5 things not to do when approaching a dead deer in the middle of the road while driving

Recently we were driving from Fayetteville Arkansas to Kansas City Missouri in the early evening. Traffic was light and we had two lanes going in our direction. It was twilight and getting dark fast. If you've ever driven at night in the midwest you know to be on the lookout for wildlife. After all, Armadilloes are the State of Missouri's official speed bump.

Yay Mustang for the weekend

In the great scheme of things, Armadilloes are pretty small, its the Deer you need to watch out for.  Traveling any road in the midwest affords you the opportunity to see the remains of Deer that have lost the battle with a vehicle. It leaves you wondering what happened to the car or truck that it had jumped in front of. I wouldn't want to be those people. Unfortunately, we did come close to being one of those people on this trip.

At the rental counter the day before I was given the choice of two vehicles, A Ford Mustang or a Dodge Charger. Both are pretty low to the ground and very fast. I figured the Mustang would probably get better mileage and chose it for this weekends adventures.  The trip down was done in the daylight, so although we could see the carnage of armadilloes and deer, we didn't really have to worry about one of them jumping out into our path. We arrived in Fayetteville safely and went about or night. 

The next day after my son's college graduation we had dinner and began our trip back to Kansas City around 6:30pm.  With overcast skies and twilight approaching, we made it about halfway before we were night driving. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic and we had two lanes going in each direction down a divided highway. Cruise control was set, coffee in hand and we were keeping pace with traffic at around 80 miles per hour. I had just passed a semi to my right when it happened.

A good deer

Right in front of us was a deer. Fortunately for us, it had already done it's real damage for the night and was already dead. Unfortunately for us, he was still in the middle of the road and there would be no swerving to avoid him. With a ground clearance of 114mm (under 6 inches), our rental wasn't going to glide right over him. I centered the vehicle over to make sure a wheel impact didn't cause a steering issue and take the vehicles control away from us. In less than a second, we were over it with a couple of thunks and nothing seemed to affect the Mustangs handling or performance. 

We were nowhere near a place to stop and inspect the vehicle safely, so I monitored the oil pressure, coolant temp, and handling as we made our way to a gas station. There were no strange sounds from detached panels or from anything dragging so I figured we dodged a bullet. Knowing how low the Mustang sits, I feared the worst and was already trying to figure out if my credit card did actually cover the rental for damage as we pulled into the gas station. 

To my surprise, the Mustang came through it pretty much unscathed. The rear bumper side panels had popped out, but they popped right back in. The center light at the bottom had popped out and was hanging at an odd angle, and the pins that held the center part of the bumper snug to the underbody had broken. All things I was pretty sure I could fix or pop back into place in the morning.

Outside of "do not drive a car at night in the Midwest", here's what I learned and 5 tips in case you find yourself in this situation. 

1. Do not panic

Our situation found us traveling at or near the speed limit keeping pace with the other vehicles. We had just passed a semi going slower in the right lane when I saw the deer in the road. Taking my eye off the deer to verify I had completely passed the semi was not an option as I was approaching the deer rapidly. bracing for impact was all we had time for. My assessment was we'd be better off ogin over this deer rather than trying to stop or swerve to avoid it. 

2. Do not brake

Breaking would have caused the front end to dive reducing clearance even more at the front of the Mustang and likely creating a greater possibility of impact to the front. Also, reducing our speed might have put the semi-directly our right again. If impact would have caused loss of control even momentarily, having a semi to close by could become fatal.  

3. Do not swerve

There was no time for an evasive maneuver. With a semi just behind and to our right, I feard any maneuver to avoid the deer might put one of our tires directly over it causing a loss of control. Any loss of control could have spun us out or put us into the semi's path. Better to hold the course and prepare for impact.  

4. Do not think about the cost of potential damage

Life is way more important than any potential damage to a vehicle, but these things can creep into your subconscious and have an effect on your decision making with respect to points 3 and 4 above. I stayed with my original assessment, we were going to go over this deer.  

5. Do not stop to inspect until you've found a safe location to do so

Once we cleared the deer and the vehicle withstood damage. I monitored the vehicle performance and handling characteristics to determine that we could safely make it to the next gas station for a visual inspection. Do not stop along a busy highway at night unless absolutely necessary. You never want to become the deer. 

Everyone be careful when your out driving. You never know what situation you might find yourself in. In our case, the deer was already down. Had he been crossing the road, point 1 would still apply, all others may not have.