Yielding to a New Perspective

Just 1 in a 116 chance. An astronomically small percentage when looked at from an outside perspective. Something that would most probably never happen. The only problem with a slim chance? The fact that there’s still a chance.

I still remember that day. I was sitting in the passenger seat, slowly dozing off. With bleary eyes I turned my eyes to the clock dashboard which read 1:34am. It was pitch black, we were surrounded by trees, we could only see 10 feet in front of us, but we were still cruising at 50 miles per hour. Suddenly we saw a blur, and it finally registered in my brain that there was something in front of us. It was too late, there was a resounding crack and my hands flew up to cover my face as though the glass windshield in front of me was about to shatter. After pulling over and catching our breath, we were finally able to recognize what had happened. We hit a deer.

Looking back at the incident, there was so much I now realize that was wrong. First there was the fact that even in the rough conditions of the dark and with fog, we were still cruising at a speed well over the speed limit. Not only were we blatantly ignoring the safety regulations put in place for this very reason, but we made the rash decision to let our exhaustion play a major factor in the process.

Luckily, we were the only car on the road, and we were also lucky in the sense that the deer was not injured. But not as many Americans can confidently say they are as lucky as us. Every year, about 1.23 million car accidents with deer alone occur in the United States. Of those, an average 10,000 Americans suffer from injuries while 200 others often die from the impact of these accidents.

After the incident, we were able to take a good look at the damages that happened because of our carelessness. Not only was our windshield cracked, but there were countless damages to the front of the car, not to mention the damages that must have happened to the deer. So, where do we go from here? How do we improve?

There are multiple solutions that have been presented in order to help curb this steady increase in deer-related accidents. The first couple are human-dependent and extraordinarily important. Make sure you are driving a little more slowly in areas with the “deer crossing” sign, especially at dawn and dusk since that is when deer are most active. Apart from that, driving with high beams on and driving in the center of the road are vital to helping ensure visibility of potential hazards, like deer. Seasonality also plays a key role: drivers should be especially cautious in the fall because that is when bucks are on the move due to rutting and hunting seasons. Another season to be cautious of is spring because that’s when yearlings are seeking new territories.

Along with increased caution, new devices can also help curb this statistic. According to The Humane Society of the United States, a Streiter Light can prove particularly effective. This device reflects headlights to create an illusion of a fence and warn deer of oncoming vehicles. These devices have been reported to decrease the amount of deer-vehicle collisions by 60 to 100 percent depending on the area. Other potential aids are Deer Detectors, tools that alert deer to oncoming vehicles by combining a strobe light effect with ultrasonic high-pitched sounds. Along with these two devices, there are some other inventions such as motion-activated blinking lights to mount on deer crossing signs, and wildlife crossing underpasses that could also be implemented.

All in all, many measures can be taken to help decrease the rate of car crashes in terms of deer, which underscores our personal responsibility as humans for the 1.23 million accidents that occur yearly. In fact, it is the combination of our carelessness and our recklessness that causes most of these accidents. Taking even a couple of the measures listed above could lead to a major decrease in casualties of both humans and deers. This world belongs to nature, so we should avoid navigating it with violent intrusion..