Okay...wasn't exactly sure which board (if any) is really appropriate for this nasty little topic, but here goes...

*Disclaimer: Probably best to avoid this thread if you're squeamish...

Any advice for how to cope with roadkill, in regards to safely avoiding it or if you can't avoid it, how to hit it with minimal damage to the car?

I've had my 3rd Gen about four years now. Three of those years were spent mostly in-town, but for the last year, I've been living out 'in the sticks' in NC. My commute to work involves extensive highway driving through areas with deer and dogs (no leash laws, and the stupid hicks out here just let their animals run loose)...add to this the usual assortment of dead wildlife, and there's always plenty of things to dodge on the road.

I've never actually killed anything myself, but have had to go over a few gut piles I couldn't avoid, due to traffic. I've been mostly lucky so far; my car is at stock height, or possibly just a bit lower. If I pass over anything larger than, say, a rabbit or a possum, I'm likely to make contact. About a week ago, I was going down a steep hill on a 55mph road, with a semi riding my bumper and traffic in the other lane; I was forced to drive over a large, freshly-hit raccoon. Fortunately, my car's nose cleared it, but the carcass got stuck on the little black metal thing that runs across underneath (not sure what it's called) and I ended up dragging the raccoon several yards before it disintegrated into many chunks. Nasty. No damage to the car, other than gut smears...but then today, I had to dodge around a Rottweiler sprawled across two lanes; again, lucky for me, there was no oncoming traffic, or I might be looking at a new front end.

So, HELP! I'm dreading the day I come upon a deer or something that I can't avoid...I know what to do to prevent killing something in the first place, but any advice for avoiding the already-killed? I know it doesn't take much to ruin a front end when you're doing 55+ mph.... Usually, I just dodge around whatever it is in the road, or if I have to due to traffic, stop and go around when I can...but that's not always an option.

 

Well, I installed a cow-tipper that is similar to those on the front of trains in the 1800s, so usually I just gun it when I see something in the road.

 

if you cant dodge them, then there is really no other choice than to cross you fingers and drive over. all i can say is to keep in mind that when you hit the brakes the front of the car drops, and it could potentially cause a little more damage. the black thing under the front is actually plastic and its the air dam. ive gont through 3 of them personally on a variety of things, mainly curbs and those concrete stops at the end of parking spaces. aside from the airdam there is nothing under the car that will take much damage if any from hitting something small. a deer will probably not fit under the car and i would suggest trying to stop for those ones.

 

Try to avoid running over roadkill with your wheels, sometimes your car can loose control due to the slippery guts and blood. If you are going to hit something like an animal the best thing to do is to make is as quick as you possibly could, and like another said DO NOT STEP ON YOUR BRAKES!!!! this way you will run over whats inevitable and make it quick. Most likely your transmission pan will hit the carcass and cook it extra crispy and will soon clean itself with heat and time.

 

Floor it! That way your front end lifts and your more likely to get over it better and kill it nice and quick.

 

I've had to repaint the my chin spoiler a good 6 or 7 times from the frickin' jack rabbits that jump out in front of me back where I grew up. Their head knocks the paint off about the size of a softball. I've missed many of them, but sometimes there isn't anything you can do but wince and keep driving. I agree with the earlier comments about breaking too heavily, especially if you're in traffic or on a windy road. Swerving can get you into trouble too. I'd much rather hit a dog or something than an oncoming car or a tree if I lost control. I'd hate to meet a deer, I'd think that would end up on (or through) your windshield very easily.

Maybe you just need to get the 007 machine guns mounted up front??

 

yup, just try to avoid it as much as possible. ive had plenty of birds kamikaze their way into the grill on my buick. everything else i kinda swerve around or stop.
actually, i think the local walmart here sells something called a "deer whistle." supposidly you put it on your fender and the air that passes through the whistle scares the deer away.
do i think it works? probably about as good as your bright lights do to a deer.

 

I was thinking about the same thing this week. Shouldn't it be possible to mount a metal bar inside the flexible chin spoiler, like a bull bar, but out of sight?... Should be possible.


Oh, NEVER EVER try to avoid running over an animal, better to risk car damage and a dead animal then kill youself in a car crash. Just train yourself to brake if possible, otherwise wait for the bump.. Sad, but not worth risking your own life for.

 

Yeah a guy that used to come to our hangout flipped his car trying to avoid a raccoon, he wasnt hurt but the car was tottaled.

 

I agree. If you can't make it over onto the shoulder, then I'd just drive over / at ANY f*cker that gets in my way. Yeah, it's not a pleasant thought knowing you risk extensive damage to the car, but really, in the end, it's just a car. It could be far worse trying to swervepossibly into oncopmming traffic or into a ditch just to save the lift of some stupid rodent.

Try placing an animal whistle just inside the front of the air / grille intake. You know, those small silent whistle you can stick on (they are fairly cheap). Now I don't know how effective they are, but me and my family all have them on our vehicles (not on my 3rd gen though) and we do alot of highway / country driving to the cottage and have not once had any problems with wildlife.

 

Thanks for the advice (esp. the bit about the front end lifting when you floor it...I wasn't aware of that, but it's good to know)...

Guess I should have clarified, too...when I said I try to stop and then go around large roadkill, I didn't mean I slam on my brakes, stop abruptly or anything like that. I try not to slam the brakes ever, unless it's a situation like the stupid b**** yesterday who made a left turn at a red light and nearly hit me. What I meant by stopping is that (and this is only if there's no one behind me) I ease off the accelerator if I'm on it and gradually slow down. It's not a 'panic and react' sort of thing, where I inadvertantly risk getting rear-ended, or anything like that.

 

being i have a 82-83 air dam on my 89 formula, the earlier dam is a bit deeper than the stock formula dam and around the 4th of july one year i thought i passed easily over a bird. at our club 4th of july get together i kept smelling something dead when ever i was around the hood latch area and couldnt figure it out and finally i looked where the hood saftey latch hole is and seen the bird i the rad tray.