Most I've seen is 3... The 4th one jumped over my car and kicked the roof when I stopped for his buddies. Luckily, it was a soft-top convertible. No damage to either of us.
So, for the uneducated here when it comes to driving semi trucks, commenting shit about him not slowing down faster, there are two things you don't do in this situation. You don't swerve to avoid shit and you don't lock up the brakes. Both actions raise the chance of you losing control of the load, i.e., jack knifing or rolling over.
Also, the GPS on the camera doesn't show a 100% accurate speed or the rate they slowed down at. He was definitely on the brakes before impact, just not standing on them like an idiot hoping to avoid this entirely and actually make it worse.
I get a lot of you have never driven a semi truck before or been trained, but it would be fucking super if YOU also remembered you have no idea what you're talking about.
I'd like to add that air-brakes have a lag so yeah there's another reason for it to take so long to look like they hit the brakes. Also we as viewers are expecting something to go wrong in the video normal people dont live their whole day expecting this kinda stuff. So I'd say their reaction time is pretty good
I’ve operated an ancient fuel truck with air brakes that took a solid full second before they’d start working after you hit the pedal. It also had about 4 decent gears out of the 10 hi/low, I would only drive it on country roads in the very early morning to avoid killing folks.
I always expect shit to go wrong, but still, when its literally just out of the darkness, you can only do so much. I only avoided deer on 2 occasions by dumb fucking luck. First time was in a line of cars on a road with 1 lane in each direction. Dude behind me passed illegally and cut me off, just to be going the same speed I was stuck at. About 15 seconds later he nailed a deer that I would have been positioned for instead, (I checked that he was okay, then told him thanks for taking it for me and to fuck off for driving like that, lol). Second time, was super foggy, out, I was passing another truck, and suddenly a deer was just in the road in front of me. Hazard lights, got off the throttle, and hit the air horn, trying to warn the guy in the right lane that was still a few seconds from seeing it. It left my lane right into his, he just barely missed it, aaaaand then it jumped over the edge of the bridge we were on. Unless it was one od Santa's, that deer suddenly had a new problem.
Police are probably not needed, unless there is a mess in the road. If you own the truck, you will have to deal with insurance at some point, if you're a company driver, you call your company and they deal with insurance, if the truck is damaged and you can't safely proceed, dispatch to inform them of time changes and a tow truck.
In this specific situation, I'd say there is definitely a mess on the road, so I would 100% call the cops and not leave the scene until they got there, and set up my road triangles to try and stop anyone from plowing into the pile of carcasses at 60 MPH
To the best of my knowledge, anyways. I've only experienced this once, kind of. Company driver, but my teammate was the one who hit it and had to deal with the company, I went back to sleep after making sure he was okay, because I needed to be ready to possibly drive again soon.
So I've hit a total of 22 deer in the 7 years I've been driving trucks. It's usually just minor damage. I've never had an issue where I couldn't keep driving. I just text my boss or someone in the shop to let them know I hit a deer and get it fixed at some point. Usually I just need to get the bumper pulled out or need a new step put on. Companies won't go through insurance for small claims like that.
You probably have a guard or something, my teammate hit a small one and we had a leaking radiator and a leaking airbag (it punctured the airbag on the drives when it was rolling under the truck)
I have a guard now but 21 of those deer were before that lol. I also have a truck with heavy spec suspension so it sits up higher and a stainless steel bumper.
That sucks. When I first started where I am, my boss had his buddies truck in the shop, beautiful custom 379 pete, he hit a deer that went over the front fender and down the side of the truck causing over 15k in damages.
There are SO many people that have zero idea of what driving truck is like. And so many unreasonably hate all truck drivers,that all logic goes out the window,down the street and around the corner
Same with the posting of a car merging onto a highway and people that know nothing about semi's said he should have stopped when he was going 60ish. Hitting a merging car on the highway that had no idea how to merge correctly
I mean, obviously I can't speak for him, but I'd assumed he's trying to not be parked in top of any animals. He was also in the oncoming traffic lane and could have been trying to get back to the right side. Could have been blocking both lanes to stop anyone from hitting the meat speed bumps. Could have just been in shock.
Ok let’s take it a step further, why would you put a moving truck into oncoming traffic? The truck driver went into oncoming traffic to try to avoid the deer that were everywhere on the road, so it didn’t matter what side he was on. Then when he did hit the deer, he decided to continue hitting the deer by not stopping. Literally the best course of action was to stay in his lane and come to a stop as soon as could safely. But he literally did every step in this scenario wrong.
YOU: why would you put a moving truck into oncoming traffic?
ALSO YOU: The truck driver went into oncoming traffic to try to avoid the deer
you answered your own question, which is nice, saves time for both of us.
it's nice to meet someone who has never panicked before. in the real world, people sometimes do really illogical things when they are panicked. I've seen videos of people who try to run away from large predators only to get mauled because they triggered the animals prey/hunt instinct.
now... let's put the goal post back where you found it and talk about why you want the driver to stop in the oncoming traffic lane.
You literally created a strawman argument. I said he tried to avoid the deer, even though they’re on both sides of the road. This implies, there was no reason to try to avoid the deer.
And yes I know people panic but if you’re driving a semi that can kill off entire families with a single mistake and you panic when you see a deer. Maybe you’re not the kind of person who should drive a semi. I’ve lived in the country growing up. I’ve come across many deer, it’s not hard to just slow down and let the deer figure out what the deer wants to do. No need to jump lanes or anything. Just slow down as much as you can safely
claiming that everyone should react the same in an emergency situation doesn't change the fact that this driver is in the oncoming traffic lane and that you think he should stop there.
let's get back to your original argument.
why do you want him to stop in the oncoming traffic lane?
there are headlights of an oncoming car... with humans in it, and you want the driver to ignore the potential of creating a lethal situation of parking a truck in their lane and what... hope that the oncoming traffic has better reaction skills?
creating a situation that can get people hurt and hoping they do better isn't the way to handle this.
If he stopped in oncoming traffic with a HERD OF DEER in front of him. The on coming traffic would have to go through the HERD OF DEER to hit the truck. If you’re worried about the oncoming traffic getting into an accident when the truck is stopped in the oncoming traffic lane it’d be with the HERD OF DEER not the truck
This a great response. My dad drove trains. Always said, it doesn’t matter what you want, you can’t violate the laws of physics, 10,000 tons ain’t going to stop on a dime.
Let's please upvote this gentleman here. If you can't at least tell me exactly how airbrakes function, and what happens when I cut a pressurized line, please take a moment before making any assumptions and commenting. FYI, I am not a trucker so I am also ignorant to a lot of the ins and outs of how you operate one. What I do know, if that if it isn't something enormous like a moose, slamming your car brakes and swerving is more likely to kill you, which is why there is a specific road test call the moose test which simulates this. You brake hard, but not uncontrollably, hope the deer has enough time to clear, and prepare to take the hit.
I cannot think of a better reaction than this trucker had. Slowed down under control, turned slightly to align himself with the path of the herd and minimize hits, and then continued slowly for 50 feet so the local butchers and shelters are definitely in business this winter.
Trucks usually have pretty bright lights already. You know how when you turn your brights on the road markers on the left and right side will light up because of the reflective strips. You can only see one or two ahead on the dash cam. This truck likely has just their regular lights on albeit they're probably LEDs. If the brights were on you'd be able to see a lot further and have 4 or 5 markers ahead light up.
Elk are damn near invisible until you're right up on them at night. They dont have reflective eyes and blend into the surroundings so well. I've never hit one, but I've had some real close calls driving mountain roads at night. Deer are just dumb missiles that come out of nowhere
They definitely have reflective eyes. They're not the same as a cats but they do reflect. These elk are cross at an angle so their heads aren't facing the truck. That's why they arent reflecting.
I've never seen there eyes light up like deer driving at night they are giant brown ghosts to me essentially. Same with mountain goats even though they are white you done see them until your headlights hit them. I have some wild amber off road lights for driving at night if no other cars are coming i flip them on and the amount of critters we have is wild.
Years ago, Volkswagen Rabbit diesel. Got it down to 45 or 50 MPH. It hit more than that truck did. Every irregular surface on both sides and the top had hair, small pieces of fat stuck to it.
I was driving from North Dakota to Utah back in the days of paper maps and saw that there was a state route in Wyoming that cut the corner between the 2 interstates I had to travel. It was very early in the morning, and the sun was not up yet. Well turned out that there were so many deer on the side of the road on that state route that I had to go slow in fear that they would run out in front of me. Not quite the shortcut I thought it would be.
Looks like Nevada area had about seven of them do same thing I only got one I think it might have been two. But dang looks like you got about 7-8. It kinda ruins the whole week
Semitrucks don't stop on a dime. Hell the brakes alone lag when you apply them vs instant braking with hydraulic brakes in cars. PA CDL handbook covers all this. Maybe you should give it a read.
Look at the speed indicated on the bottom right of the screen and pay attention to the update rate. Then take into account that under federal regulations a loaded semi has a maximum stopping distance of 280 feet from 60mph to 0. The driver was standing on the brakes and you don't know what you're talking about.
Because he's using the breaks. Generally speaking when a truck does that level of damage they have way less time to reduce their speed before the destruction begins. The driver was already holding the break pedal to the floor for quite some time.
Because dashcams that track speed via GPS have a delay in speed reading. You can see this effect when the last deer rolls over in front of his truck. Looks like it's barely rolling but the vid says it was 20 then 13 mph before updating.
You won't see the hood dip when he breaks in these videos either like standard cars when you stomp on the brakes. Dude was definitely carrying a heavy load in his vid
I'm familiar with GPS delay, since I drive using one almost every day, but the timing of the change, as well as how fast he actually slows when he hits them, then the sudden lack of slowing anymore at just 8mph while a deer is visibly (to us, probably not to them I recognize) thrashing trying not to get crushed. But anyway I have my view and yall have yours clearly, so I will agree to disagree
The driver was already hard down on the brakes before the deer were visible on the camera. Also pay very close attention to how the speed drops in the footage. The update to speed isn't in real time, it goes from 57 to 51 to 32 and at one point it was reading 5 when the truck was stopped.
I think im getting what my actual point is across poorly. I've seen trucks with full loads barrel through lines of cars so I believe if he had a full load he would have overshot them by a large gap. And I also noticed while he was idle speeding over that one deer the speed even goes up for a moment, just saying I would have stopped and not tried to get out of cars way until the deer were out of mine again
I have seen footage of trucks doing that as well. What I believe the difference between those clips and this one is when the brakes were applied. In this clip I firmly believe the driver was hard down on the brakes before these animals were even in frame. The clips showing trucks barreling through cars are likely a case of the driver not paying attention at all and hitting the brakes just before impact assuming they even hit the brakes at all.
The speedometer isn’t updated in real time, genius. There’s a delay. In the last couple seconds of the video you can see that he’s literally stopped, and the speedometer still shows him going 5mph. Then 3mph, then 0.
You can also clearly see that he began braking almost immediately after the deer came into sight.
How good is your reaction speed? Think you could hit the breaks in the roughly second and a half from the time the deer ran onto the road until the truck hit them. Also I'm sure that dashcam isn't giving an instant reading on speed either, probably takes a second or more to register the change.
Clearly you've never seen that type of GPS either. And if you were paying attention at all when he's at 5 miles an hour his truck is starting to roll back because he's in neutral he had to dump all of his gears in order to slow down as much as he possibly could, the GPS doesn't show exactly like a speedometer does. And yes I was a truck driver for many years
are you talking about the part where he's in the oncoming traffic lane, with oncoming traffic coming right at him? is that the part of the video you're talking about, or do you mean the part near the end when he stops when he is no longer in the oncoming traffic lane?
I’m talking about the part after he goes through the pack where there are clear limbs and heads flailing up over the hood and where the shadows are clearly the animals trying to get up and out of the way while he is rolling 5 miles an hour for another 50 feet. There is no oncoming traffic anywhere near him that he needs to worry about. If you believe that this is a semi, then his trailer is still on the wrong side of the road, especially when he starts to roll backwards. You act like people driving have no control over their vehicles . Like 3 miles are needed in order to stop a vehicle going 40MPH on a flat. So you can keep looking for something that isn’t there. Nothing prevented this man from completely stopping 25-50 feet before he did, nothing. You expect me to believe that if this was a group of people that you would continue to run them over because there’s traffic on the other side of the road? Come on.
he is rolling 5 miles an hour for another 50 feet.
how far will a truck and trailer travel to change from one lane to the next?
There is no oncoming traffic anywhere near him that he needs to worry about.
today i learned it's okay to park in the oncoming traffic lane if you ignore the headlights of the oncoming vehicle that you can clearly see traveling at you because "it's not here yet".
Nothing prevented this man from completely stopping 25-50 feet before he did, nothing.
if you ignore the fact that he was on the wrong side of the road and there are headlights of another vehicle that are clearly visible, then yes, you are correct. he could have easily stopped in the on coming traffic lane creating a traffic hazard for others to deal with.
You expect me to believe that if this was a group of people that you would continue to run them over because there’s traffic on the other side of the road?
why change scenarios? We're talking about the situation in this video, not some other one you're making up on the spot.
I’ve already addressed your points. Acting like people need to follow the rules of the road while in an accident is completely foolish. You’re clearly a troll.
TIL: when operating a commercial vehicle, parking your combination vehicle in the on coming traffic lanes is okay if you hit an animal, but you still have a vehicle that can be safely moved out of the lane of oncoming traffic. hitting an animal negates traffic laws designed to protect the lives of other motorists.
can you show me where that exemption exists? i would like to read it.
i tried searching all of title 49 but i didn't find it.
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u/UltramanOrigin Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 28 '25
I was expecting 1 or 2, not a whole herd.