Deer attacks

[ERR]

We've had quite a number of Bambi incidents this year. Most of the ones I know about had the deer come from the right. I tend to scan the right side of the road more then the left since I'd have less time to react if they came from the right (For our UK members switch right for left). Where are they coming from?

[Tony T]

I had to vote other because I had them come from both directions.

In PA on a twisty county rd they came from the left and half of them, 3 - 4 where fully across when I rounded the turn. Riding though the middle of the herd was the best option I thought because of the spacing they had. Yea, it was a major pucker factor & no I wasn’t “scraping-pegs”

Riding with Gar in WV on the interstate we seen one on the right hand shoulder watching traffic go by and waiting to cross. At the time it was amusing, Bambi looked very patient, like a pedestrian waiting for the light to turn green.

Those are my closest calls with Bambi. (Franticly knocking on wood.)

[Driveshaft]

This past week I've had one from the right and one from the left.  Either.

[forester]

I had to vote other because I had them come from both directions.

 Ditto, but the smaller the median, the worse it is.  Around here, our medians are 3' from the paved part for most of the reasonable season (until the county starts mowing them once in say, August!  )

[Mac]

Its gotten bad enough down here the MHP put out the following:

JACKSON, Miss. -- For Charles Brister, a slight rise in the deer population is great for his hunting game -- and bad for his bank account.

Brister said he hit a doe that jumped out in front of his truck.

"It messed up the front end pretty good," he said.  

According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the number of car accidents involving deer is up 50 percent this year -- a rate that could increase even more as people travel the roads this holiday season.

Lisa Siegel, of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said crews work around the clock removing deer from the roads after crashes.

The animals are more prevalent on rural roads, but wayward deer have stumbled onto interstates, too.

Siegel's advice for drivers is the same on every road.

"If they are going along the roadways and there is a deer in their path, we encourage them not to swerve because that could cause a worse accident," she said.

The driver of one mangled car swerved to avoid a deer on Siwell road. He ran into a tree and ended up in the hospital.

Siegel said the drivers who hit the deer stand a better chance of walking away from the accident unharmed.

"What we ask them to do is go ahead and hit the animal, because nine times out 10, they are just going to catch the rear end," she said.

[MDHCO]

We see a quite few in the high country.  They're as likely to be standing in the middle of the road as crossing from either direction.  

[StacyT]

Only because I usually see them on the right.

[Farked Up]

Every possible way & direction!

[CafeTBird]

Mine was from the left in the middle of an affluent suburb.  Came from behind me - I never saw it coming.

[Boxerdawg]

I think it is a bad idea to look for deer to be doing something that is in any way predictable.  If you think you've got them figured out - that's when you're most vulnerable to surprise.  Wish I had something good to say about this, but deer just happen.

[ST-DocLizard1]

I hit mine as it crossed the Fog Stripe from the right in October '04. I have a tendency to ride in the left track close to center of the road for better visibility from both sides.

Doc