rumrunn6

re: securing your bikes on a rack. if you're thinking should I double or triple check how I've mounted my bike & rack to my car. or if you think an extra strap can help. don't hesitate, do it

you might saving a life that's not yours

1 injured in I-89 rollover - WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-

jefnvk

Yep. In addition, it is also a great reminder when you are driving, it is almost always better to hit whatever suddenly appears in front of you instead of trying to swerve and avoid it.

bobwysiwyg

Yup. Tried drilling this into my daughter years ago while giving her driving lessons.

TimothyH

"Almost always" is quite a generalization.

It depends on the drivers level of skill, ability to stay calm and vehicle type. Someone with 35 years experience city driving behind the wheel of a sports car which handles well isn't the same as a teenager in mom's top heavy SUV.

It also depends on the object. I might swerve around a double sink which falls off the back of a truck but not a bag of trash. Both were real incidents which I experienced here in Atlanta.


-Tim-

xodondum

I've seen cars totaled to avoid hitting deer.

Marcus_Ti

RE:Wildlife....the basic options are to total your car hitting the deer (or you-wish-the-insurance-company-DID-total-it for what it will cost to fix)...or take a chance and try to dodge the deer.


There's a chance you might miss the deer after all in maneuvering and be 100% fine (to which there may be consequences that are negative to trying as you mention)...but if you hit the deer, it is 100% certain your wallet (as well as your body/head) is going to be hurting.

Noddy

In addition if the rack itself is secured by any straps such as a hatch or trunk mount please understand that sunlight and weather make those straps deteriorate. Please don't kill anyone because you were too cheap to replace a couple of straps or an entire bike rack.

The propensity on this forum to over-analyze and pick apart general comments made by others is both amazing and truly depressing. It's really quite off-putting.

Maelochs

So if the travel-trailer in front of you is towing a car and the car comes loose ... Plow that sucker----For Safety!

DrIsotope

In high school, I watched a lady total a '66 Mustang by running it into one of those guy wires at the end of a run of telephone poles... to avoid hitting a cat.

My kids aren't even near driving age yet, and I've already instilled in them: don't swerve. You swerve, hit something solid-- that's a single vehicle accident, and you are 100% at fault. You hit a deer and demolish the front end of the car, insurance takes care of it and you're out the deductible... provided the deer doesn't go through the windshield and finish you off.

But then again, we don't live in deer/moose country, so many in other locales likely think differently.

mulveyr 

Yep, we live in a part of NY that has so many deer that we joke "If you haven't hit one yet, you probably don't drive."

Most of the time you just end up with severe front end damage. But probably once every year or two someone is killed when the deer goes through the windshield ( or like happened this weekend, when a motorcyclist hit one. )
But the deaths are rare enough that it makes sense to not swerve.

OTOH, most of the collisions I've had personal knowledge of involved the deer jumping out of the underbrush directly into the path of the car, so it's not like you have much opportunity to swerve anyhow.

canklecat

Several years ago swerving in heavy traffic was so common around Dallas I began to wonder whether it was a maneuver being taught in driver ed. In routine bumper to bumper traffic some drivers would swerve right or left onto the road shoulders simultaneously with braking. Every dang time. Like a jerky dance chorus. Dumbest stunt I'd ever seen.

Haven't seen drivers doing that for awhile. Presumably cops ticketed that maneuver out of existence.

I can understand driving around obstacles and hazards. But most folks overestimate their driving skills. They seem to think logging hours on the sofa watching NASCAR qualifies them for expert level commuting maneuvers.

One of my favorite rural routes includes a segment with deer crossings. I see 'em almost every ride, morning and late afternoon. Usually they're crossing within 100 yards of my approach. I slow down for those segments and I don't kid myself that I'm quick enough to evade a collision if one decides to dart out directly in front of, or into me. Even the little ones are about like medium sized dogs and would probably hurt more in a crash.

bobwysiwyg

Source?

rumrunn6

I think it's usually moose that make it thru the windshield cuz they are taller. you take them out at the knees & the body falls thru the windshield. been spending more time driving to Vt & seeing the blood trails & reading the crash reports. they often also shred the roof back like a can opener

DrIsotope

Deadliest mammal in North America? Deer. By a lot-- on average 120 people a year are killed by deer, while second place is dogs way down with 28 a year. The science-types can put out all sorts of papers about the strength of laminate glass, but when a car going +60mph hits a 150lb deer, that deer is going right through the windshield, and often, through part of the roof as well.



Just be thankful that moose aren't more plentiful. Many near 1,000lbs, 6' tall at the shoulder...

1Coopgt

Yup it was sad hearing about the rider Friday morning.

You should tell that to my friend ,I don't think he will believe you . He spent 2 months in the hospital after a deer came through his windshield . He was very luck to survive. The windshield may be that strong but if it comes in with the deer what good is it's strength ?

SylvainG

"rolling severed times".

I guess they don't proofread their articles...

bobwysiwyg

They have developed some very strong, exotic glass, metallic as I recall, but very expensive. I question they've made to auto assembly lines yet. Could be wrong though.

thumpism 

Depends on the obstacle. The Murano in the photo plunged off the hill into my lane on I-81 in PA. Massive braking in the Westy, then off the brakes and steered past it on the shoulder. I would not do this for every obstacle, but it's worth it to miss another vehicle.
Crash2 lined.jpg

EvilPhish

The glass isn't necessarily stronger than the glue holding it in the frame.

mulveyr 

Yup. And for what it's worth, that same 150lb deer hitting a car is going to trash steel as well; my father had a 1975-ish era Nova that he was driving when he had a glancing hit with a deer. It almost completely peeled off the sheet metal on the driver's side of the car. I suspect mtb_addict doesn't quite realize the massive forces involved in a deer collision.

CliffordK

hopefully that doesn't include bikes that are being ridden by someone.

Sangetsu

I used to be a traffic accident investigator for a large police department, and the advice not to swerve is good. I have been to accidents where someone swerved to avoid hitting a dead dog in the street only to crash head-on with a city bus, killing the bus driver, and hurting several people on the bus, and another swerving to avoid rear-ending another car, only to run over and kill two pedestrians on the sidewalk. Cars are designed to resist impacts with other cars, and most things smaller. I will swerve to avoid a head-on collision, or avoid rear-ending a stopped semi-truck, but in most cases, it is best just to hit the brakes and hold on.

jefnvk

I guess I was wrong in thinking my statement could be reasonably read.

No, if a car is sitting in your lane (or a concrete barricade, or any other large rather unmoveable object), your best bet is to try and avoid it. No, if there is a person in the lane, the best option isn't to run them over. If a bike without a rider, a deer, a bag of garbage, a blown tire, etc suddenly appears in front of you, it is best to hit the brakes, find a clear path, and then when you know you have the car under control and can do so safely in regards both to your ability to control the vehicle and not hit anyone else, maneuver safely out of the way. Jerking the wheel is often going to wind up with you in far more pain and with far more vehicle damage than just hitting the object. And yes, deer can come through the windshield and cause injury, it is still more likely you lose control swerving and hurt yourself that way.

In the future, I'll remember to write a full paragraph specifically detailing my thoughts, instead of what I assume to be a fairly straight forward sentence

FBinNY 

I've also seen cars totaled by hitting a deer.

Whether braking and hitting is better than swerving depends on a bunch of variables, including the type of car and what the obstruction or hazard is.

A rabbit, sure hit it, a deer or moose you're car is likely to suffer sever damage from a broadside hit, and the body coming through the windshield could cause you sever injury.

BTW - hitting a bike may be more serious than it's weight may predict. Odds are you won't hit it square, so it could damage either front axle and lock that wheel, which could cause the same kind of loss of control that swerving might have.

The story doesn't make it clear, but unless it fell off a car immediately in front of this driver, it was laying in the road for a little while, and apparently other drivers managed to avoid it.

So the real takeaway may be to be alert, and keep ones eyes on the road well forward of braking or maneuvering distance. (that doesn't excuse whoever caused it to be there in the first place).

Ogsarg

What would an autonomous vehicle have done? Who would be responsible for the consequences? Going to be interesting when we start having things like this happen and only software programmers to blame.