What is the safest course of action if your car is about to hit a large animal (deer, cow, etc)?

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My 3 Toes	Swerving is the worst thing to do. It may save the animal, but kill you in the process. If driving a car, hitting the gas will increase your velocity at impact which might force the animal to come up and over the hood and straight for the windshield/roof. The best thing to do is to remain clam, hit the brakes as hard as you can without the tires locking up, hold the wheel straight on the road, and prepare for impact. #1. It's better to kill a deer than yourself. #2. By braking, you can keep the point of impact lower and towards the front of the car instead of in your face. #3. The deer might move at the last minute. Keeping yourself straight on the road will keep you in control of the vehicle. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Fred C	"Someone" is not a good instructor, and will get a person killed. I presume you are asking for the best course of action if it is absolutely impossible to avoid the collision. Here it is. "1-Aim for the spot the animal is coming from, not where it is going. 2-Look where you want to go, do not look at the animal. You drive where you look so if you look at the animal, you will drive into it. 3-If you have to hit something, try a glancing blow, not a head-on hit. 4-Brake firmly and quickly, then look, and steer vehicle to strike at an angle. 5-Ease up on the brake just before you hit the animal. This makes the front end of your car to rise and reduces the chances of the animal coming through your windshield." If you doubt this advice, you can likely confirm it with a driving school, especially a professional, racing, or performance school, that operates in areas where wildlife are likely to be encountered on the road. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

UCANTCME	Use high beam headlights if there are no oncoming vehicles. High beams will allow the driver to better see the eyes of the deer. Honk the horn when you see deer next to the roadway or highway. This will help scare the deer away from the roadway Blink your high beams at the deer. Deer seem to be in a trance when they see your headlights. By blinking your headlights at them, it seems to wake them up to the danger heading toward them. Brake. When you see a deer in or near the roadway or highway, stay in your lane of traffic, but brake firmly. Do not lock the brakes up on your vehicle because that can cause you to lose control of the vehicle. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

pickles	Try to stop and do not swerve. If you do swerve and go off the road do not try to correct. Think of it like this, fighting natural forces of physics make for large tragedy and letting them go makes small. If the car wants to go let it, but try to stop. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

solvent	Braking does gives you more reaction time. Serving to avoid collision can be more effective sometime (there must be space to serve left or right) Serve around the rear of the animal if practical (serve in front and it may ram you in panic) Never accelerate to try hit/scare the animal away (they can be much tougher than your car for their size) I braked and served around the first white cow crossing the highway in a neighbouring country. Further down the same highway, I braked in time for the second white cow lying across the highway for its bed Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Ms.D.	if you hit an animal that size it is like hitting a brick wall. The best thing to do is to go slow until you get out of that area. Sometimes you will see a sign that shows animals it means this is an area where they are seen crossing. If you press the accelerator it was make the car go faster. Not good to hit any thing fast and hard. Just wait until they pass you might took the horn to get them to go faster. good luck Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

gearnofear	Huh? That is faults logic there. Don't swerve to avoid the animal, do everything you can to stop the car, if you hit the animal then you hit the animal. if you swerve you will do more damage to the car running it off the road. your Friend is thinking that by hitting the accelerator your going to pass the animal up and not hit it. Well that's all fine and good if your able to see the animal, at night your not going to have that kind of time. best to try and stop. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Martinez2006	actually hitting the accelerator might be the worst thing that you could do if its a large animal. in most cases, the animal will weigh too much (assuming your in a car, or normal truck not a monster truck lol). you will end up taking out its legs and the animal will come flying at you though the winshield, thus adding the speed of the car and the animal flying at you possibly making it deadly. if you were in somewhat a larger vehicle the impact would still be enough to leave you with some injuries and possibly broken bones. if your certain you cant hit the brakes, and you cant swerve completely try hitting it with the lowest speed possible but at an angle. that way the animal will not fly directly at you. if your in a monster or a semi then....FLOOR IT! lol, jk Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Vince M	Pressing down the accelerator is the absolutely WRONG thing to do. Greater speed means greater damage to your car and the animal. If you know you cannot avoid striking the animal, the best thing to do would be the same thing you try to do when about to strike ANY object. Try to steer so it hits a glancing blow, instead of straight on. Damage will still occur, but not as much. If you divert the energy of the blow, it will effect you less than taking on all of the energy. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Jr. is angry	have that someone try this trick on a brick wall, let me know how he does. if you cant stop, or miss it, brake to reduce speed before impact. striking a 200lb animal will do less damage at 30mph then 60. simple physics. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

bullvedere	take it from someone who has hit them (deer,cow,antelope) the worst thing you can do is swerve,always stay on your line you were traveling,don't slam on the brakes,it lowers the hood line and has been known to actually sweep their legs allowing the body mass to come onto the hood and windshield area.keep a steady throttle pedal because if you are going to hit it,it will cause damage to your vehicle no matter what you do.remember deer and antelope jump just when you make contact with them and remember if you see one there are usually more around somewhere close.cattle are different they tend to just stand there so if you see it from enough distance to slow down safely then do it,i hit a 1300# cow at three in the morning in a fog bank with my dodge 3500 dually 4x4 with a huge steel cattle guard on the front of it doing 55 miles an hour on a 2 lane highway after it jumped out of the ditch right in front of me and it totaled my truck when it broke the engine block in my diesel.if i would have swerved i would have rolled the truck and if i would have stomped on the brakes it would have been in my lap. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No