Over corrected!!

[vizsla owner]

From 10/11 news in Lincoln, NE


[IMG]http://media.graytvinc.com/images/468*350/TRAILER-SIDE.jpg[/IMG]


According to the Seward County Sheriff's Department, 4-5 people in a pickup hauling a mobile home trailer are expected to live after the trailer overturned north of Seward.
Officials said around 8:15 Thursday morning, the driver of the pickup swerved to avoid an animal near Highway 15 and Agnew Road. The trailer overturned causing the pickup to flip upside down.
Highway 15 was closed for 2 and a half hours but has since reopened.
Officials said one of the occupants was able to get out of the pickup. The fire department had to use the jaws of life to get the others out. Everyone in the pickup was taken to the hospital in Seward. The extent of their injuries are unknown.
10/11's David Jespersen talked to a person who lives next to the highway who said when it happened you could hear the sound of the tires, a loud boom and the sound of metal scraping along highway. He came out and called 911.

[Herk7769]

Man, that is a tiny truck to be pulling that camper.

[Arefbee]

Link to the news report.
Highway 15 Reopens After Trailer Overturns
Pray for the occupants is all I can think to say.

[bodzcampers]

Tragic and Sad.
Hope they are okay in the long run.

[Herk7769]

Thanks, much better image of the truck in the video.
That was a full size RAM.
My thoughts and prayers are with them as well.
Herk

PS - Says a lot for the truck AND the camper.
Safety chains kept them together even with a mishap that violent.

[Coops1]

Wow, I hope they are ok as well.

I think he would've been better off hitting the animal... but who knows.

[Herk7769]

In the same vein as "Crash Training" for pilots, (knowing how to crash a combat aircraft without ejection seats is just as important as knowing how to fly one), I read an article on "How to hit a deer."

They said to brake hard but right before you hit, get OFF the brake.
The logic goes like this:

Braking causes the nose of the car to go down and stay down. This way when you do hit, the deer is coming through the windshield and could kill you even though the crash was survivable.

Releasing the brake will raise the nose and the deer should hit below the hood or go under the car.

That was the gist of the article anyway. I think it applies more to single vehicles and not towing. If I have the camper on, I going to hit the thing straight as I can and hope for the best.

Are there any truckers out there that can share their experience or training on hitting deer sized animals?

[Poppy94]

statistically, more people are hurt or killed by trying to avoid animals. it's been my experience here in Texas, and parts of Oklahoma/Kansas, that when you see a deer, coyote, badger, or whatever. just back off of the accelerator/kill the cruise control. see the animal's reaction. if they're crossing the road and oncoming traffic is nonexistent, then ever so slightly and i mean very little steering wheel action, i slightly direct the vehicle to their rear. i've hit a few which took out my headlight assembly on one side or the other. but then i could limp into town without that sucker in my radiator or windshield. no sudden jerks of the wheel or harsh braking! that's my two cents.

[Arefbee]

Originally Posted by MurphyKyle

statistically, more people are hurt or killed by trying to avoid animals. it's been my experience here in Texas, and parts of Oklahoma/Kansas, that when you see a deer, coyote, badger, or whatever. just back off of the accelerator/kill the cruise control. see the animal's reaction. if they're crossing the road and oncoming traffic is nonexistent, then ever so slightly and i mean very little steering wheel action, i slightly direct the vehicle to their rear. i've hit a few which took out my headlight assembly on one side or the other. but then i could limp into town without that sucker in my radiator or windshield. no sudden jerks of the wheel or harsh braking! that's my two cents.

X2

Also, one thing I have seen pretty often.
If a deer crosses the road ahead of you, watch out for the rest of the herd behind it - take a hint and slow it down.

[F.R.O.G.]

Herk, here's some information that I found on a site called www.wildlifeaccidents.ca. However, it doesn't address the towing issue.

What if a Crash is Inevitable?

In certain conditions, there is no real choice except to strike the animal.
If it appears impossible to avoid the animal:

• Aim for the spot the animal is coming from, not where it is going.
• Look where you want to go, not at the animal. You tend to drive where you look - if you are looking at the animal, that is where the vehicle tends to go.
• If you must hit something, try for a glancing blow rather than a head-on hit.
• Brake firmly and quickly, then look, and steer your vehicle to strike the animal at an angle.
• Let up on the brake just before you hit the animal. This causes the front end of your vehicle to rise and reduces the chances of the animal coming through your windshield.

[awwall]

Originally Posted by herk7769

In the same vein as "Crash Training" for pilots, (knowing how to crash a combat aircraft without ejection seats is just as important as knowing how to fly one), I read an article on "How to hit a deer."

They said to brake hard but right before you hit, get OFF the brake.
The logic goes like this:

Braking causes the nose of the car to go down and stay down. This way when you do hit, the deer is coming through the windshield and could kill you even though the crash was survivable.

Releasing the brake will raise the nose and the deer should hit below the hood or go under the car.

That was the gist of the article anyway. I think it applies more to single vehicles and not towing. If I have the camper on, I going to hit the thing straight as I can and hope for the best.

Are there any truckers out there that can share their experience or training on hitting deer sized animals?

Kind of acts like the old cow scoops on the front of old locomotives. Makes sense.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by F.R.O.G.

Herk, here's some information that I found on a site called www.wildlifeaccidents.ca. However, it doesn't address the towing issue.

What if a Crash is Inevitable?

In certain conditions, there is no real choice except to strike the animal.
If it appears impossible to avoid the animal:

• Aim for the spot the animal is coming from, not where it is going.
• Look where you want to go, not at the animal. You tend to drive where you look - if you are looking at the animal, that is where the vehicle tends to go.
• If you must hit something, try for a glancing blow rather than a head-on hit.
• Brake firmly and quickly, then look, and steer your vehicle to strike the animal at an angle.
• Let up on the brake just before you hit the animal. This causes the front end of your vehicle to rise and reduces the chances of the animal coming through your windshield.

One more. Clean pants afterward... Lol

[Herk7769]

Thanks!!!

I knew I read it somewhere. That sounds like JUST like what I read.
You had it all and thank you for all the other bits I forgot!

Originally Posted by F.R.O.G.

Herk, here's some information that I found on a site called www.wildlifeaccidents.ca. However, it doesn't address the towing issue.

What if a Crash is Inevitable?

In certain conditions, there is no real choice except to strike the animal.
If it appears impossible to avoid the animal:

• Aim for the spot the animal is coming from, not where it is going.
• Look where you want to go, not at the animal. You tend to drive where you look - if you are looking at the animal, that is where the vehicle tends to go.
• If you must hit something, try for a glancing blow rather than a head-on hit.
• Brake firmly and quickly, then look, and steer your vehicle to strike the animal at an angle.
• Let up on the brake just before you hit the animal. This causes the front end of your vehicle to rise and reduces the chances of the animal coming through your windshield.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by garbonz

One more. Clean pants afterward... Lol

Oh yea...

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Arefbee

If a deer crosses the road ahead of you, watch out for the rest of the herd behind it - take a hint and slow it down.

All too valid!

[ependydad]

If there's time, I'll tap the horn a few times. Many years ago I either made up or heard that it helps "unfreeze" the deer if they get stuck with fear that you're barreling down on them and may get them moving enough to get out of your way.

I do it when they're on the side of the road and are looking like they might come out. But that's at back roads speed...

[vizsla owner]

I had 2 deer cross 1/2 mile in front of me, yesterday. I still slowed down. they were no more then 75 ft off the road as i approached. The dang things then started to bolt and one ended up coming back across the road. Thankfully slowing down I was able to come to a complete stop as she crossed a mere feet in front of the car.

Anytime I see one it's always coast past that spot looking for more coming or them turning back around.

[Scratch]

The area in which we live is quite overpopulated with deer and wild pigs thus contributing to our losing two vehicles in less than a year to deer strikes. My wife had purchased a new Ford Escape two weeks prior to lending it to our daughter in 2006. DD wound up in the hospital when she wrecked into a bridge abutment after swerving to miss a deer.

Several months later, I was headed to work early one Friday morning during the fall rut. I was doing about 50 mph when a doe ran across the road about 15 feet in front of the car. I slowed; aware that more would probably follow, however, she was being chased by a starry eyed ten point buck who decided the quickest path to Ms. Doe was through the side of my Mustang. He wiped out the entire right side of the car as he hit the front bumper & windshield, then rolled down the side to soon be dispatched by an F350 dually that had been riding my rear bumper. A fraction of a second either way would have resulted in the ole boy coming through the front windshield or through the passenger side window. God is good...

Fortunately, deer strikes are covered by the comprehensive clause of our insurance policy vs. collision which would have resulted in significantly raising our rates.

We're constantly on the alert when we drive through the hill country and I've had several other close calls, usually early morning or early evening when they are most active. Deer are not the brightest of God's creatures. They'll stand in the road and stare at you as you drive up on them thus the phrase 'Deer in the Headlights Look'.

Pigs are a whole nuther problem...

[Arefbee]

A friend hit three deer with an AMC Matador. (city guy on country roads)
It needed new headlights and they needed to buy a chest freezer.