16'991GT3

Out of curiosity what happens in terms of insurance and what not with the damage to the car, may it Rest In Peace!

Sean in Texas

Wow

Carrera51

I think the Summit Point has been given a special permit for "pest control" from Jefferson County but I am not 100% sure. Hopefully someone in the know will be able to chime in.

compex

Which was there first deer or track?

acropora157

I was there that day and I decided to skip that session. I also agree that it is unacceptable. Especially when the deer came from the center section of the track outward. It's not uncommon there as you know. Some high fencing or deer deterrent is mandatory. Sorry for your troubles and glad that you were not seriously hurt. A pleasure too meet both you and your son.

Manifold

To clarify, I started this thread, but it was Pat that hit the deer, not me. I hit a deer last year at SP, on the front straight before pit-out, with the deer crossing from right to left, and fortunately the damage to my car was minor.

acropora157

OK thank you. I didn't read every post yet, before I posted. I now see the
pmcgannon post as well.

Carrera51

They have been thinning the herd. About a dozen this month alone, plus they have also thinned the groundhog population by removing over 100 of them. Probably more cats on the grounds than groundhogs.

onevoice

Deer can be very hard to control. It is easy to think they are common, until you start putting hunting pressure on them, then they are ghosts. The complication is that hunting regulations for game animals are a state function, not at the descretion of the track. In most states, it is possible to get special permits to hunt out of season, farmers commonly get them, but conservation departments don't just hand them out every reason. Fences sound great, but deer proof fencing around the property would be very expensive, and you still have to eliminate all the ones inside when the fence goes up. That is not as easy as you would think, I have seen studies where deer were released into a fenced, heavily wooded area, approximately 1 mile square. Hunters were able to kill 20% of them in a month long hunting effort. As the deer become accustomed to hunters, they become almost impossible to kill.
With more hunting pressure, the deer around the track can be reduced, but eliminating them is impossible.

Manifold

Understood and agreed, which is why IMO the goal should be risk reduction rather than risk elimination. To reduce the risk, the deer population can be reduced, and fencing can be placed to at least keep the deer away from higher-speed locations of the track. Deer fencing has been found effective in reducing deer-vehicle collisions on the road, eg http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27...rado-toll-road.

Carrera51

The track staff is actively hunting. Like onevoice said, deer are good at avoiding hunters. My brother in law hunts and said they can be elusive when you try to track them. I think for a hunt to be effective, the county as a whole will need to allow more hunting.

AlD

a few thoughts

I've only driven Summit twice; both in races, in a Spec Miata. Both events there were deer hits; one year a guy also took a turkey through the windshield (passenger side).

One of the deer hits was in the dark; the first car got mauled, dumped fluid, and the deer was laying almost at the apex of T1. Then a car (Miata) hit the carcass, so more "fluids" all over the place....then cars 3, 4....not sure....went off. Bad. Can't even look at venison to this day.

I am not familiar at all with SP's history with deer, or what they are doing, but given the volume of YouTube videos on hits there, "it's a known problem". A serious injury, or worse, coupled with a shark personal injury and liability attorney, is a foreseeable outcome. "They knew and didn't address it". It may not be right, or fair, but insurance companies don't insure justice, they insure against jury trial settlements.

At Monticello Motor Club (which granted is a private track), there is great perimeter fencing, so larger animals stay out. Turtles, groundhogs and possums....well, they get in. Turtles the track will red flag to try and hustle them off, plus you have few excuses about not seeing a "fast moving turtle". I took a possum at 165mph, was relieved afterward that I've been trained enough to not try and save it, but it did an astonishing amount of damage and required substantial disassembly of my car back to the diffuser for extensive power washing and bleach cleaning...

As for wildlife, fences (if maintained) do work, but fences are controversial (to conservationists) and expensive to build and maintain. FWIW, our small town spends approximately $1500 per resident per year on deer control and the herd is growing. They are survivors....

Ur20v

if deer get used to hunters then turn elusive to saud hunters- get dear storker helmet covers, tweed race suit and make car look like a hide... job done.

Fencing works to a high percentage, this should be first remody then internal cull. I am suprised no one has sued them yet. With the number of collisions someone will get hurt.

Manifold

Here's some cost data for deer fencing:

http://agbioresearch.msu.edu/uploads...rest_Crops.pdf

http://ecosystems.psu.edu/facilities...eer/woven-wire

Using a cost of say $5/ft, placing about a half-mile of fence along each side of the front straight of SP would keep the deer away from the fastest part of the track at a cost about $25K, which is nothing compared to what the track can afford (lots of annual revenue from government contracts) and what the damage to cars has been in this section of the track (damage to Pat's car alone was several times more than that, even if the car wasn't declared totaled).

fast.track.guy

Absolutly correct! A fence driver's left of the main straight, driver's left from 9 to 10 and around the whole property would address this. It's been suggested to the current owner many times. Really suggested after the deer hit-fatality between 9 and the bridge a few years ago. She will not spend the money. Spent it for a fence when she ran the Apple Orchard on the property. Dumped the bad apples by the truck load in the woods, driver's left of the main straight just before the breaking zone for years. Added a pond in the woods driver's left a few years ago. Deer are there because food and water were put there. But no fence.