Ok, well, a demi-god at least...

So most of you all know, I work nights, 10pm to 6am. The road I drive in on (360), it's very rich in vegitation, and it's very hilly (as in close to mountainous, sheer rock faces along parts). I have been on nights for over half of the past year, and I see a TON of deer coming to and from work. I have seen packs of as many as 10-15. I always say to my co-worker here at night "it's only a matter of time". Well, that time wasn't tonight, but it was damn close. I'm cruising along at 65mph with my low beams on because it's still to early with to much traffic to keep them on for more than a second or two before another car is coming at you. There is a Jeep Cherokee in the right lane and about 3 to 4 car lengths back. All of a sudden straight out from the right shoulder come two deer sprinting almost side by side, one leading on the other just a little bit. I brake and swerve, putting that lady in the BMW "best way to survive an accident is to avoid it" commercial to shame. In this split second I swerve way right and then back left, at my furthest point to the right I miss the closest deer by less than a foot from the hood of my car. I thought I might have just grazed him (felt nothing) it was so close, but I saw nothing on the front of the car. If I had not swerved I would have hit TWO deer at once! It would have been absolutely terrible to the car, not to mention perhaps me. They were very much full sized adult deer, and the Z isn't exactly bigfoot when it comes to ride height. It is very likely one of them could have come through the windshield, if not probable.

So I am in shock after this, amazed that I dodged them at 65-70 miles an hour. I slow down to let the Jeep get next to me and he is cheering or something, hah. He's giving me the thumbs up on my evasive manuever, I thought he might be pissed because if he wasn't paying attention I could have gotten rear ended by him swerving into his lane with him so close in the right lane.

All and all, an excellent save, very happy. Can you imagine if I had hit them? Rear ended a month ago, and then reporting hitting two deer at once! I would have to label myself cursed because people used to say that because of the two not at fault wrecks I got into in my Eclipse within a period of a year. This would have clinched it for me.

 

Rob

Not to even think to top your experience.

But, riding with one of my Z friends ( wld350z ) down a Orange county street, a red Mazda want's to cut left accross our path in traffic. My friend takes a line (right) to reduce the distance of a potential impact, and then straightens up, parralel to the curb.

If it were any other car, we would have been toast.

There may be critical item with the 350Z but control has never been one of them.

Cheers Amy -

 

Yeah, I have panic swerved in mine a few times to dodge things in the road. There is no noticable body roll or lag in the initial turn in, and it stays planted, no tire squeal. I'd love to see them doing the evasive maneuver test that some of the mags use in there test. I'm confident the Z would be one of the highest ranked cars. The reason it does these maneuvers so well is because of all of the great stock goodies we have to reduce body roll and increase chassis rigidity, makes for very quick steering response. I feel safer in the Z than any vehicle I've ever driven or ridden in, because I know I can do some crazy braking and maneuvering if need be. I never had that in my Eclipse or my Audi, terrible body roll, brakes, etc.

 

damn deer...

i live up north at the amli apartments off of braker and 183 so i know what you mean. it is deer country. i had a pack of 5 come out of the woods, while literally 100 feet from my front door, run along side the car. i slam the brakes on and they ram into the passanger side of my car. luckily i got away with just some minor paint scratches.

my girlfriend still refuses to drive around that area after 10pm.

 

Seriously, a lot of people don't realize how bad it is when I talk about it. I see deer at multiple spots along 360, every...single...night. It's not like I see them sometimes, every night without fail. It's like playing Russian roulette every time I go to or from work I think I might change my deductable for whatever that falls under, it really is just a matter of time if I work nights long enough.

Braker and 183... trying to figure out where those apartments are. Is it really Jollyville and Braker? I'm in AMLI at Scofield Ridge, right there where Mopac turns into 1325, second light.

 

I have tons of deer to worry about on my ride home too. It seems like everyday there is a new "victem" on the side of the road. To add insult to injury, these are great roads that are funt o drive, but becuase I am so worried about hitting some animal jumping out of the bushes I have to just take my time and creep around each corner. Sometimes I wish I had a little more of the reckless abondon mindset. If I'm not worried about deers, I'm worried about cops. I never get to have any fun.

I still am waiting for my Z to get delivered (July 17), so I am having these problems in my piece of crap car that stuggles to hit 75. I can't imagine how hard it will be to resist tempation in the Z.

 

i lived in those apartments last year and really liked it there, then i moved to AMLI in great hills because the rent was cheaper. i quickly learned that cheaper is not always better, hence im moving back to scofield ridge when my lease is up next month.

braker actually becomes morado circle once you pass jollyville, which is where these AMLI apartments are.

sherman...

same here, i'm waiting for my Z to come in (3 more weeks) so the deer damage happened to my MP3 but i was still not in a good mood about it.

 

What about those deer whistles that you can put on vehicles? Do they make an audible noise to humans or are they more like dog whistles? Maybe, if you have so many deer, one could help - if it's not too stupid of an idea... It might be better than field dressing a 400 pounder with your front end, making those license plate dimples seem kind of insignificant in the whole scheme of things.

just a thought,
WayneTN

 

About 6 years ago, A friend driving a Porsche 930 Turbo was racing a Corvette in Western PA on RT 80. 4 deer jumped out in front of them.. Needless to say, 3 deer were DOA. The Porsche suffered massive damage and the Corvette was in a thousand pieces across the road. The Corvette engine was several hundred feet off the road on the shoulder. Both cars were totaled but the drivers survived with very minimal injuries.. I asked my friend how fast he was going and he said "Well over 125". They were lucky to survive.. 3 weeks later, he had a new Porsche Turbo.. It's nice to have money..

Steve (k2we) Dobbs Ferry, NY 9331 miles since Sept 17th....

 

Not a deer story, but was behind a car headed for highway traffic light. The light turned yellow and the car infront of me slammed it's brakes and I followed suit. Then in the rear view mirrior I caught a glimpse of a truck about to hit me from behind. Everything went into slow motion, I swerved to the right, the left side of my car completely bottomed out, and right when my car was in the right lane, the truck rear ended the car that was in front of me. I was scared out of my wits and kept on driving, it was without a doubt the best move of my life.

 

350zroadster...omg you're the man

 

Rob: When I read your thread title, I thought you meant you did something spectacular to evade a chasing police officer!

 

ha! I've done that, except the guy stopped about 1 foot from the guy in front of me, as opposed to hitting the car in front of me.

Always nice when you pull one of those wreck evasions off

 

I had a pigeon fly in front of my car last night, didn't have time to take evasive action. The bird didn't get the pretty end of this accident. Sure did knock the dirt off that bird though. Had to get out the windex when I got home.