Of deer hits and airbags

It appears the deer missed the bumper where the air bag deployment sensors are.

Sensors on this one are on the core support...which wasn't missed at all. Also I was just looking at it(it's at the dealer where I work) and although the bumper cover appears undamaged, the styrofoam behind it has a big chunk out of it, so it did hit the bumper, too. The boy's hoping for a total this time. It's the 3rd wreck in about 6 months(only 1 his fault)and he's wanting a different car now.

-- Old Crow '82 FLTC-P "Pearl" '95 Wrangler YJ TOMKAT,DOF#51,SENS, BS#133, MAMBM, SLOB#13, DH#2

Then it appears the MFR Murphy has reared his ugly head.

One of my customers tagged one in his rental car yesterday, it caved in the hood and bent the radiator. I hope his credit card insurance covers it, he didnt buy the extra fromthe rental company. Air bag didnt fire, but it didnt sto the car either.

: : Sensors on this one are on the core support...which wasn't missed at : all. Also I was just looking at it(it's at the dealer where I work) : and although the bumper cover appears undamaged, the styrofoam behind : it has a big chunk out of it, so it did hit the bumper, too. : The boy's hoping for a total this time. It's the 3rd wreck in about 6 : months(only 1 his fault)and he's wanting a different car now. : : -- : Old Crow : '82 FLTC-P "Pearl" : '95 Wrangler YJ : TOMKAT,DOF#51,SENS, BS#133, MAMBM, SLOB#13, DH#2

Hey OC... Your sig cracks me up.

It was cool looking at your photo album. There in the first picture of (I am guessing) you and a nice looking gal with long curly hair... In the background there is a small picture frame on the right hand side of mantle... I think I have it's twin.

Hope that all is well and the boy gets his total if that's what he really wants. Are you sure that the airbag sensors were properly connected last time it was crashed? It reminds me to watch for deer carefully. Out where we are they are thick as fleas.

Oh! The cave pictures, were those taken at the Jack Daniels Distillery? They look familiar. How about the river pic? Where is that?

KJK

That's pretty much the way it works. You're driving along and all of sudden you're face to face with a deer that landed on your hood and is looking at you through the windshield. Never saw him but there he is. How do I know? Oh I know.

Steve

The airbag sensor is in the bumper. It appears by the hood damage, the deer may have jumped at the last minute reducing the impact force on the bumper sufficient to avoid airbag deployment.

I gotta admit, most of it relates to rec.motorcycles.harley. So sue me :-) I used to post as Big Daddy, but when the damn movie came out, BD's sprung up like weeds in spring. About that time I hit 50, and I decided it was time for a change(google "Diary of a DOF" in rmh). We collect the OC whisky advertising stuff, so it seemed like the name to use.

Nope, another Harley guy and his neighbors wife(for Coasty and anyone else familar with rmh, that's RE and Mrs Neighbor from Hell). I'm the fat guy in the next picture taken with my better half on the flight deck of the USS John C Stennis. The oldest Crow is seen in a couple of other shots with me and his twin grandsons, who were born on his 75th B-day.

Too wierd. It's on a wall in Jackson, Ca.

Yeah, if the sensors weren't hooked up, there'd have been a warning light. Car was taken over to the Mitsi dealer after the last repair to clear out the codes(the advantage of working for a multi-lne dealer).

Yeah, and the damn hillbillys around here are all trapsing through the woods getting them all stirred up right now, too. I hit one in the Jeep about this time last year, but I was only doin' 65 and it didn't really do that much damage.

The cave's in Fairfield Bay, AR, and the river is the White River, near Calico Rock, AR. Those were taken whist we were out in the Jeep, Geocaching. It's what we do when it's too cold to ride the Harley's.

I ain't even gonna comment on the Land Crusier pics. My sons liked that one when we saw it at a car show in Jackson last spring.

-- Old Crow '82 FLTC-P "Pearl" '95 Wrangler YJ TOMKAT,DOF#51,SENS, BS#133, MAMBM, SLOB#13, DH#2

Absolutly *everybody* that saw the car yesterday said the exact same thing. He hit one about a year ago at a much slower speed, said it just knocked the deers feet from under it and the deer slid on over the top of the car...not even a scratch on the car from that one. My boy never even looked at the deer the other night, but the cop told him it was pretty good sized for around here. What scared me was that it happened on the freeway. On the back roads you expect it, but you'd think the traffic on the freeway would keep them away.

-- Old Crow '82 FLTC-P "Pearl" '95 Wrangler YJ TOMKAT,DOF#51,SENS, BS#133, MAMBM, SLOB#13, DH#2

Deer don't give a damn about traffic. A single vehicle though, in the middle of the night, on the back roads, will send them scurrying. This is similar, I think, to "not seeing the forest for the trees".

Earle

--snippy--

Just looking at the damage, I wouldn't have expected the bags to deploy. The hit was too high and even if it weren't, it takes a very large force to deploy the bags. The difference between hitting a deer (that probably went flying several yards after impact) and hitting another car or a solid object is *huge*. Remember too the manufacturers have to walk a fine line on setting when the bags deploy. If they set it too low and a bag goes off for a relatively minor hit, it could obscure the driver's view and cause a bigger accident - and a lawsuit.

Reminds me of the time I inadvertently went cow bowling on a backroad. Not one, but five - count'em, five, 800+ lb cows decided to cross the road. Late at night, no street lights of any kind, no moonlight, black cows on a black road. I was doing about 55-60. The guy in front of me was just beyond the range of my headlight low beams. I saw one shiny hoof and had enough time to throw on the brakes and make a quick lane change only to find another cow! When it was all said and done, I took out three of them! Then, the cops and I had to round up the other two and commandeer a barn to put them in.

Anyway, I was lucky. If I had been in a vehicle that sat just two or three inches lower, those cows would have been in my lap instead of being thrown down the road.

I came across a fresh accident about the time the ambulance got there. Girl riding a horse, horse spooked, ran in front of a car doing around

I agree with the posts that state that the deer's primary body mass was probably above the sensors for the airbags. Deer legs aren't very heavy, but the guts are.

It also looks like your son did exactly what he should have when looking at a deer coming at your hood. Keep straight and hit the brakes & hope for the best. More people are killed by deer without hitting the deer than by nailing them square-on. Sudden turns & diving in the ditch to spare deer result in hitting more big trees than 120 pound deer and trees don't go over the top of you very often.

Good luck with the insurance & congradulations to your kid for not panicing under stress.

Cheers, - JJ

My sister hit a deer a few years ago in her Ford Mini-van and did $7000 damage. The air-bags did not deploy, I assume, because the mass of the deer body was above the bumper.

I see them all the time as the village where I live is in the center of a nature preserve but have never hit one. They walk with impunity around the village streets snacking on vegetation and the food people leave out.

Perhaps we've altered our driving as we've become habituated to each other or the low speed limit give both time to avoid collision.

Heck, it happened so fast, he didn't have enough time to do anything but hit the brakes after the deer bounced off the hood. Same with the one that I hit last year...saw it one jump before he landed in front of the Jeep...by the time I hit the brakes he was already laid out on top of th front bumper.

Insurance is no problem, they're used to this sort of stuff around here, and besides, he called the cops, so there's a report filed. I don't even think they charge the deductable on deer hits, and it won't increase my rates. Our agent says *always* aim to hit the deer, not avoid it If you hit the deer and total the car, they'll pay, if you miss the deer and total the car, it's on you.

-- Old Crow '82 FLTC-P "Pearl" '95 Wrangler YJ TOMKAT,DOF#51,SENS, BS#133, MAMBM, SLOB#13, DH#2

I see this all the time around here, people hit one with no time to react, and it goes over the top and they look at the damage and drive home. People who have time to reach often leave skid marks to the edge of the pavement, and then big marks on trees or at the bottom of a drop-off. I have had people come into my lane (2 lane roads) to avoid deer, on a bike thats a bit worrysome.

Years ago I was out a night in an old Chevy Panel truck. Three deer went across the road right in front of the truck, I nailed the third one. Took out the hood and grill, but didn't go over the hood. I ended up sideways in the road. The headlights were smashed so no lights. I got on the side of the road and used flares. State cop came along and I took the deer home in the back of the truck. Tasty son of a gun. Cop got some headlights and I was good to go.

Andy