I did scholarly research on white-tailed deer for many years, think about collisions with them more than most people, and I very consciously ramp up my awareness and drop my speed in areas where deer are more likely to be. Still, I have had 3 deer vehicle collisions in my life. Twice the deer actually hit my vehicle vs. the front of my conveyance striking the deer.
Your tolerance lesson even extends to the deer for me. A 4 year-old white-tailed deer is a pretty old one - 4 years is way above the average lifespan for deer in a hunted population, like in Illinois or Iowa. People have asked me, why don't deer figure cars out and avoid them? I tell them to put a 3 year-old human next to a busy road and see how much they have figured out! Also the first encounter deer have with vehicles is either fatal or just an inconsequential miss. There isn't a lot of room for learning there. There is nothing in their long evolutionary history to prepare them for anything like a car or truck. I digress.
As an old man, I have slowed my roll down to the speed limit or below, especially on lightly traveled roads with plenty of room to pass and where I am not impeding those in a hurry to get - wherever. My calculated fuel mileage has gone WAY up, and I find it only adds a few minutes to my overall travel time on trips less than 150 miles, which is most of my trips. I am retired, and can easily leave a few minutes earlier so I am not "late". While I DO try to be punctual, I have also found that being a minute or two "late" to most planned activities is really not the big deal that I like to imagine it is.
Certainly not worth getting full of rage about, and clouding my judgment - - AND risking my life. 😉
This is a road we have driven MANY times, in all seasons and often in the dark, for decades. What's remarkable is this is, I think, the first time we've seen deer close to the road. And, this was our 2nd encounter of the drive - about 30 miles before the collision (as much of he ran into us as us into him!) we missed hitting a doe by inches. I suppose we were due???
I did scholarly research on white-tailed deer for many years, think about collisions with them more than most people, and I very consciously ramp up my awareness and drop my speed in areas where deer are more likely to be. Still, I have had 3 deer vehicle collisions in my life. Twice the deer actually hit my vehicle vs. the front of my conveyance striking the deer.
Your tolerance lesson even extends to the deer for me. A 4 year-old white-tailed deer is a pretty old one - 4 years is way above the average lifespan for deer in a hunted population, like in Illinois or Iowa. People have asked me, why don't deer figure cars out and avoid them? I tell them to put a 3 year-old human next to a busy road and see how much they have figured out! Also the first encounter deer have with vehicles is either fatal or just an inconsequential miss. There isn't a lot of room for learning there. There is nothing in their long evolutionary history to prepare them for anything like a car or truck. I digress.
As an old man, I have slowed my roll down to the speed limit or below, especially on lightly traveled roads with plenty of room to pass and where I am not impeding those in a hurry to get - wherever. My calculated fuel mileage has gone WAY up, and I find it only adds a few minutes to my overall travel time on trips less than 150 miles, which is most of my trips. I am retired, and can easily leave a few minutes earlier so I am not "late". While I DO try to be punctual, I have also found that being a minute or two "late" to most planned activities is really not the big deal that I like to imagine it is.
Certainly not worth getting full of rage about, and clouding my judgment - - AND risking my life. 😉
This is a road we have driven MANY times, in all seasons and often in the dark, for decades. What's remarkable is this is, I think, the first time we've seen deer close to the road. And, this was our 2nd encounter of the drive - about 30 miles before the collision (as much of he ran into us as us into him!) we missed hitting a doe by inches. I suppose we were due???
Yup, a baby in the back seat.