Totaled tow vehicle while pulling camper

[ajdemo76]

Hey Fallon,

I'm pretty impressed at how the vehicle handled it! I've thought about how I hit them without being on the brakes and wonder if it would've gone differently if I was on the brakes and hit them with the front end dipped down. There's no way to know, but I've thought about it. I dont think any guard would hold up to two elk, maybe a deer though. I think at least a push bar with lights would be helpful for driving at night in remote areas. Something I'll try to avoid from now on.


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[ajdemo76]

Another thing.... The officer on scene told me they installed those deer whistles or whatever on their vehicles and saw a 70% decrease in wildlife accidents over the last 10 years. I always thought those things were just gimmicks. Anyone have any experience with them?


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[Thinh]

With my little Toyota Matrix wagon, brand-new( 3 months old ) I collided with a deer in the dark, on hw 401, w/o ever applying brake @ speed of 120km per hour ( no trailer). It happened 6 years ago. RESULT: the deer was dead ( female, big one), my car was fixed which costs 16K Can $. Air-bag was still in tact. At that moment, steering was impossible, brake no work, wind-shield blocked by hood, radiator broke, all lights popped up in dash, smoke came out from engine, car was stalled after a few seconds almost right on the middle of hw. I only had a few seconds to hit emergency flashing and... jump out of vehicle, running fast toward grass, opposite direction of car travelling. Luckily @ night time, those big trucks were not crowded on hw that time... After that, I installed 2 "deer warning" whistles @ front bumper( aftermarket) Not sure if these whistles have any effect at all but I drive more cautious at night, during deer season...Share with you....

[rbryan]

I second the relief that nobody was hurt. Deer and Elk represent a serious safety hazard when driving. Almost 40 years ago when I was a teenager, I was riding a Honda 350 motorcycle in a little canyon near my home in Utah. It was right about sunset. I saw a small deer on the side of the road and slowed down as I approached it. Just as I got up to where it was, it bolted directly in front of the bike and I struck it dead center. Over the handlebars and skidding down the road I went. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet, and had only been traveling at 30 mph. The deer hobbled off injured and I went to the hospital with a serious case of road rash in about 5 places. Lesson learned. Since that day I avoid traveling at night in deer country, and if I have to do so, I do it slow.

[Glenn Baglo]

My buddy was driving my Subaru wagon and I couldn't understand why we were plodding along a 50 mph behind a semi, until the semi came to an abrupt stop, filling the air with tire smoke. All of his lights were on and it looked like a scene from Apocalypse Now, the smoke swirling in the glare.
We searched the ditches, but found no sign of the moose. Semi had a shattered fender.
Learned to follow a semi in moose country.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Learned to follow a semi in moose country.

Absolutely! Imagine what would have happened if it was your Subaru instead of the truck. Might have looked like this one.

[emers382]

That Subaru looks like our son's Mustang after hitting cow and calf moose. He had just dropped his girlfriend (now wife) off! He was Ok not the moose. I had to watch OPP shoot the cow!



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[Gene Masse]

I have a grill guard on my pickup and would have one on my mini van if they made them for it. It's pretty heavy duty. The one I got I ordered from a company in Florida. They delivered free shipping and it was about $300 cheaper than any local store too boot. Although I don't think it would have prevented a lot of damage from Elk I'm pretty sure it will really help with deer collisions and prevent a pheasant in my grill that could damage the radiator.

[ajdemo76]

Thanks for the stories everyone! We took our first trip this past week without the Tahoe for a week of camping in Crested Butte. The Traverse with towing package did fine, even over Monarch pass, which is a long climb. I decided the next Tahoe will have additional lights and a small lift. I wanted to do that to the last one anyways. Safe travels this summer everyone.


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[MC1]

I would use the Traverse. On other RV forums many folks are trading in their Burbs and Tahoe's on Traverse/Enclaves and reporting they are overall, a better TV. Note they are towing much larger trailers than yours.

I've lower'd a number of vehicles but never lifted one. There is a trade off.

My school of thought is to tow with a vehicle that handles well and has precise steering which gives one the best chance of avoiding an accident rather than building up a vehicle that will be somewhat better in a crash. Just a different way of looking at it I guess.

[RogerDat]

In some ways NOT seeing the animal may have been for the best. It is almost instinctive to swerve and avoid the collision, worst thing you can do in many if not most cases. Those critters are big but those large trees on the side of the road don't give much at all.

People that swerve tend to hit stationary object on side of the road or oncoming traffic. Brakes to reduce impact speed are the only recommended response to a dear. Going slower in the first place can help.

I once did a slalom course through three dear on the drive home from work. Knew that deer were common in the area so was going slower. Between braking and slight moves to the left right and back left I was in my lane (mostly) and slipped between the deer herd crossing the road. I felt a mild thump, on examination I had a nose smear on the rear fender and a few hairs (no blood) on the back bumper. No damage to the car and a little bleach took car of fixing the damage to my shorts.

[sarahspins]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

In some ways NOT seeing the animal may have been for the best. It is almost instinctive to swerve and avoid the collision, worst thing you can do in many if not most cases. Those critters are big but those large trees on the side of the road don't give much at all.

No kidding.. out where I live (rural area) we are all the time seeing vehicles end up in the ditch or into a tree all because they swerved to avoid hitting a 2lb cottontail rabbit. The rabbit is going to do NOTHING to your vehicle if you hit it (you will quickly dispatch the rabbit, but there are lots of them to make up for that) but running your car into a ditch (and by ditch I should clarify that I mean 6-8 foot drop off the side of the road, not just a little dip) or a tree is probably going to do substantial damage.. the amount of people that fail to realize that until it's way too late just astonishes me. On the other hand, I hit a bunny about once a month - I don't even slow down for them

[MC1]

Sarah.... a good point. I would hit the bunny too. Not worth the risk of an emergency maneuver.

[Carl Pa]

Look in your side mirrors, most of the time the bunny makes it.I hit a few deer in my time, none were at high speeds. 25 mph on a secondary road. when the dear jumped off a bank right in front of me. Several $$$$$$ to fix front end and radiator. One time in my 2002 F 150 crew cab in a industrial complex at about 15 mph the deer ran smack into my left front fender and door. Had to replace door and fender big $$$$$ for that one. So it does not have to be fast, if the deer wants to hit you, it will hit you. Carl

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by ajdemo76

I'm going to lift the next Tahoe a bit and put some sort of cattle guard on the front with extra lights.

We have tons of deer here in the Southeast, and they seem to be on the move year-round, so you always have to be watching for them, even during the day because "free range" dogs can run them out of the woods at any time. They are on the smaller size down here, but they can still do a lot of grill damage. A popular option here is what's called a "replacement front bumper" by RanchHand (Ranch Hand | Be on the safe side) out of Texas. It totally replaces the front bumper of the vehicle with as much or as little front end protection as you want, depending on model you choose. They don't make replacement bumpers to fit every truck/SUV on the market, but they do cover the most popular ones (at least the ones popular in Texas) including several models for the Tahoe (and they make traditional grill guards for the Tahoe, too). Because they are actually replacing the factory front bumper, they're a bit pricey, but people around here love them, and I've seen a lot of them in Colorado's ranching country, too. Worth checking out for your next Tahoe...

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by Carl Pa

...most of the time the bunny makes it...

LOL… I hit a "bunny" a few years ago and it destroyed the lower bumper fascia on the Camry I was driving. Well… okay… it was a large jack rabbit. That one didn't make it.

But the horse did. I was driving a Sienna pulling a utility trailer loaded with lumber at 55 mph, and here's the horse, running from the left. Night, and it's black, of course. Fortunately it's a wide, empty 5-lane highway. I brake and swerve into the idiot lane. The horse's back leg smacks hard. I didn't think the policeman was going to believe me until his flashlight revealed the dent in the bumper and hair embedded in the plastic. He looked for the horse, but never found it.

Carl, your story of the deer in the industrial park reminded me of an incident 30 years ago at a school where I taught in a small, isolated village. One of my colleagues had just bought a brand-new Dodge pick-up. On a Monday morning as I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed the bed of the truck was caved in on the driver's side. Here's his story: returning late from a weekend with family in Albuquerque, a drunk on a horse careened into the side of the truck. The rider flipped head-over-heels into some bushes near the side of the road and disappeared into the dark. The horse was stunned for a moment, but eventually ambled off as well. It makes you wonder what goes through the minds of insurance claims agents...

[Paul O.]

Two days before last Christmas we were taking the truck to the airport and hit a small deer. It was early morning, I89 was slick with wet snow and the speed limit was posted as 40 mph. I barely had time to touch the brakes, so the impact was probably at 40 mph. Many plastic pieces were torn up/off, right headlight damaged but still on. Luckily everything worked, I checked for leaks and made it to the airport just in time. I was amazed that it took $7,000 to fix. It is so easy to total a vehicle.

Glenn's recollection of following something much bigger in the moose country, especially at dawn or dusk, is something to remember (post #25). At night I try to look for the "cat's eye" reflections in the high beam.

This time of the year the edges of the highways may be weedy and a place where critters rest until they decide to jump, which happened to me five years ago. A big buck jumped out of the weeds, and right over the hood, while I was driving about 65 or 70. I sure was cursing the highway department for not mowing soon enough. That was close.

[ajdemo76]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

We have tons of deer here in the Southeast, and they seem to be on the move year-round, so you always have to be watching for them, even during the day because "free range" dogs can run them out of the woods at any time. They are on the smaller size down here, but they can still do a lot of grill damage. A popular option here is what's called a "replacement front bumper" by RanchHand (Ranch Hand | Be on the safe side) out of Texas. It totally replaces the front bumper of the vehicle with as much or as little front end protection as you want, depending on model you choose. They don't make replacement bumpers to fit every truck/SUV on the market, but they do cover the most popular ones (at least the ones popular in Texas) including several models for the Tahoe (and they make traditional grill guards for the Tahoe, too). Because they are actually replacing the factory front bumper, they're a bit pricey, but people around here love them, and I've seen a lot of them in Colorado's ranching country, too. Worth checking out for your next Tahoe...

I've looked into these before and they're nice! I like the push bar they make myself and the option to mount lights to it. Curious as to how these work (or don't work) with your airbag sensor.


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[EllPea in CA]

OK, I don't have a deer/elk/moose/horse story, but I do have an OWL story. No kidding.

As a teenager, new to driving, heading east on CA HWY 44 toward Susanville, crossing Bogard flat late at night. Just me and my mom. All dark, no traffic, no one anywhere.

We notice something dead in the road ahead and some big feathered thing feasting.

I put on the brakes, but the bird flies right into us. Impacts the hood, slides up onto the windshield, and the wings SPREAD OUT, completely covering the glass.

Had to steer by looking at the white line in the sideview mirror as we came to a stop. The bird was dead, just lying there. My mom was completely freaked. I was spooked, but went around to the other side, took hold of a wing-tip, and pulled. It came off and flopped onto the side of the road. We didn't have a flashlight, so never got a good look at the thing...

Mysteriously, no damage to the hood or the windshield. I'm not sure anyone really believed us when we told this story. It was, sheesh, about 45 years ago!

Best,
Ellpea

[Jack Walter]

I have an ARB aftermarket front bumper (the initials stand for Australian Roo Bar since kangaroos are the Aussie equivalent of Bambi). They make them for a wide variety of foreign light trucks and there are equivalent products available for most American trucks.



They won't stop a moose but they do help prevent a lot of damage from smaller animals. Back in the 1990's my mother just about totaled her new Mercedes whne she hit a deer about two miles from my sister's house.