nklr: deer, was 09s are out

[telliott@aol.com]

I've been in safety for an insurance co. since I got out of school. There are a few things I can say from many accident investigations. Deer are very unpredictable (DUH!).? There is no sure answer other than don't ride/drive. Deer are just about everywhere now. I live in a wooded but developing area with lots of deer. I know of 3 cases, me being one, that the deer hit the car trying to cross the road while running from something else. No one saw them until they heard the thump. I also drive about 3500 miles a month. On a trip in AL at about 11AM on a rural stretch of interstate. I watched a frightened deer come out of the woods on the left side of the right of way, a good 75 ft. from the traffic lane going the opposite direction. It crossed those two lanes of traffic, crossed the median. There was a car a few hundred yards ahead of me, far enough that the deer was not in his line of site. (Would have been if he had been turning his head and watching all around himself, like all of us riders do, right?). The deer proceeded across the left lane and hit the Honda on the rear top post as it tried to jump over it, flipped into the grass and ran off into the woods. Seriously damaged the Honda. There are a few tips though- If you don't have time to clear it by a good distance and the deer isn't in a dead run, aim at it. It's instinct is to jump randomly out of the way of a predator (You). So if at the last minute you dodge you have a 50% chance that you will turn the same way the deer goes. If it is at a full run aim behind it and pray! Or sometimes accelerating may work better. There is no "one way" with deer, they are too unpredictable. I have had several close encounters with deer on motorcycles over 40+ years of riding/racing. I've come close to hitting them on trails riding a dirt bike. And I've experimented with aiming at them. They will try to get away from you! In the closest encounter on the street, I was going only about 25-30 mph about 15 ft behind another rider. This was also near mid-day, within sight of the rally site, so don't think just not riding at night will keep you from deer encounters. This deer came out of a soy bean field and up a small bank. I saw it as it broke out of the tall beans. It was coming fast and I hit the brakes hard and aimed straight at it as it came across my path. As I slowed it did a complete 360 between my front wheel and my leg! I looked down as it just pirouetted. It did a 360 right beside me and went on across the road past my back wheel. Lucky? Yes, but I think it heard my front tire skidding! And if I had swerved it would have changed the deer's reaction.? And if it hadn't turned around, I would have at least hit the deer straight on at a slower speed. As I said no givens and I'm sure others have had experiences where they swerved and missed the deer.? 50/50 chance but one thing for sure it won't stand still! If you aim at it at least there are two directions it can jump and get out of the way. YOMV! Terry [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]