BAMBI season ... Car deer collisions & crashes ....

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Erie Insurance Group deer claim study.   ERIE's statistics:  

Most collisions with animals occur
during the last week of October and first two weeks of November,
and
more than 50% of deer collisions take place
between 5 p.m. and midnight.

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• Be aware: If you see one deer, expect others may follow.


• After dark -  Use high-beams if possible. They illuminate the eyes of deer and provide more time for motorists to react.


• Don't swerve - into another lane to avoid a deer. The greater risk is hitting an oncoming car.


• Drive defensively - from 5 p.m. to midnight and during hours shortly before and after sunrise when deer movement is most frequent.

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Some 3,634 deer were struck by vehicles last year in nine Southwestern Ohio counties —  numbers recently released by the Ohio Insurance Institute.

October, November and December are the worst months for deer strikes. It's mating season, and the big animals are on the move, particularly during the hours around dawn and dusk.

The Insurance Information Institute reports that nationwide there are more than 500,000 deer/car collisions each year resulting in deaths, injuries and millions of dollars in damage.

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Home From Telluride, Valk Not So Lucky
Heidi and I got home at about 4:00 PM Sunday afternoon from our trip to Telluride (full report to come later), however as indicated by the subject of this post, our Valkyrie Interstate wasn’t so lucky. Heidi needed to get home fairly early Sunday afternoon because she had a plane to catch from DIA Sunday evening to San Antonio for an Air Force Reserve class. So we left from the hotel in Telluride at about 6:15 AM planning on getting home by about 1:00 PM.

It was a beautiful morning in Southwest Colorado as we heading out of the canyon on highway 145 for highway 92 and the Dallas Divide. Nice ride out of the canyon from Telluride to highway 92 where we turned to head over the Dallas Divide. Made it over the divide and headed downhill to Ridgeway at a nice leisurely pace.

A few miles from Ridgeway we rounded a nice easy corner onto a long straight section of highway, nice clear road ahead, running right at about the speed limit of 60 mph. Then in an instant all hell breaks loose with the front end of the bike!

There is a big jolt, the bike starts to fishtail violently and the front end goes from lock to lock about 3 times. Somehow I get control of the bike and we’re heading in a straight line again with plenty of straight road ahead and I’m yelling on the intercom to Heidi that we’re ok as the biggest thought running through my mind at that instant is that Heidi must be freaking out back there.

I grab for the clutch lever to downshift, what the hell, there ISN’T a clutch lever! It was at this moment that I finally realize that we must have hit something, although all I can remember seeing is clear road ahead before the impact. So, I hit the kill switch to shut off the engine, and not knowing what has really happened, I elected to stay off the brakes and just let the bike coast down the road until I had lost enough speed to ease it over to the shoulder and stop.

Now I usually have to wait for Heidi to get off the bike before starting to get off myself, but the first thing I notice the instant the bike gets stopped is Heidi standing to the left of me with the intercom cord stretched about 3 feet. I guess she wanted off that bike!

I motion to her to unplug the intercom cord and then look down toward the front wheel of the bike, what the hell! There laying at the right side of the wheel is the deer we had just hit and then dragged down the highway.

A gentleman that had been behind us approached, checked to make sure we were all right, and then got right on the phone and made the 911 call for help. He then stayed with us until helped arrive and described to me what had happened. Right after we had came out of the corner onto the straight section of highway, a group of 4 deer bounding up from the right without any hesitation at all directly into us. I struck one directly mid body and he said another actually clipped the rear of the bike and somersaulted off the road to the left behind us.

I NEVER saw a single deer until we had come to a stop and saw the one we had hit. And I was watching for wildlife the entire time we had been on the road, even before the impact I can remember coming out the corner scanning ahead to both sides of the road and seeing nothing but clear road ahead.
The only logical reason I can think of that I didn’t see the deer at all was because, one I must have done a mirror check at that precise instant, and two that section of highway is raised above ground to the right. So the only thing that makes sense to me is that I checked the road ahead, saw that it was clear, and then did a quick checked in my left mirror to check behind, and it was at that instant the deer came up from below on our right.

Roy was kind enough to share these pictures and words with us in the interests of rider education. One of the lessons to be learned here is that those little critters are fast, nearly invisible, and they can even get to the best of us. They're waiting to ambush us...sometimes even when we most expect it.

Another lesson, and one that I feel very strongly about, is clearly illustrated here...that is...until the bike is actually down, never quit riding it. Sure, luck played a part, but make no mistake. This bike stayed up and the rider and pillon walked away simply because the pilot never quit flying it. Good job Roy.
Daniel Meyer




for the complete story, go here:
http://lifeisaroad.com/deerkilling.html

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By ELISABETH SALEMME Sat Nov 17