What would you think the normal reaction of a driver would be to a deer suddenly appearing in front of him, whether walking or leaping across a road? What would you do? Would you slam on the brakes? Would you swerve to avoid the deer?
Or would you just drift off the road onto the shoulder? Would you just lift your foot off the accelerator and NOT stomp on the brakes? If you were going the speed limit of 45MPH and approaching a 35MPH zone, you'd probably get stopped pretty quickly - like in less than 39 yards before you hit and mangled a speed limit sign. Wouldn't you?One deputy has told me that training is to stand on the brakes hard. If you have a choice of hitting a deer or running off the road, hit the deer. Of course, this will leave evidence of the deer on the patrol car.
There are no skid marks on the pavement or in the gravel on the shoulder.
This patrol vehicle is one of two with the not-too-popular (in some circles) ALPRs - Automated License Plate Readers. These are the devices that can read thousands of license plates per day, supposedly only looking for wanted plates. There is some degree of controversy about ALPRs, because some of them store information and thus can be used to track movements of the vehicles.
The vehicle apparently didn't stop where it ran over the speed limit sign. Debris is on the shoulder about 100 yards north of the downed sign.
7 comments:
Gus, you should know that the activities at the Sheriff's Department are supposed to be top secret!
It is not for civilians to ask or question what goes on there.
Mind you, it is possible the Deputy was practicing the Zinke move (1 finger raised in the side window to the crowd while looking ahead) and got confused and stuck the middle finger up in front of him/her and looked out the side window and went off the road.
It could happen...
This is an instantaneous happenstance. Also frightening to any driver.
I hope the Deputy is Okay.
I've been driving over 30 years and never had a single fender bender.
One early fall morning when the deer are in the 'rut,' I was heading north on Interstate 57 in S Illinois where the bucks are huge, 200 pounds plus.
I was traveling in a small Nissan Sentra when from out of nowhere, a monster buck came flying out from the roadside ditch onto the interstate and I had about 1/2 a second to respond.
I tightly held the steering column with both hands, 10 and 2 as they say, and plowed right thru that big boy!
Broadsidiing him, he was sent airborne flying past my drivers side window, dead, right now!
Had I made any other move, I would have killed myself no question about it.
When it doubt, keep calm and steady at the wheel and plow through anything in front of you rather then swerve to try to avoid a collision.
Usually the car always wins in these case, but with heavy damage.
Car vs tree, the tree always wins.
My car was totaled to be sure, but I survived just fine.
It took me months to begin relaxing behind the wheel again as these things happen so quickly, you cannot imagine it until it happens to you.
I USED to say, "any fool can dodge a deer!"
Was I ever wrong!!
I admit to being a fool, but please, if ever you find yourself in this place, you have but one split moment, his life or yours.
Again, I hope the Deputy is okay.
How many "skid marks" have you seen that have been left by cars with ABS, like just about all cars in the past decade or two? Do you even know what you're talking about? Might observe a yaw mark when a vehicle is sliding sideways and forward at the same time. Otherwise you won't see much of anything because the ABS prevents the wheels from locking up and if they don't lock up when the vehicle is going straight they don't leave your so-called "skid marks." Whether or not you found furrows in the gravel shoulder is immaterial. A) you don't know what you're talking about on dry pavement so why should we think you know what you're talking about off the pavement?, and B) didn't they teach you to get OFF the brakes when you have one wheel on the road and the other in the ditch and try to ride it out and regain the pavement with all four wheels? Did you sleep through driver's education?
Lots and lots of questions that you ask and lots of bulls**t as well. What does the ALPR have to do with this. Apparently you don't even know if a deer was claimed to be involved since you just ask the question but make no mention of your "source" on the deer. Not that I doubt the deer story, after all we know that particular area is a conservation area, wooded, protected, a haven for deer and tis the season. Seen quite a few in recent weeks in the evening. Why not give it a rest and concentrate on your black helicopters?
Ha I know one of the guys that works on the MCSD cars and they are always wrecking those things! You typically don't hear about it but it happens all of the time. It seems to be a trend that MCSD deputys claim a deer ran out in front of them whenever they crash...
A friend of mine has a brother that knows a guy that works at the parts store that talks to the guys that work on the squad cars and I heard that they have trophy deer heads mounted just below the photos of the MCSO black helicopters.
BTW MIke is spot on about ABS. Also in our family we have had 5 deer collsions in the past 20 years. One ran out of a ditch and hit me in the side door then ran away, my wife hit one about a mile from our house and was only going 30mph. She hit another one a few years ago in about the same spot. My son hit one on his way home from college and the other son drove off the road avoiding several that were crossing the road right on a curve...BTW another driver witnessed it and stopped.
ALSO....GUS with all your clout, maybe you can get the highway dept to place the deer crossing signs in areas where it is safer for the deer to cross.....makes as much sense as you rambling about the maybe, what if, no skid marks and ALPR...oh,that's the ticket, ALPR...make deer wear a license plate so we can ID them using the ALPR.
Nota, I'll bet in each case where one of your cars and a deer collided there was some evidence that the deer had been there. You know, a little deer hide on your car or blood on the fender.
I've seen deer in the road, too. And in S.D. one ran up an embankment and leaped across my lane about 10' in front of me.
I still think "Say it was a deer" is taught in Police Crash Reports 101.
I believe that skid marks ARE visible with ABS.
Post a Comment