911FM

+1 with other posters. Few thoughts:

- At 160mph, you do not have time to really react when you see the dear (Assuming it is coming from the bushes and not sitting on the road for 5 mins before you arrive). Having driven on the Autobahn, the landscape really flies by.

- Best is to brake hard in straight line to reduce the impact speed. Horn may be a good idea but it may distract you from steering

- IMHO, the risk for your life at 160 is much higher if you spin, get off road or on the crash barriers than if you hit something directly, especially if there are other cars on the highway.

- Swerving is no guarantee you will not hit it as the animal may move.

- With the shape of our vehicles, there is a chance the dear will be projected above the vehicle. Dears in Europe are not as big as a moose or a donkey. I would be more worried about a wild boar.

- Worst case, the front will take the collision, airbag will deploy, etc. (It was designed for this, so you trust the German engineers...)

- Given same likelihood of survival, I would rather have the car hit the dear than hit the crash barrier, a tree or crash in a ditch. At least, you have a proof of what happened (dead dear) as opposed to questions from the insurance around your driving ability and excessive risk. - And you may get to keep and eat the dear...

FM

utkinpol

rules are same for any speed, actually -
full brakes, try to drop speed and align car to hit it at straight angle, make sure your trajectory after impact is not aimed at road curve/rocks/walls etc,
at impact moment put arms in front of your face and brace for an impact.

worst mistake is to swirl the car, fly off the road and roll it potentially wrapping it around a light post/tree.

there were plenty of cases when animal`s hooves after a hit did go through roof/glass and killed driver inside. but that is probably more about your karma than about driving chances.

ADias

Are deer common on a german autobahn?

These cars will brake very well on a straight-line even at 160MPH.

RonCT

I've had all sorts of things happen unexpectedly on the track at 100 to 145 MPH. Curiously, most of them at Watkins Glen... Gopher, bird strike to right wiper at 100, cone thrown up by car in front at top of Esses, 1st to find coolant in the Esses, 1st to find oil slick going into T8's braking zone, guy I'm chasing at 145 to the bus stop locks right rear and spins 2x, etc. In each case the answer is different, as it would be in your deer example. And in each case I carried on without incident.

Even at close to that speed (I've only been up to about 150 at Monticello) I'm shocked at how stable and reactive this platform is. All it takes is a couple of feet to turn a strike into a miss.

I guess this is a commercial for the PCA DE program. Years ago as I was building my skill set I would have probably freaked out at some of the situations I find myself in these days - where time suddenly slows down (literally) and I do a little dance with whatever the situation is, and then it's back on full throttle without even an elevated heart rate. Once you become "one" with your car through building your skills I don't think you'd wonder what you would do if facing a deer in the highway and you are doing 160 - skill driven instinct would take over and you'd resolve the situation. Cool stuff...

abe

..and next time make sure you have a hunting license because you will be fined for poaching.
abe

Edgy01

Yes, there are deer in Germany, but they are usually smaller than what we think of with a Mule Deer in the West. However, they can easily do a job on a car or truck there. Springtime is the worst for that sort of incident, despite good signage there. (The deer cross where they feel like it!)

Fahrer

I lived in Germany for 3.5 years and I saw only about three deer the whole time ( in fields). Here, in NJ, deer are everywhere. Every day I see them standing in the middle of the road, running across the highway or trotting throught the neighborhood.

By the way, the shape of our cars will scoop that deer up so it can smash through your windshield. Not a pretty picture.

I used to travel on the A45 every week in Germany between Frankfurt and NRW. If the weather was good and the traffic light, I would cruise at 125 MPH in my VW Passat TDI. I never saw any animals near or on the highway ( thank goodness).

Minok

Since we are in highly unlikely world : ie deer on the Autobahn?... we can use magic to make it disappear.

In reality, both feet in (brakes & clutch) and when enough speed has been burned off (ie going much, much slower) you may then try to gently steer around the deer.. but if its at night, you'll never avoid it since the time from when you see it will only allow you to burn off some speed before getting to it (a second or so at best) and then you hope it decided to jump away.

BlueRiver86

Amazing that 1.5 Million deer hits only yield 150 fatalities.

Edgy01

Cars are so much better built today. Plus, trauma medicine is substantially improved.

am722

Activate laser, vaporize deer, continue typing text message.

cvazquez

You should still have time to slow down and kiss your *** goodbye.

alexb76

Isn't this the exact "accident avoidance" manouver practised at DE events?

At an Audi event, they had cones setup with three lanes, and three flashlights on the back, you had to speed up (not to 160 I might add), and continue until you saw two red lights and one green light, and had to basically slow down and move to the "green light" lane. In another exersice, one lane was closed and depending on the light you had to speed up, brake in straight, then change lanes to the green one.

In all cases, basically you had to brake hard and change lane. Definitely not at 160 MPH, and braking was very short, so in your example, depending on your distance to the deer, gotto balance it between braking hard and changing lanes, HOPING deer doesn't move to the same lane!

brendo

this is all silly. no self-respecting german deer would walk out in front of a porsche, much less on an autobahn.

now, if you're driving a BMW, or it's a French deer, then you may have issues.

FrankyV

I agree as I ws only doing 70 or so on Summit Point main when a deer came across the track between turns 2 and three. I had no time to react and it tried (and failed) to vault the car. Pictures show the result. I have since learned that this is a very common occurence at SP.