Deer whistles - do they really work?
 

Deer whistles. Anybody have experience with them, good or bad? We have them on both vehicles. We live in an area that has a high amount of road kill. Fortunately, we have not come close to hitting a deer in either vehicle.

I have read lots of conflicting anecdotal reports. What have you found?

m

Deer whistles....I honestly couldn't tell ya if they work or not. I have seen quite a few vehicles hit deer with the whistles installed, however........

I've always found that the best way to avoid hitting a deer is to make sure you can see them. I'm currently running a set of 100 watt spot/driving lights on the front of my Jeep....I can see the deer 1/2 mile away (or more, in the right conditions). Also, remember to stop if you see just one deer....IME, they usually run in groups of 2 or 3. That's saved me quite a few times now......

From EB1677 - "Animal Warning Devices" by Leonard Askham:

"A scientific advisory panel from the World Society for the Protection of Animals states, after extensive review, that there is no known data 'that shows that such devices can actually stop an animal crossing the road, which is the main purpose of the device.'"

"The state police in Ohio, after months of testing, found no significant decrease in patrol car/deer accidents after the warning devices were installed. In fact, more accidents were reported by the officers after the whistles were installed than before for the same period of time and stretches of highway. Tests conducted in Utah, Georgia and Wisconsin also concluded that deer whistles don't work."

The main thing I think is to make sure at night you aren't overdriving your headlights. Slowing down is the best thing, and we shouldn't have a problem with that, :)

Those idiots musta put 'em on back'erds! :D

Deer still walk out in front of the car, but I have seen NO elephants WHATSOEVER. So I think they are worth it since elephants are much scarier anyway...

Back in the day ... settin' on Granpap's lap listenin' to huntin' tales . He'd often tell how he could get an animal to stop for a clear shot by a quick shrill whistle . Even demonstrated the technique .
Well I know for a fact it does work quite often enough that I will not *ever* attach a whistle to the front of my car ! Last thing I want is to have anything stop in the middle of the road whether it be a car/truck, deer...moose ... bear ...or elephant even ! Just so I can end up hitting it with my car . The advice for slowing down and not over driving your vision is the best ( at night OR day )

I think the concept (seriously now) is that wherever the deer is, the whistle will cause it to stop. The idea being that what you are most worried about is one jumping out in front of you, rather than one that is standing stock still in the road.

Yup ! but on a two lane road do you aim for the ditch (and other two or three deer ) oncoming traffic or the standing stock still deer in front of you ? :eek: Iffn I had my druthers -I'druther take my chances that the deer *won't* jump in front of me ...YMMV ;)

dont work just a gimmick. i usualyl slow down if i see one near the road. even then thier dumber thna abox of rocks... my sister stopped dead because one was standing in the road and we were waiting on what to do either drive around it or honk or somehitng but outa the blue one plowed right into the side of her door even tho she was stopped...sscared the crap outa us...

if i find myself in a situation where im going at a decent speed on a 2lane road and i come up on a deer that i know i cant stop for im gonan lay on the horn and lock the brakes...one of the loud noises is going to make em move....i will never swerve for a deer if im going fast. id rather take the risk of the deer moving or me hitting it and doing just some hood damage than possibly loose control and plow into a tree or flip the truck...

Thanks for the input. Glad I got them in the bargain bin.

I've also heard it's better to hit the animal than swerve if you're going fast. Other swear by stomping on the gas right before impact. The idea is that the front end pops up a bit, and you don't hit it so low. If you lock up the breaks, and the front end goes down, you hit it low and it can pop up into your windshield.

People sometimes ask me where I got the cool lights for my Acura. They actually look cool.
https://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...7/DSC00452.JPG
Why ask here? Maybe an aerodynamics thread would be more appropriate. I am evaluating whether the "safety" benefit makes it worth the extra drag on aerodynamcs. Looks like we'll be taking them off.

M

i dunno about poping the front up, theoretically it would work tho.

your supposed to be paying attention to the road so you should have plenty of distace to stop. :D

I've heard they cause problems
 

I used to live in deer country and heard a lot of theories on the "Whistles". One that made a bit of sense was that the sounds freaks-out the deer, many times into jumping out of the ditch and onto the roadway.

Secondly, you need positive airflow, front-to-back, for the device to function. In that location in the grille, air probably fills up the space and doesn't allow airflow through the device. They'd have to be mounted either on the hood or right under the front lip.

A lot of deer avoidance is pure reaction. If it becomes a last-minute measure, some reccommend to aim for the deer in the roadway, since reflexes at that speed tend to steer you into what would be perceived as a path away from the deer. If it's running to the left, you'd hit it, if you aim right (hard to do), you have a chance of missing it.

I've had one hit the side of my car as I drove. It just left a dent (got really lucky). A family member was driving a '79 Suburban 3/4-ton on the same road, hit a deer, and it nearly totalled that tank of a vehicle.

I guess you just have to be vigilant. When I lived in rural SE Ohio, I had a set of driving lights focused on the ditches (in addition to some super-bright high-beams -- "off-road use only" on the latter, so dimming them for other drivers was imperative). Not sure what to do otherwise...

RH77

ive hit 2!!!!!!! never when hypermileing tho! the slower speeds of hypermileing are the best. If you drive slow then you wont have to much of a problem

As others have said.....drive slower than your lights!!

That said, I've spent my life driving in NE Indiana....."deer country". I've had my share of run-ins and hunting stories...My favorite was the day a deer jumped over a fence-row and actually landed in the bed of a friends pickup!! He jumped on the brakes, I almost rear-ended him...then had one helluva time convincing him it actually happened!!

In my experiences....If you see the deer on the side of the road, sometimes honking/flashing lights will get them to stop, and stay out of the road. If they are in the middle of the road and you do this, they will remain stopped until you get very close.

The difference between swerving away or aiming for the deer?? I was always told to aim for the deer. Among other reasons, your car will protect you better from a front-end collision than it will from a rollover (very possible, if you land in a county ditch).

As for the idea that you need to hit the gas right before impact?? It's true, it does raise the front end. Not enough that you would notice, however. When I used to race demolition derby cars, we would cram on the brakes, then go WOT about 1 sec. before impact. Locking the brakes would slow us down (and lower the nose 2-4 inches), and WOT would actually raise the nose ~6-8 inches. However....in a daily driver car, you will have shocks. One of the purposes of shock absorbers is to reduce/eliminate this "nose dive" effect.

haha yup...shocks do nothign to raise or lower the car. they just keep the car from bouncing....