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Charger Pursuit hits deer at 114mph!

22K views 66 replies 35 participants last post by  Zagnut27  
#1 ·
#6 ·
At that speed, better headlights would not have made a difference.

And truthfully, the headlights are not bad, compared to any halogen lamp from 10 years ago. Lighting has improved dramatically in the last 5-10 years, even halogen.

Mike
 
#7 ·
Lighting doesn't necessarily allow you to see deer, and seeing deer doesn't necessarily allow you to miss them. Two weeks ago, I saw the deer in the ditch. I slowed, it slowed. I decided I could speed up and get by it. It jumped across the road, after I thought I had passed it, and hit me right above my rear wheel. I guarantee this particular deer in the accident was not at all visible, lights or no lights, until it was dead (no pun intended) in front of the car.
 
#13 ·
As a former driver of emergency vehicles (ambulances), some laws do not apply. However, you are obligated to drive at a safe speed considering time of day, environmental conditions, and the type of road (no matter departmental specific policies, this does not change). Get there in a hurry, but arrive safely...not just for you but others on the road as well. The type of call is irrelevant. This guy could’ve just as easily rear-ended another vehicle under the circumstances in this video.
 
#15 ·
This time of year deer have only one thing on their mind. They are completely oblivious to anything other than the opposite sex.

Horns, loud exhaust, yelling at them out your window....they don't care.

And they feel invincible!

My Saint Bernard and I watched 3 does stare at the bottom of my yard. We were 15 yards away from them. They payed no attention to us, so we meandered down my drive and sure enough there was the buck, about 50 yards on the other side of the road. We walked back in the house and about 20 mins later I heard the tires squealing and the horns honking. Guess they made their move.
 
#16 ·
This time of year deer have only one thing on their mind. They are completely oblivious to anything other than the opposite sex.

Horns, loud exhaust, yelling at them out your window....they don't care.

And they feel invincible!

My Saint Bernard and I watched 3 does stare at the bottom of my yard. We were 15 yards away from them. They payed no attention to us, so we meandered down my drive and sure enough there was the buck, about 50 yards on the other side of the road. We walked back in the house and about 20 mins later I heard the tires squealing and the horns honking. Guess they made their move.
Driving home last night, we saw about a dozen deer along the sides of the road. We saw lots of “eyes” on the other side of the fence along the highway too. At night especially, one should be hyper vigilant when driving. I’ve never hit a deer before, and I hope to keep that streak alive. My brother, father, sister in law, and friends have. My wife ran through the carcass of one on the highway and almost lost control of her vehicle...I was following behind and saw air beneath the back wheels on her Saturn...very scary.

When I did EMS up in Central NY, the deer were everywhere. All the roads were two-lanes with lots of brush and trees on either side...perfect for concealment to the last possible moment. Very hard to spot. The ambulances were fun to drive, but that’s one thing I don’t miss for sure.
 
#19 ·
Deer have the habit of jumping out in front of moving objects all the time. I saw several posts asking if the 114mph was warranted, and at the same time others are saying the police don't respond fast enough. Can't have it both ways, lights flashing and sirens blaring gives the police the authority to get to the scene as fast as possible to save lives, so my response is pretty simple. A deer jumped out in front of a speeding Sheriff patrol car and the car won and survived quite well in my book.
 
#24 ·
An applicable excerpt from Michigan’s state law:

257.603 Applicability of chapter to government vehicles; exemption of authorized emergency vehicles; conditions; exemption of police vehicles not sounding audible signal; exemption of persons, vehicles, and equipment working on surface of highway.

(2) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle when responding to an emergency call, but not while returning from an emergency call, or when pursuing or apprehending a person who has violated or is violating the law or is charged with or suspected of violating the law may exercise the privileges set forth in this section, subject to the conditions of this section.

(3) The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may do any of the following:

(a) Park or stand, irrespective of this act.

(b) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation. (We were told, if we were in an accident going through an intersection, we weren’t going at a safe speed...no matter how fast we were going. It was our responsibility to proceed safely...and protect our very expensive rig).

(c) Exceed the prima facie speed limits so long as he or she does not endanger life or property. (Once again, this is a judgment call).

(d) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in a specified direction. (We could go the wrong way down a one way street. But we weren’t allowed to pass vehicles on the right side. The rationale is, when a driver sees an emergency vehicle approaching, what do they usually do? They pull to the right...).

A lot of driving an emergency vehicle is a judgment call. There are applicable laws, and emergency personnel are granted decent leeway with those laws and for good reason. And experience definitely helps with making sound judgements. But one must always remember, though accidents can always happen, driving recklessly only increases the odds. I’m not saying this dude was reckless, too much is unknown, but it certainly appears that way from what is seen IMO. Your obligation is to the person on the other end of the call, but it’s also to do no harm to any you encounter in between. Imagine having to explain to a spouse or parent that their loved one is dead because of your actions while enroute to a call.
 
#27 ·
It happens too frequently. A Georgia State Patrol officer running 91 mph in a 55 zone (not on a chase or emergency call) killed two people some time back and it’s still in the court system. Some follow the rules, others don’t. Just like the general population.
 
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#29 ·
All good! I appreciate the info. Lighting technology is changing fast... so fast it is hard to keep up. Some of the stuff at SEMA was insane!

Mike
 
#31 ·
While obviously it would have made no difference in this instance with the speed involved it takes me back to my 89 XJ. I had installed a pair of Hella XL Auxiliary Low Beams. I used them often on the two lane rural roads around here. These roads run between farms following property lines with straights broken up with frequent curves..
I would use my high beams to see when the next curve was coming up and the Hella XL's to keep an eye on the edge of the road for livestock and wildlife. They had a wider pattern than regular low beams and brighter so they were perfect in these conditions.
Mounted on the bumper they did a good job in the fog too.

I wish I had taken them off the 89 before I sold it to use them on my 01.
 
#32 ·
Regardless of headlights, even at 55 MPH I find it hard to believe that the Officer could have anticipated the deer jumping out when/where it did. Just very unfortunate timing.
 
#34 ·
I don’t agree. If you slow the video down, you can see the deer running in the road towards the opposite side of the road. If he were going slower, the deer would’ve crossed in front of him and been gone. He may have been able to evade it instead. We don’t know, and will never. But the fact that the officer was doing more than double 55 mph greatly reduced his reaction time, especially considering the type of road and the darkness.
 
#33 ·
Amazing how much damage a deer can do to a vehicle!
I hit one many years ago in my girlfriends RX-7 at the passenger headlight around 60 or so and it took out the whole side of the car.

BTW, if I'm in an emergency and have called the police, I want them to get there as fast as possible as safe as possible.
I don't want them constrained to any speed caps.
 
#35 ·
The officer is lucky the deer didn't come through the windshield. At the speed he was reportedly driving I doubt he would have ever touched the brakes before impact. Never mind stopping in time.
 
#36 ·
Getting close to Christmas.
Time for a Bob Rivers song.

I came upon a roadkill deer
A sorrowful sight to behold
He lay upon the highway's edge
His body was stiff and cold

I bet he never saw the car
Careening through the snow
The lights shone brightly in his eyes
And then they laid him low

I came upon a roadkill deer
And lifted him off the road
We'll all enjoy a Christmas feast
Of Bambi sloppy joes

Be careful of those gravel bits
They really get stuck in your teeth
We'll place the antlers from his head
Upon our holiday wreath

(I came upon a roadkill deer)
(A sorrowful sight to behold)
He gave his all to bring good cheer
As thumper mistletoe
 
#40 ·
The Charger did well protecting the officer's life.

Police Chargers get base lights.....the crappy ones.

There is a video out there of a racing Porsche hitting a deer at around 150. The dashcam in the Porsche behind shows only a red mist before his windshield is covered in liquid
 
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#42 · (Edited by Moderator)
No deer in my area, only moose. He probably wouldn’t have survived that impact with 800 lbs or more hitting that windshield. Big problem in my area. Many people have been killed or seriously injured. A police officer who patrolled the highway was blaming it on people driving too fast, until he hit one and then admitted he never seen it until it was too late. He now understands. Headlights won’t matter much if that thing jumps out of the woods or out of the ditch in front of you. I see many people driving these days with those aftermarket HID kits, and LED bars all the while blinding everyone else in their path. The factory lights are properly aimed and dispersed, those eBay kits spread the light everywhere. You almost need your sunglasses on at night to be able to see past them and god forbid if it’s raining!
 
#52 ·
So I'm driving home this evening after stopping at the store. Taking a fairly new road (45 mph limit) that is alongside a wooded hike and bike trail.
Sure enough as I'm taking a curve in the dark I see two deer not 6 feet from the road.
I'm glad they didn't spook easy. They just stood there.
Not sure how a Chevy Sonic would hold up hitting one at 45 mph.
"Uh, boss? You know that company car?"
 
#59 ·
First off, and I didn't see it mentioned, I don't think the officer HAD his high beams on at all! They make mistakes too! Second, I recall that the term for going too fast for safe lighting at night is "over driving your headlights". Third, I know for a fact that the dear whistles do in fact work; however, they do not work until a vehicle exceeds 30 to 35 MPH; but, nothing short of a heatseeking missile will stop a dear who has been spooked or a buck who is pursuing a doe! And last but not least. I believe it was comedian Ron White who said, "Deer are so stupid that if you put headlights on a bullet they would jump right in front of it"!:D