Have to travel through the area north of Edmonton, AB. and am concerned about colliding with deer. I had one such collision and do not wish anymore such encounters, if possible.
Reported for forum change.
They don’t work. I have a friend who had them on her car and still hit two deer.
I strongly believe that if they were effective, the insurance industry would lobby to have them installed on every new car as they have for airbags, 5mph bumpers and the like. Auto-animal collisions are responsible for a lot of claims.
At the same time? Or…I used this before and hit a deer. Let me try it again.
i saw a few studies (which i don’t have cites handy) done by wildlife people at universities or government agencies finding that they didn’t produce any effective outcome.
keeping your eyes moving observing the road sides is the best you can do along with reduced speed so you can stop.
Be concerned about hitting a deer. Be completely terrified of hitting a moose.
If they moved the deer crossing signs to quieter roads it wouldn’t be such a problem ;).
Of course they work… they’re great at making bucks flee your wallet!
<b’dum-tishsh>
Two separate collisions.
I had a pair on my car, and a deer hit me. It had been my wife’s car and her father had put them on (a pair of little bullet-shaped things that were supposed to emit a whistle). I was driving home from work, too fast on a country road (about 60 in a 45). I spotted the deer in the opposite (oncoming) lane, facing my lane but looking away from me – most likely seeing his shadow from my headlights move. I braked hard but not hard enough to squeal, and had slowed down to 20 or 30 when I passed him. Just before I passed him he saw me. I still remember a flash of white from his wide open eyes, and I heard a loud thump of something hitting my rear quarter panel. He’d been startled and started running and hit me. Didn’t leave a dent or scratch, so hopefully he wasn’t hurt.
Data point = 1, which isn’t terribly meaningful, but he didn’t swing his head toward me until I was practically on top of him.
I took a product development class in college, and our project was to find a way to prevent deer from eating people’s gardens. One of the things we researched was sound deterrents. It turns out that the frequency range that deer can hear is fairly close to what humans can hear - so if you can’t hear it, most likely they can’t either.
Also, the frequencies the deer whistle manufacturers claim they produce do not travel very far, so even if the deer were able to hear them, it wouldn’t be until you were practically on top of them.
I know people who have had them on their cars though, and when they were in use, NONE of the cars struck any tigers. So they must be very effective at warning tigers.
I’ve said this in a previous thread on the same topic, and I’ll repeat it here.
My wife’s grandmother swears by the deer repelling whistles she has on her car. As long as she’s had them, she’s never hit a deer. I’ve told her that my car keys protect me from bear attacks. As long as I’ve carried them with me, I’ve never been mauled by a bear.
She didn’t understand the logic.
The best defense is to drive slowly and keep a sharp eye out. I swear there are suicidal deer behind every bush, just waiting for the opportune time to jump out and hit me. I try not to give them the perverse satisfaction.
Also, use your high beams when you’re not in a position that they’d blind other drivers. High beams will illuminate the side of the road better, giving you more chance to see browsing deer before they enter your lane.
Note that, if you do see deer loitering near the road, SLOW DOWN as you approach. They are not predictable and might suddenly startle into the road when you don’t expect it would happen.