer. Even at full speed, I'm thankful for just body damage, cause every two to three years around here, there's always a new fundraiser dinner for either the family of someone killed when the deer is thrown up and through their windshield, or for when they're in a vegetative state with brain damage from the injury. And even still, we're always taught to slow down and not to swerve around a deer trying to avoid it, since going into traffic or trees still has a far higher chance of ending badly.

Dunno. It's just one common, but very specific scenario that concerns me and probably doesn't apply to the majority of drivers in the US. Otherwise, I'm mostly okay with the technology, maybe even a bit more so with some additional cameras/sensors and computational logic to not always boil down every incident to 'collision imminent, stop asap'.

Your first sentence, no, antiskid plus all the other stability stuff, allows you to to turn as you would without braking. The more you turn, the less braking applied because system wont allow you to loose contact with road. I am not saying go crazy and drive fast in turns in bad conditions.

I agree, these hit an animal issues are rare. Except in Payson Az area, probably more in Az as well. Dead elk carcass every few days on side of the road unfortunately. We drive 10mph slower around sunset times as that when we usually see them.

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I live in a deer infested area. There are well over a dozen regulars on my property alone. I see 20-30 out on our road alone almost every day. For the most part they are pretty much vehicle conscious, learned from generation to generation. Those who aren’t die quickly.​

 

[AFD]

The occasional fresh roadkill makes it plain that impacts are occurring. It's the annual dance that we tacitly agree to every time we get behind the wheel.

Absolutely. The amount of literally exploded "deer" on the highway this year is crazy. The last 15 to 20 minutes of my commute on a windy, hilly 2-lane 55 MPH highway with never-ending blindspots now has several huge blood stains on it. It's a back-and-forth route for dozens of large triaxles loaded with stone, and when they hit one at speed it's just small chunks of meat and blood everywhere like something out of a horror movie. I love me some good venison, but it's still a pretty gnarly sight. I'm guessing the exploded deer is maybe a bit safer than them bouncing the whole carcass up and onto an oncoming vehicle, so maybe it's a good thing.

Stay safe, my friend!

I agree, these hit an animal issues are rare. Except in Payson Az area, probably more in Az as well. Dead elk carcass every few days on side of the road unfortunately. We drive 10mph slower around sunset times as that when we usually see them.

Well, I certainly wouldn't say animal strikes are rare where I live. Current statistics announced this morning was 1 in 61 drivers will hit a deer, bear or elk this year in my state. Numbers are likely skewed from a couple large cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas. I probably avoid hitting a few dozen or more of them each and every year. Did tonight and do almost every week. Usually hit one (or have one hit me) at least once every five years on average.

Every few miles of my commute has either a carcass or a blood stain with several fresh kills added every day. Our deer population is 1.5M for the state, which averages out to 30 deer for every single square mile. So yeah, it's incredibly common here, but maybe not so much in some other parts of the US.

No elk in my county afaik, and don't believe I've ever come across a bear while driving, but some poor lady up the road crashed her motorcycle into a mother and two cubs last month. Bikers hitting deer seems to happen quite often as well. Usually a few times every month from late summer into early-to-mid fall. And almost everyone has loud-ass pipes, so you'd think they'd hear/feel the dang thing coming and try to avoid it.

That's what happened to my husband's 2022 Corolla Hybrid. We were well north of $10k in damage.

Ouch! And yeah, I absolutely believe it. Iirc, my last strike was ~$3,000 and that was after I came to a complete stop, then when he stopped, I slowly tried to go around him and he basically just charged and bounced off my car. Had to replace a fender, a door, one headlight and have a few dents taken out of the hood from where his head smacked into it. Actually, just checked and it was $4,000, but that's with a bullshit comprehensive plan that uses either non-OEM or used parts if possible. The time before that in the same vehicle, I skidded to a complete stop and just smacked his ass a few feet. Pulled over and popped the plastic fender back into place, good as new!

 

[YBABRAT]

Well tech is what it is, though never think it will be a cure all. It's a safety feature that can help given that most collisions are unexpected. It's not going to save your car from damage, but will save you from obtaining maximum damage. A car without it can t bone another. While one with it won't unless driver overrides. I rather have a fixable car than one taken out do to air bag deployment. Two have been with coworkers going at 70mph. I was going 35mph. Deer appeared too close once I seen it thtough fog.

As for control in questionable environments... the JL Jeep system is a lot better than most of your average cars on the road. The system is smoother and will allow driver to accelerate rather than limit power if traction allows it. As the system will not detect an out from current path. Only the driver that sees no alternative can make adjustments if not at full lock down antilock. In my case slow down mode but not full lock down of antilock.

 

[AFD]

Well tech is what it is, though never think it will be a cure all. It's a safety feature that can help given that most collisions are unexpected. It's not going to save your car from damage, but will save you from obtaining maximum damage. A car without it can t bone another. While one with it won't unless driver overrides.

Still have to keep in mind the reach of whatever cameras/sensors are being used and the stopping power of the brakes vs speed.

If you're travelling at highway speeds and someone blows through an intersection, I wouldn't put 100% faith in the system being able to both see the other vehicle in time and stop your vehicle in time to always avoid it.

And same with deer. While I'm sure it could catch one stopped or crossing a little bit ahead of you and still have enough time to safely slow or stop, with one jumping out immediately in front of you, it's already too late to try and stop.

I suppose if the side sensors could reach out far enough and the CPU could definitively identify/predict a potential cross-path impact, then maybe, but I really don't think the tech is quite there just yet to do that 100% without being so sensitive that it freaks out when driving beside a parking lot, merging traffic and other nearby laterally-moving objects that are otherwise not a threat. And if these systems ever do become fool-proof enough to rival our own senses and neural ability to logically discern everything happening in the blink of an eye, there's still travelling speeds with no way to brake in time when a deer jumps out right in front of you from behind some trees, a person steps out right in front of you from behind a truck, or a car pulls out right in front of you from behind a building - situations that we couldn't avoid on our own, with or without assistance.

While I thoroughly love most modern technology, I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to having full control of my vehicle. Will the system let me drive into some plastic traffic barrels when I'm stopped at a light and can see some nutjob flying up behind me faster than he can stop?

 

[Gangplank]

My jeep doesn't need a collision warning system. I have a wife..

Yep that technology is better than GPS and telepathically knows when the light turned green.

 

[Sardaukar]

Most of my deer strikes have been them running full-speed into the side of my vehicle, so good luck with getting any collision avoidance system to safely figure that one out.

One of these days I'm going to be driving doorless and will suddenly have a deer riding in the passenger seat.

 

[DUCK01]

I live in a deer infested area. There are well over a dozen regulars on my property alone. I see 20-30 out on our road alone almost every day. For the most part they are pretty much vehicle conscious, learned from generation to generation. Those who aren’t die quickly.​

Infested is definitely the right word. Every time I go visit friends out in Spring Branch and Bulverde in the Fall, deer are everywhere. It's wild to see them so conditioned that they're just bedded down in people's front yards like pets.

 

[WillyRiverRat]

My commute is a gauntlet of deer and elk. I have never had the collision avoidance feature activate. Not in my jeep or my truck. Just the other day a cow elk crossed in from of me so I don't believe it works for that. I simply reduce speed and use the fogs and brights to spot eyes or silhouettes.

 

[azwjowner]

Your first sentence, no, antiskid plus all the other stability stuff, allows you to to turn as you would without braking. The more you turn, the less braking applied because system wont allow you to loose contact with road. I am not saying go crazy and drive fast in turns in bad conditions.

I agree, these hit an animal issues are rare. Except in Payson Az area, probably more in Az as well. Dead elk carcass every few days on side of the road unfortunately. We drive 10mph slower around sunset times as that when we usually see them.

As a kid on road trips into northern AZ I always liked seeing the sets of witty burma shave style road signs that would warn about elk one line at a time:

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
AND YOUR SPEED SLOW
WATCH FOR ELK
AS YOU GO

I think another set was:

THEY SAW AN ELK
OH WHAT A THRILL
UNTIL THEY SMASHED IT
ON THEIR GRILLE

 

[Grn Leow]

Aluminum bumper took a beating from deer

 

[Murphydog]

Aluminum bumper took a beating from deer

Damn - that is a lot of hair too!

 

[Grn Leow]

Didn’t see the deer until it was on the bumper. Bounced out of the tall grass onto the road. Punted it out to the centre of the four lane road. The two Porches that were racing along the road sure slowed down when the saw the scene. At least I got a black grill trim out of the deal.

 

[Windshieldfarmer]

Whatever you do, don’t swerve hard to avoid a deer. My son did that last year while driving within city limits in an F250. His tire clipped a curb and his PU ended up on its side, stopped only 20’ from a large natural gas pipeline. He walked away fortunately but learned a scary lesson.

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