I have a theory I would like to run by the “teeming millions”. If a deer is “caught” in your headlights, and you quick shut your lights off,would the deer run out of harms way? I don’t suggest anybody try this out. I was just wondering. I am sure your reflexes would have to be quite fast but it sounded like a good idea to me. Any comments?
I have wondered the same thing. I think it would work actually, especially if you were dextrous enough to hit the horn while your lights were off. You wouldn’t need to leave them off for more than half a second, so you wouldn’t have to worry about driving blind. I’ve done the same thing by accident at night when I thought my lights were off and I was messing around trying to turn them on. No big thing … if you’re quick about it.
That’s just a guess, though. My only experience was once I was driving with my dad, and a buck was standing in the road. He hit his brakes hard enough to lock the wheels, and the noise of skidding tires scared the buck in time for it to leap grandly out of the way. One of the few times when locking the brakes is actually a good thing…
I’ve been driving around deer most of my life, in a rural setting when I was young and in a suburban setting now. I’ve never understood why people honk at deer. They know your’re coming, they have great hearing and eyesight. The only thing honking does is spooks them, and they’re just as likely to jump into your path as away from it.
The only safe way to drive around deer is to drive slowly and be careful, they are unpredictable creatures. I’ve never observed deer being “caught” in headlights either. Sometimes they just don’t know what to do so they don’t do anything, even though they’re in your path, but that can happen during the day just as easily as at night.
One of my peeves, there are deer that hang out in front of my house along a well travelled road and people are always flying by going 60 in a 40 and honking as they approach the deer. It’s annoying to the people who live along the road. Plus I’ve had to pick up more than my share of dead or dying fawns.
I would think that although deer have excellent sight, it would take more than a quick second to let the eyes adjust to what had just happened. I think it would be similar to someone shining a flashlight in your eyes and then turning it off. You are not instantly able to see clearly, and if you’re like me, you still have all those little light tracers (for a couple of seconds anyway)… I can see everyone working already on “light tracers.”
You step into the stream, yet the water keeps moving…Now you are in the presence of abscence