Near Miss With a Deer

[DeafPug]

Driving home tonight over 4 hours after sunset, so generally well after the time that deer are most active, I just about became a statistic with my R1T. Traveling 55 mph on a paved county road, I saw a couple deer in the corner of my eye in the ditch, and then not even a second later, saw one barely trotting across the road right in front of me. Luckily, I was able to slow just enough, swerve slightly, and the deer decided to get a move on, that I barely missed it.

This is the closest I've come to hitting one so far - got the blood pumping for a little bit!

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[McLovin]

It’s a shame you missed it. Venison road kill is quite tasty…

 

[Rade]

Traveling 55 mph on a paved county road, I saw a couple deer in the corner of my eye in the ditch, and then not even a second later, saw one barely trotting across the road right in front of me.

I think about that a lot. We see deer in the Interstate medians and standing far off to the side of the roads a lot, too. Question (and granted you were probably in serious accident avoidance mode); did the deer appear in the drivers display as anything?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Good job avoiding that accident.

 

[DeafPug]

I think about that a lot. We see deer in the Interstate medians and standing far off to the side of the roads a lot, too. Question (and granted you were probably in serious accident avoidance mode); did the deer appear in the drivers display as anything?

i don’t have any idea about something showing on the display. I don’t remember hearing any emergency braking alarms. There could have been,, but it was over in a flash.

Thinking back - I didn’t notice the anti-lock brakes going, so should have hit the brakes harder. I also should have had the high beams on. I don’t particularly care for how the auto dim happens at times, so I don’t always have the brights on when driving on the country roads.

 

[Weck]

i don’t have any idea about something showing on the display. I don’t remember hearing any emergency braking alarms. There could have been,, but it was over in a flash.

Thinking back - I didn’t notice the anti-lock brakes going, so should have hit the brakes harder. I also should have had the high beams on. I don’t particularly care for how the auto dim happens at times, so I don’t always have the brights on when driving on the country roads.

The adaptive high beams on Gen 2 are AWESOME for rural roads and deer. I was saved by them within a month of getting my truck last March.

Classic situation of oncoming car and a deer crossing behind it, the adaptive blacked out around the car but kept the opposite ditch lit up bright allowing me to see the deer despite the headlight glare coming at me.

Have since had a few more encounters, but not close as I could see them coming.

I leave those things on permanently, have yet to be flashed by other traffic so they seem to work as intended.

 

[Birdowin]

Whenever I see a deer in the road in front of me I hit the breaks and get on the horn. That gets them moving.

 

[Eeyore]

That's a brown pants moment for sure.
Happy for the near miss.

 

[bfilippo]

The adaptive high beams on Gen 2 are AWESOME for rural roads and deer. I was saved by them within a month of getting my truck last March.

Classic situation of oncoming car and a deer crossing behind it, the adaptive blacked out around the car but kept the opposite ditch lit up bright allowing me to see the deer despite the headlight glare coming at me.

Have since had a few more encounters, but not close as I could see them coming.

I leave those things on permanently, have yet to be flashed by other traffic so they seem to work as intended.

Agreed, here we have deer in the road just about year round, so it’s a huge benefit with the headlights plus high res cameras.

 

[Dave Cundiff]

Two principles of deer behavior that help my wife and me avoid problems:

First, adult deer are smart -- in the same way that human three-year-olds are smart. They are generally good at respondling to one situation at a time. If we and our cars are the second situation, and not the first, they appear to us to be incredibly stupid and unpredictable.

Second, deer generally stick together for mutual protection (e.g., sounding a collective alarm about predators). When you see one or more deer, there's a high probability there are other group members that you don't see.

***

If a deer is afraid of something in the forest, or afraid of being separated from its group, it may dart in front of us. This reflects normal deer behavior. Those behaviors aren't crazy. They're just very different from what we usually expect wildlife to do.

So, when I see a deer anywhere close to the road, I slow down to a speed where the deer I see, and any other deer, can see my car and adjust its actions accordingly. Because the deer may take a while to react, I try to slow down to maybe 5-6 mph, or maybe stop completely, depending on circumstances. I haven't hit a deer since fall 2016, when I first started this strategy.

If, for some reason, we do hit a deer, I'm still glad we have a Rivian. The Rivian's electronics will likely be badly damaged, and the Rivian may well be totaled. The deer won't do well either. But the humans will likely be uninjured.

***

Adult elk are a lot more savvy than deer about roads and cars, although elk calves are not. But that's another story.

I hope this helps make sense of a scary situation, @DeafPug. Glad you and your family are OK. Best wishes!

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