How Often Are Animals An Issue?

Living on the road obviously you increase your chances for something to happen. How often do deer and moose and other large game become problems while trucking?

Well, my input will be based on a whooping two weeks out on the road! lol... We haven't hit any living animals...yet... But from the number of carcasses I've seen, it's probably only a matter of time...they are EVERYWHERE!! Two interesting side notes...being from Texas, I have seen 'Deer Crossing' signs everywhere, all my life...even seen duck crossing signs. In the last two weeks, I've seen 'Moose Crossing' and 'Bear Crossing'...the bear one came as a bit of a surprise...lol Second, while we haven't ended the life cycle of any animal...yet...we did murder a wheelbarrow the other day at about 0400hrs. Talk about waking you up for the rest of the trip....

Living on the road obviously you increase your chances for something to happen. How often do deer and moose and other large game become problems while trucking?

Only when they wander in front of you.

There are certain seasons and certain places where your odds of an interaction are greater. And you don't swerve to avoid either. Better to damage your front end - then risk a rollover and total the entire rig.

Rick

And remember...you NEVER got an animal...the animal hit you!

Hit...not got...🙄

And remember...you NEVER got an animal...the animal hit you!

I have found out that even if they hit you its your fault.....

Living on the road obviously you increase your chances for something to happen. How often do deer and moose and other large game become problems while trucking?

I have seen so many deer on the side of the road, but have never had the misfortune to hit one yet. I did see one that had been hit. I was driving slowly enough, and the deer was barely able to move on the road, so I drove around the poor thing as it struggled on the road. I called local police to let them know where it was so they could come put it out of it's misery.

It might seem odd that we see so many deer on the side of the road, but remember that the sides of the road are normally grassy, with bushes and vines and whatnot. In areas where the road is bordered by forests, that makes roadways one of the best places for deer to find food, and humans helpfully keep that area clear so trees won't grow in and block the light the grass needs.

In short, in many areas, the side of the road is where the best food is.

If you are driving on a road, with forests around you, and the median and/or shoulders are grassy, EXPECT deer.

I mounted two deer whistlers on my truck. I don't know if they really work, but the theory behind them seems sound, and they only cost me a few bucks, so it's worth it.

Typically, they're not just standing in the middle of the road waiting to get run over. If they ARE - and you have a change to slow/stop and avoid hitting them - you (obviously) should.

As far as "attaching fault" - take this example From Commercial Carrier Journal.

Driver chose to run off the road, rather than hit a deer that ran out. Accident was ruled PREVENTABLE. Had he STUCK the deer - it would have been ruled NON-PREVENTABLE.

Had he struck the deer, and the truck had to be towed from the scene, due to the damage - it would become DOT REPORTABLE, but still would have been NON-PREVENTABLE.

A “Preventable Accident” is one in which the driver failed to exercise every reasonable precaution to prevent the accident.

If a driver did everything reasonable he/she could do to prevent an accident, then it is a non-preventable accident. Did the CDL driver make no mistakes, control the CMV to account for the weather, road conditions and traffic and to ensure that any mistakes by other motorists did not involve the CDL driver in an accident? If the answer to that question is “yes,” then you have a non-preventable accident.

If the deer ran in front of you, and you had no time to react and no alternative but to hit the deer - it's NON-PREVENTABLE. If there was a herd of deer crossing the road, and you looked up from texting too late to see them - PREVENTABLE.

Rick

I was coming from a gig in my bus, from some mountain farm in Terra Alta, West VA - round mid-June. All you could see in the woods the whole way down the mountainside, were GLOWING EYES. ALL DEER.

I've been told that it's all in the way you tell the story....

Basically, you never say "I hit a deer", that makes it an accident. Rather, you say "the deer hit me" or "the deer ran out in front of me", then it is non preventable.

And no, I'm not joking, someone actually told me that. Basic premise is, you don't admit you had an accident, you admit that the deer had an accident and you were the victim.

Wow thanks for all the answers much appreciated. It's great to know that the most common casualties are wheelbarrows.