While it is commendable that Erie Insurance spent the time to review ten years of loss history to develop a list of tips for drivers, they missed half of the equation.
Many accidents between deer and cars are not the fault of drivers, or of poor driver skills, but rather by the deer themselves.
Had Erie completed the review and addressed a comprehensive program of collision avoidance, they would have engineered the situation – from the perspective of the deer.
Here’s a sampling of tips compiled for Mr. and Ms. Whitetail:
1. Always cross at lighted crosswalks and obey posted traffic controls. If one is available, find a crossing guard.
2. Stay away from roads with the yellow signs with leaping stags in black. Drivers will be alert to the potential of bagging a buck for dinner for 37 friends.
3. Birth control. Face it, there are just too many deer around nowadays. Zero Population Growth should be mandated. Or deer-dated.
4. Keep better daytime hours. If you cannot stay asleep in the pre-dawn hours, surf the internet until Mr. Sunshine is above the horizon.
5. Don’t be a party animal. If you aren’t equipped with warning lights, don’t wander around poorly lit areas at or after dusk.
6. Be heard, not a part of the herd. If you’re too young to have horns, or you’re a female, or its off-season, find a buck with horns who can notify drivers of your location. Just make sure to duck in case hunters are around.
7. Fences are boundaries, not obstacle courses to be jumped over. Chances are that a fence means you shouldn’t be on the other side. The grass is almost always NEVER greener.
8. Never stand still in the middle of the road. It’s stupid, it makes the rest of the deer population look like fools, and it doesn’t make an approaching driver think you are a statue.
9. If you are unlucky and are struck by a car, immediately insist upon the driver’s insurance and registration cards. Call the police and get an accident report. Too many claims are denied due to lack of paperwork, and those that do get processed often are fully subrogated.
10. If a car swerves to avoid hitting you and strikes a tree or other immovable object, do not under any circumstances jump about, celebrating with ‘high fives’. Offer assistance where and when possible. The lives you save may be your own.
I meant to say – or rather should have said:
10. If a car swerves to avoid hitting you and strikes a tree or other immovable object, do not under any circumstances jump about, celebrating with ‘high TWOs’. Offer assistance where and when possible. The lives you save may be your own.
iNoon, I think I might love you a bit. On behalf of Erie Insurance, I apologize for not taking the time to interview a statistically valid sample of deer. In fact, I should probably take a few weeks out of the office to hike around and do so, eh?
Thank you, Ms. Paris, for your kind comments and rest assured the sentiment is appreciated.
On behalf of deer everywhere, I am pleased to announce the launch of our new driver training software, Virtual Venison.
This defensive driving course for new and current drivers is intended to create awareness on how best to share the road with all users.
We feel there is a definite need for this training. Most people visit the woods only as a means of getting from Point A to Point B. Deer, on the other hand, reside in these woods and spend each day enjoying their surroundings. Some of that time is spent getting from Meadow A to Shady Glen B.
Some activist deer see a highway and think “incursion” or “yuppie-fication”, and have been known to band up with the Northern cousins of the Black Panthers, the Yellow Catamounts. Other deer are more willing to allow sharing the natural resources. It is this latter group that welcomes travelers and has created the program.
The hope is to release the software and its accompanying video, “Bumpers Hurt”, at high schools nationwide in 2009. Until then, drivers are asked to be alert to their surroundings and enjoy the scenery.
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While it is commendable that Erie Insurance spent the time to review ten years of loss history to develop a list of tips for drivers, they missed half of the equation.
Many accidents between deer and cars are not the fault of drivers, or of poor driver skills, but rather by the deer themselves.
Had Erie completed the review and addressed a comprehensive program of collision avoidance, they would have engineered the situation – from the perspective of the deer.
Here’s a sampling of tips compiled for Mr. and Ms. Whitetail:
1. Always cross at lighted crosswalks and obey posted traffic controls. If one is available, find a crossing guard.
2. Stay away from roads with the yellow signs with leaping stags in black. Drivers will be alert to the potential of bagging a buck for dinner for 37 friends.
3. Birth control. Face it, there are just too many deer around nowadays. Zero Population Growth should be mandated. Or deer-dated.
4. Keep better daytime hours. If you cannot stay asleep in the pre-dawn hours, surf the internet until Mr. Sunshine is above the horizon.
5. Don’t be a party animal. If you aren’t equipped with warning lights, don’t wander around poorly lit areas at or after dusk.
6. Be heard, not a part of the herd. If you’re too young to have horns, or you’re a female, or its off-season, find a buck with horns who can notify drivers of your location. Just make sure to duck in case hunters are around.
7. Fences are boundaries, not obstacle courses to be jumped over. Chances are that a fence means you shouldn’t be on the other side. The grass is almost always NEVER greener.
8. Never stand still in the middle of the road. It’s stupid, it makes the rest of the deer population look like fools, and it doesn’t make an approaching driver think you are a statue.
9. If you are unlucky and are struck by a car, immediately insist upon the driver’s insurance and registration cards. Call the police and get an accident report. Too many claims are denied due to lack of paperwork, and those that do get processed often are fully subrogated.
10. If a car swerves to avoid hitting you and strikes a tree or other immovable object, do not under any circumstances jump about, celebrating with ‘high fives’. Offer assistance where and when possible. The lives you save may be your own.
You’re funny. I really enjoyed this one.
I meant to say – or rather should have said:
10. If a car swerves to avoid hitting you and strikes a tree or other immovable object, do not under any circumstances jump about, celebrating with ‘high TWOs’. Offer assistance where and when possible. The lives you save may be your own.
Funny and a brain. Impressive. : )
well, i like the so-called tips, but let’s face it — 10 ten reasons why?
10: i wanted to follow that doe across the road.
9: i need to take a potty break 1/2 way across the road.
8: well, if a human can play frogger, how about them playing deer?
7: let’s play freeway across the road.
6: headlights? why do those humans have those, horns are better!
5: did you not see that white-tail go up? i surrender —- NOT!
4: i forgot my flying lessons pappa/momma deer spent for me.
3: jaywalking — humans do, why can’t i?
2: at least we try to cross the road one at a time!
1: I wanted to show you my BLACK NOSE – surely I am not Rudolph.
iNoon, I think I might love you a bit. On behalf of Erie Insurance, I apologize for not taking the time to interview a statistically valid sample of deer. In fact, I should probably take a few weeks out of the office to hike around and do so, eh?
Thank you, Ms. Paris, for your kind comments and rest assured the sentiment is appreciated.
On behalf of deer everywhere, I am pleased to announce the launch of our new driver training software, Virtual Venison.
This defensive driving course for new and current drivers is intended to create awareness on how best to share the road with all users.
We feel there is a definite need for this training. Most people visit the woods only as a means of getting from Point A to Point B. Deer, on the other hand, reside in these woods and spend each day enjoying their surroundings. Some of that time is spent getting from Meadow A to Shady Glen B.
Some activist deer see a highway and think “incursion” or “yuppie-fication”, and have been known to band up with the Northern cousins of the Black Panthers, the Yellow Catamounts. Other deer are more willing to allow sharing the natural resources. It is this latter group that welcomes travelers and has created the program.
The hope is to release the software and its accompanying video, “Bumpers Hurt”, at high schools nationwide in 2009. Until then, drivers are asked to be alert to their surroundings and enjoy the scenery.