Avoiding the unexpected deer

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Varn

We ride motorcycles for fun but never start a trip after dark. Do you feel lucky?

In the winter a car would not be practical for months sometimes. It ain't going to happen.

Please no more tips on avoiding deer strikes or my driving style.

Back to the topic of improving mileage. Thanks

The topic was improving mileage? By driving a barge instead of a small car?

Re: lucky on m/c: it isn't luck as much as it is attentive driving and situational awareness.

BTW: cars work in the winter too. Yes I've always lived where it gets down to -40F and has several feet of snow accumilation/season.

[Arragonis]

My namesake, the guy to my left in my Avatar, believed in primary safety and not secondary safety. In essence he believed that the vehicle should be capable of avoiding hazards with safety and stability. His cars were all designed with stability and handling - an original Mini for example could still give a modern sports car a good run for its money with only 1275cc.

In fact he recommended fitting a line of carving knives along the dashboards of cars to encourage drivers to drive more safely. Although this is extreme it seems to me that some cars and owners have gone to the other extreme - huge cages of metal to convince themselves into being safe, when actually they might not be - see SUV crash tests vs. hatchback ones for example. All this means is that some start driving unsafely, using phones whilst driving and so on.

All that tapped if you are looking to improve FE then the obvious ones are listed in the 100+ tips thread which is a great start. The other key one would be P&G especially in something as lardy as an econoline - funky name for something so big and thirsty but hey, I'm British

Being and on topic though you can probably take advantage of the weight on hills with P&G and maintaining momentum. I'm thinking that weight is going to be more key than aero with something like this battering air out of the way with all of that mass. You could take steps to reduce weight if you can - spare seat removal for example, fewer tools, no golf clubs except on the way to the course

You could look at aero. Your idea of sealing up the front of the car seems extreme but you could just look at sealing up parts using the old coroplast / grill block / tape methods described in various threads - that way you could test the most effective methods. I would also look at the side mirrors too.

Good luck with any changes you make and above all keep a log of fuel usage so you can see what works and what doesn't.

[Varn]

Loka...
Yeah that might be a valid and fun idea. but I haul a 5000 pound trailer 180 miles each way once a week. Otherwise I put 50 miles a week on the minivan.

Originally I bought vans and sold my sedans so I could haul bicycles to the races thoughout the midwest and west. When that ended I bought these farms in Missouri and started commuting to there on weekends.

As far as statistics go the county that I live in has 15,000 people with about 500,000 deer. To average the statistics for the entire state puts in many urban areas that do not have the problems that our area has. Please don't go telling me I am wrong clev, you don't drive my roads. Frankly though if I were forced to live in a metro area I would probably continue to drive a tank.

Before we bought our econoline 4 years ago we looked at sprinters and even diesel econolines. All were $7-20k more than we gave for our van. It would take significant economy to pay for gas savings when the the price of diesel has been 15% higher than gasohal the only gasoline product we can get.

I was looking at my mini van today and thought of how I could improve it's aerodynamics. Ill start another post about it.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Varn

Please don't go telling me I am wrong clev, you don't drive my roads. Frankly though if I were forced to live in a metro area I would probably continue to drive a tank.

Sorry Varn, the facts don't agree with you. Only 24 people died in car-deer crashes in the six-year period from 2002 through 2007. Three out of the four studied deaths in 2007 involved a motorcycle, and only one involved an automobile. Even if all five statewide deaths had occurred on your route, it's being overblown here.

Your second sentence above gets to the heart of the matter. You can make excuses (I haul a trailer once a week, I can't drive in snow, I have a lot of stuff that I have to carry with me that I use every day and need to carry with me everywhere, I'm afraid of deer), but those are rationalizations.

The number one way to get better mileage is to drive the appropriate vehicle for the conditions. Even a late 90's to early 2000's Buick can get 28-33 mpg and still provide a good part of the crash protection you're looking for. (And it might actually avoid the accident, something an Econoline probably won't do without rolling over.)

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

The topic was improving mileage? By driving a barge instead of a small car?

Re: lucky on m/c: it isn't luck as much as it is attentive driving and situational awareness.

BTW: cars work in the winter too. Yes I've always lived where it gets down to -40F and has several feet of snow accumilation/season.

Ah, but the real topic was not about FE. This thread supposedly is about:
Avoiding the unexpected deer

To which you addressed in your comments:

it isn't luck as much as it is attentive driving and situational awareness.

That pretty much nails it. (And IMHO, it deserves a 'thank you' for being well said.)

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Ah, but the real topic was not about FE. This thread supposedly is about:
Avoiding the unexpected deer

Okay, if we can't do the "avoiding" part, maybe a FE cow catcher for the front to deflect deer/dogs/pedestrians to the side? :-)

[mcrews]

Just go faster........
(graphic pics)
BMW Hits Deer at 160mph on Autobahn - SVTPerformance

[nateman2007]

couple thoughts on avoiding deer.

When you see one crossing the road there is quite often more coming.

Deer mate in Nov/Dec so the does are trying to get away from the bucks----they all become a bit crazed in this mating period and are more likely to dart out into the road.

Be especially careful at night.

Statistically, most accidents involving deer are the result of the driver swerving and hitting something else or just losing control.

The little deer warning whistles you can buy and put on the front bumper dont work.

[Varn]

Fuel economy experts it isn't the deer that is on the road that gets hit. You and I can slow or stop for those. It is the deer that leaps into the vehicle that is the problem. Sitting higher makes it a lot more likely that the front of the vehicle will adsorb the impact rather just knock the legs out from under it, and have the carcass hit the passenger area.

Seeing the BMW collision I would say that that deer was much smaller than reported and/or that the deer was down when hit. The adult deer around here have a live weight of 225-270. The underside of the body is 30-36" off the ground. Hit that at 100 mph and it is sent into the drivers compartment rather instantly.

Most (over 50%) that live in the my neighborhood drive a truck or SUV, I am sure that not a one of us enjoys paying the 70 dollars for a tank of gas but it is a necessity. The vehicles around here get coated in mud when the road is soft. Ruts will bottom out my econoline. I use chains at times in the winter. Live in a city or suburb. Come take a winter vacation at my house. Winter here is a series of freezes and thaws. If you get lucky the temps will stay below freezing.

Arragonis, the maneuverability of Alec Issigonis' creations won't save you once you are in a collision. The collision is something that happens when you run out of options and the unfortunate happens.

The topic for this site is improving mileage, I made comments on why personally I can't own a honda car or the like and get told by experts who likely have never driven on a rutted gravel road that I just need to steer around a deer.

[dcb]

You need a tinfoil hat too, just in case. I hear it keeps deer away.