Deer strikes (auto related question)

[DrPizza]

OP is talking about jamming on his brakes. Slowing down would not cause a person to rear end you.

I wasn't responding to the OP. This is one of the two people I was responding to:

NEVER SWERVE OR BRAKE FOR ANIMALS!

Your life and other people's lives are more important. Plus your chances of getting in a serious accident go way up vs the minor damage hitting even a deer will cause.

DO NOT SWERVE OR BRAKE!!!!

 

[rudeguy]

ok and who is at fault if an airliner's tire falls off and knocks your car into the car in back of you?

You don't slam on your brakes or swerve to avoid an animal. You will only do more harm than good. Its not a hard concept man.

I wasn't responding to the OP. This is one of the two people I was responding to:

I know you don't like me but at least try to read the posts.

 

[Anubis]

OP is talking about jamming on his brakes. Slowing down would not cause a person to rear end you.

in some places it will

just pointing that out

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yes, smash the brakes to avoid a dear. Hitting dear is very dangerous. You should not be held liable since you did the correct action by slamming on the brakes.

If somebody is behind you and crashes into you, then they are 100% to blame for crashing.

 

[Zodiark1593]

ok and who is at fault if an airliner's tire falls off and knocks your car into the car in back of you?

You don't slam on your brakes or swerve to avoid an animal. You will only do more harm than good. Its not a hard concept man.

In this case, I didn't slam the Brakes. I had (barely) enough distance to where I can get a little distance to avoid being rit from behind by a tailgater. It's not as though I said "screw the people behind me". even though they'd be at fault anyway.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

NEVER SWERVE OR BRAKE FOR ANIMALS!

Your life and other people's lives are more important. Plus your chances of getting in a serious accident go way up vs the minor damage hitting even a deer will cause.

DO NOT SWERVE OR BRAKE!!!!

Deer be dangeroous...

 

[Zodiark1593]

^^ yikes. That's gonna take a little upholstery cleaning.

Also, as for the no swerving rule. I'd like to add an exception. If you have the misfortune of having a big rig close behind (thankfully a rare scenario), going head on with a small car is probably the better alternative for your own survival, albeit not by much.

 

[radhak]

This isn't a hit a deer or get rear ended question (and i thankfully am smart enough not to swerve off a cliff for a deer ). It's a question of if I'm responsible for getting rear ended due to braking for a deer or if I'm better off hitting said deer and getting rear ended still.

You are never at fault if you are rear-ended. The guy at the back is. Always.
Unless,
- you reversed suddenly
- your brake lights did not function
- you had a malfunction (flat tire) and you did not pull over, or did not engage hazard lights
- you stop/slowdown to turn, and fail to execute that turn

obviously, all those have to be proved by the guy behind you. Most cases, that is tough to do, so you get away with it...

In the scenario you related in the OP, you are not at fault even if there was no deer, and you just thought a deer was about to jump in front.

As for damage, rear damage from a minor rear ending (provided idiot behind me applied brakes at all) can at least be fixed reasonably. A deer hit to the front, my car will be totaled. For several reasons, I'd rather not part with my car for as long as humanly possible.

And for the same reason I stated above, you are absolutely right. Avoid the deer hit. The rear-end is the smaller problem, and it's not your problem.

 

[Anubis]

Deer be dangeroous...

yep, especially in short cars, they fall right into the windshield and can kill you

Moose arte even worse because they weigh 5x more and almost always fall into the windshield because of their height, its like hitting a horse

 

[Meghan54]

My first wife hit a deer, following rude's advice and it didn't end well. Had to have the car towed....over $6k in damage. Hit the doe at 55mph. Amazing the amount of damage a doe can do, worse with a buck. (They're heavier, typically.) Thankfully, she escaped with very minor injuries. The doe...after it was pulled out of the windshield, it was quite ugly.

Brake for deer. Always. Have seen too many people hit deer and the consequences are not very good, unless you're going 15mph. Anywhere near highway speeds...a deer strike isn't going to end well for either the deer or the vehicle.

 

[Zodiark1593]

yep, especially in short cars, they fall right into the windshield and can kill you

Moose arte even worse because they weigh 5x more and almost always fall into the windshield because of their height, its like hitting a horse

If I was driving in moose country, I'd think an Eject button would be in order.