Hitting Deer or Other Animals

Hmm, that gives me an idea...

 

Don't serve of hit the brakes if you can put of th Jake brake and hold on then stop if hit it

 

Deer are NOT speed bumps.
New trucks are pretty flimsy in the front ends, and they do TONS of damage on a regular basis.

If you SEE deer, and still hit them, there is something wrong...
The ones I've hit were the ones I DID NOT SEE!
You get to watching the one(s) crossing the road, and you DO NOT see the straggler that you do hit!

Standard protocol is to DRIVE THROUGH the deer.
The deer committed suicide, and there is nothing you can do.
Your attention should be on keeping the vehicle in a straight line and getting off the road safely to check for damage.

There is a REASON you should carry personal libality insurance even if you are a company driver.
Some companies have dictated a deer strike is an AVOIDABLE accident...

Reasonable insurance companies will call it an act of 'God' and rule it unavoidable,
But some of the lower forms of life at some trucking companies will charge the driver with the deductible so they won't have to repair the truck on their dime...

ANYTIME you avoid a deer and wreck the truck is considered an 'Avoidable' accident, according to insurance companies.
If you HIT the deer and wreck the truck, it's an 'Act Of God' with most insurance companies,
But if you DO NOT hit the deer and wreck, you better have DEEP POCKETS.

I've even heard stories about people wrecking and having someone drag a dead deer to their location before calling police...
Don't know if they are true, but those stories are out there.

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The worst wreck I ever saw was a 'New' driver trying to avoid a deer and took out two other big trucks and half a dozen 4 wheelers in the process.
The driver was in the 'Slow' (Right) lane, being passed by two other big trucks (Which were tailgating each other) and when the 'New Guy' swerved left to avoid the deer on the shoulder crossing into his traffic lane he banged into both of the big trucks passing him.

The 4 wheelers that were tailgating trucks in both lanes plowed into the mess the big trucks had made and it was a REAL mess!
(I-77 South bound, just past the first toll booth out of Charleston, WV.)

I was behind the 4 wheelers/big trucks in a hurry, and when I saw they were bunched up like idiots, I slowed down...
So I got stopped in time...
Two other 4 wheelers got into the center divider because they couldn't stop in time when they saw my flashers.

And before the mess could be cleaned up, a 17 year old drunk kid managed to plow into a state troopers car (north bound side) when most of the mess was cleaned up!
That blocked the north bound lanes about the time we got turned loose!
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Post action overview...

Now,
There weren't supposed to be trucks in the left lane,
The 'New Guy' shouldn't have swerved to miss a deer,
Especially with a truck most of the way around him,
Isn't like he couldn't see there was someone beside him!

The second left lane truck wasn't 30 feet behind the first left lane truck when they went around me, so tailgating, speeding, wrong lane was what caused his problems.
I was doing the speed limit in that particular instance when they went around me like a freight train...

And the cars were tail-gating in both lanes, along with not paying attention when the trucks got together because NONE of the immediate 4 wheelers could stop...

4 wheelers wouldn't have been backed up and tailgating as much if the trucks in the left lane had been in the right lane where they were supposed to be.

I'm just glad I wasn't loaded heavy and there was a nice shoulder on my side or I'd have been part of that mess!
The 4 wheelers behind me went right around, lost control when they saw the accident ahead, and managed to get into the center divider keeping the emergency vehicles from reaching the scene!

I do more than my share of screw-ups,
I'm NOT saying that I NEVER speed,
That I NEVER tailgate,
That I'm never in the wrong lane...

I was just LUCKY that night that I saw what was going on and decided to back out of the mess before something happened.
99 times out of 100 all concerned would have got away with it, but it just wasn't any of their nights!

Dark, wet roads, deer rutting season, tail end of rush hour, day cab/local drivers always in a hurry over there on the 'Green Stamp'...
And we all know it's not the best road surface, or the best (straightest) road...

I hope I never see anything like that again!
It took me an hour to stop shaking even after we found out no one was killed or seriously injured.