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There are a lot of dead deer at the side of the road in New Jersey. There are electronic signs up reminding people that it's rutting season and to watch for them jumping out in front of you. It has happened to me several times this year, but thankfully I haven't hit any.
I have a 2011 accord bought new with only 11k miles put on in 6 years. Now, I'm working nights and having to drive in deer infested areas and I encounter deer nightly. Everyone says it's just a matter of time until I hit one. I'm not sure what to do bc I feel like if my car gets totaled they will never give me the real value of the ultra low miles. If they give me 13-15k, I'm not going to get a Honda with 11k miles and no previous owners. The entire reason I kept my miles low is bc I don't want to replace it for 15 years.
Part of me was thinking maybe I should sell it before I hit the deer and buy a 5-7k tank type car that I wouldn't be so depressed if I crashed it. I'm so stressed out about this and I have to drive in the dark every night.
You might not (probably won't) total the car, it all depends.
Also, they can hit you, I had that happen, put a big dent in the quarterpanel...No total though, even on an old car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hellob
Thanks for the advice so far. I don't think that people realize that most of New York is deer country. I'm trying to move towards Buffalo suburbs just to get away from this Bigfoot country. Snow is only a few months but these deer are constant!
Look for eyes. They light up before the deer do.
And don't worry. You need to be cautious but you are overthinking it, I fear.
I believe at one point (1920s or so) deer were very endangered and nearly extinct in the US. Why not go back to those days and just let hunters take all they want? They are dangerous on the highways.
Thanks for the advice so far. I don't think that people realize that most of New York is deer country. I'm trying to move towards Buffalo suburbs just to get away from this Bigfoot country. Snow is only a few months but these deer are constant!
Haha. I don't think people realize that most of NEW JERSEY is deer country. They move right into civilization.
I have a 2011 accord bought new with only 11k miles put on in 6 years. Now, I'm working nights and having to drive in deer infested areas and I encounter deer nightly. Everyone says it's just a matter of time until I hit one. I'm not sure what to do bc I feel like if my car gets totaled they will never give me the real value of the ultra low miles. If they give me 13-15k, I'm not going to get a Honda with 11k miles and no previous owners. The entire reason I kept my miles low is bc I don't want to replace it for 15 years.
Part of me was thinking maybe I should sell it before I hit the deer and buy a 5-7k tank type car that I wouldn't be so depressed if I crashed it. I'm so stressed out about this and I have to drive in the dark every night.
I've lived in deer country all my life. Knock on wood, I have yet to hit a deer. We're talking nearly 30 years of driving? How do I deal with it? Well, a lot of it is luck, but I also am conscious of scanning the sides of the road for animals if I'm driving through a heavily wooded area. There is a lot of deer that runs through our neighborhood, so I get plenty of practice with dodging deer.
It all depends on where you live. We live in a township 27 miles from Detroit. We have 10,000 people and typically 30 deer car collisions a year. My father lives in a more rural area 55 miles from Detroit. He had never hit a deer, never had a close call and rarely sees deer on the road (but they are in his yard every day). Some areas get a lot more of them on the road than others. IN super rural areas they tend to stay away from roads because they can. IN less rural areas, they are forced to cross roads a lot more often.
Freeway collisions are pretty rare despite the frequency that you see dead deer along the freeway. You have to consider how many hundreds of thousands to car trips go on that freeway for each dead deer. It is pretty rare, which is good because in a freeway situation there is not a lot you can do. Swerving or jamming on your brakes is more likely to get you killed than just hitting it. If you are certain thee is not one right behind or charging up on you, you can brake hard if the movement is dry, but generally, a panic stop or swerve is going to get you hurt or killed because you lose control of your car and/or collide with another car or truck instead of or in addition to the deer.
Just keep the wheel straight, duck down in your seat, and let the fur fly. If you have good car insurance, you shouldn't be worried. The only way your car will be totaled is if your airbags deploy. If it does, your car is totaled, plus you won't be able to see a thing.
If you think deer are bad, wait until you see what happens when you hit a bear. I saw the aftermath of a Civic that hit a bear at highway speed. The entire front was destroyed, the bear went into the windshield which collapsed on the driver, and the front of the roof was smashed back about 6 inches. I don't know if the driver survived or not.
I believe at one point (1920s or so) deer were very endangered and nearly extinct in the US. Why not go back to those days and just let hunters take all they want? They are dangerous on the highways.
Because no one, least of all the hunters, want that.
In North Carolina its pretty well known that despite hunters asking for slightly more restrictive regulations to increase the chances of seeing mature bucks, the insurance industry lobbies hard. Each hunter in this state can kill 6 deer a year.
I believe at one point (1920s or so) deer were very endangered and nearly extinct in the US. Why not go back to those days and just let hunters take all they want? They are dangerous on the highways.
The part of MD I live in, with the combined seasons of bow, muzzleloader and rifle/shotgun we are allowed over 30 deer. Combine that with all the crop damage permits given out to farmers and a lot of deer can be legally taken. But there are still way too many. They seem to breed like rats and this whole part of the state here is one giant food lot. It's amazing how the population has exploded in the last 20/30 years. The first time I hunted, back in the late 80's we could only harvest a couple a year. Now, there is no way I would think of taking what I am allowed.
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