“I saw a group of five of them running down the street on Dayton Yellow Springs Road,” Nick Long of Yellow Springs told WHIO-TV Meteorologist Kimberly Thomson about our local deer problem. “They were running along side of our car and then kind of crossed the street and jumped through a field.”
The article goes on to give advice on how to avoid hitting deer. One thing it does not say, and this is my personal advice, is that you should not swerve to avoid hitting a deer. Most fatal accidents (fatal to humans that is) occur when a driver jerks the wheel to avoid hitting an animal. Most roads in our area provide no room for error and have a steep drop off or are lined with trees and utility poles. If a deer crosses in front of you, hit your brakes, but do not swerve. Chances are the deer will be gone by the time you reach its location. If you swerve, you are likely to run off the road and flip over or hit a tree or pole. As sad as it is, it is better to hit the movable object.
WHIO-TV: Deer Pose Dangers for Drivers
Posts
2 comments:
The deer was running across the highway fairly fast (I-75 near Sidney) fairly fast. We were on a trajectory to hit. I thought I would swerve to avoid it by going behind it as it passed. The deer stopped dead and I hit it and caused $4000 damage to the car. thankfully I was not hurt nor my precious cargo of 3 kids. Had I not swerved I would have missed it.
Very scary, indeed. We just missed one at night on I-70 near Trotwood one night. It ran right across the road in heavy 70 mph traffic. No one had time to slow or swerve and no one hit it. I didn't see it until it ran out from in front of the car to my left and slightly ahead of me. If either one of us had jerked the wheel, we would have caused a massive accident. Fortunately, we just didn't have time to react.
Post a Comment