sonic deer reflectors

[steff bugielski]

Any one have these? Do they work?
My son goes to work at 5am and travels some very rural roads. He has already hit 3 deer. Thankfully very minor damage to car and deer. But it is only a matter of time I feel.
I thought those might come in handy.
I would love to hear from anyone who has used them good or bad.

[7thswan]

Yes, they do work. Dh and I gave them to all of our biker friends.

[mnn2501]

Scientific research says no, they don't work. Deer pay little to no attention to them.

In summary, there is no firm evidence that whistles are effective and considerable evidence that
they are not. In the only high-quality study (Romin and Dalton, 1992), deer were not affected by
whistles. It is unclear whether deer can hear whistles, whether whistle noise is covered by traffic noise, or
whether deer become accustomed to whistle noise over time. In the absence of any solid studies that
whistles are effective, they cannot be recommended

http://www.rockvillemd.gov/governmen...eerCrashes.pdf

[sawman65]

all the THP cruisers and sheriffs cars have them here i have them on my truck i have never hit a deer. do they work? i don’t know but it makes me feel better about it and they are cheap

[foxtrapper]

Great article many years ago in one of the motorcycle magazines. It showed how they cannot work because you can't get the air flow through them, out of hearing range, poorly made, etc. Tore them apart for the junk most of them really are.

And then it freely admitted that when installed, they saw a lot more deer butts than deer heads.

The article conclusion? They cannot work, but sure seem to.

[Pelenaka]

I use to have them on my little Aveo when I worked agency & drove to Brockport, Fairport, Newfane, Lockport, or some of the prisons like Attica working nights. People use to comment on how they don't work to me as I was scraping ice off the windshield in the parking lot after quiting time. Then they'd go on to say I need to get me a blah blah blah vehicle instead of a matchbox car.

I saw less deer after than before. I also saw less deer when I randomly flashed my high beams a few times as I was approaching a dip in the road or grove of trees on both sides of the road.
I'd see even less deer if people hunted more but that's a different thread.


~~ pelenaka ~~

[Maura]

They work, but only in quiet areas. In heavily populated areas there is too much other noise. I live in the country and people swear by them.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by mnn2501

Scientific research says no, they don't work. Deer pay little to no attention to them.


http://www.rockvillemd.gov/governmen...eerCrashes.pdf

Ya I took mine off years ago and never will put another one on.

[mowrey1999]

I had the reflectors on my truck and hit 2 deer over the years so I dont feel they work ,I had several close calls when I had them and of coarse without them and the deer still ran out in front of me with them , I have seen numerous studys they say they dont make a difference so I would not ever buy them if they hadn,t already been on my company truck.so based on my experience I dont feel they help other than making you feel better , just my opinion,

[oregon woodsmok]

The deer whistles that you attach to the bumper? They seem to help. But you still have to stay alert and watch the sides of the road for eye shine.

If you really mean a reflector, I don't see how that would work if car lights and running lights don't.

[Darren]

I worked with a guy that hit a bunch of deer when he had the passive deer devices on his car. After that, he bought an active system that was wired to the battery. He said that got the deer's attention. Whatever sound it made, there were no more collisons after that.

[Ozarks Tom]

We put 2 deer whistles on my wife's truck, and boy do they work. They called the deer right to her. After putting the whistles on we got (no DNR people listening?) 2 deer.

[mekasmom]

My husband keeps them on all our vehicles. We have hit three deer in the last 30years. So, either that is a very good average which means they do work..... or a very bad average which means they don't.

[CoonXpress]

After the tenth deer I hit, with them on the truck, I threw them away.

[VERN in IL]

How could they work, a frigging gnat would plug up the hole even if they did work.

[houndlover]

It may depend on the species of deer. They do NOT work on Western Oregon Blacktail.

[Drizler]

About the only deer defense I know that really helps is slowing down. It gives them time to leave if they decide to and you can dodge them more easily if not. From 55 youre gonna whack her at at under 40 if your reflexes are good. From 70 the damage is going to be a lot worse and you might get Bambi right through the windshield and get killed. Moose are by far worse and their eyes don't glow one bit.

[zant]

I don't know if they work or not but I run them on my car and bigrigs-have'nt hit one yet...Did'nt have them on another truck and a Freightliner at 75 makes a mess of a med size elk..and $$$repairs too....Theoretically a hummingbird can't fly because of wingspan/size compared to bodyweight...Who knows,they're cheap,so why not.

[Macybaby]

With the folks I work with, the consensus is they don't work. The people who have them do not statistically hit less deer than those that do not.

My one coworker is up to about 5, but two ran into the side of her car. One actually busted out the side window and had it's head inside the car for a bit. She lives even more rural than most.

I drive 84 miles on the interstate in the dark in the morning. I'm constantly looking for deer, but know at 75 mph, there isn't much I can do if one comes running. Each morning I say a prayer for that the good Lord will help me to not hit a deer. I figure that is about the best I can do along with keeping my eyes pealed. After rut is over, I breath a sigh, but I wont' be driving in daylight in the morning until spring.

I may not see a live deer on the interstate that often, but see new dead ones several times a week. And at 75mph in the dark, you don't even have time to swing around the dead ones! Semis can make a real mess of a deer on the interstate. leaving quite a bit still on the road. Those hit by smaller vehicles usually get tossed into the ditch.

[Drizler]

Originally Posted by zant

I don't know if they work or not but I run them on my car and bigrigs-have'nt hit one yet...Did'nt have them on another truck and a Freightliner at 75 makes a mess of a med size elk..and $$$repairs too....Theoretically a hummingbird can't fly because of wingspan/size compared to bodyweight...Who knows,they're cheap,so why not.

I talk to a lot of truck drivers working for Customs and many around the Northern NY Quebec Maine region buy those huge stainless or cast aluminum moose guards, especially the ones who own their own truck. The front of the thing looks like something out of the Road Warrior. It is a giant grill made of 2" welded tubing which mounts to a sub frame of the cab body. $3 + grand but worth every penny as they just bounce off . You see a lot of "whitetail Pate" here on I87 most of the year. They all say it's worth every penny of the cost, every one I ever asked.
For the rest of us about all you can do is get the best set of headlights you can reasonably find and stay ready, beyond that slow down. I worked mids for the last 21 years and never hit one on the side of the road, not even the back roads except at very slow speed which just irritated the thing and it glared at me and walked away. The one that will get you every time and there is no hope for dodging is the one running out of the field from the side. All you see is a quick streak of light and bang. Nobody dodges those so don't ever fool yourself that you can because chances are you won't even get off the gas pedal. I know a guy who got taken broadside off his motorcycle by a white tail. Bam, streak of light right into the gas tank and the tumble that followed with lots of cuts and bruises after he woke up. When I got mine the same way with a Honda CRX I was going 45 and didn't even get off the gas. The coyotes made out though. At least at the lower speed you can stomp the brakes and slide to a stop after which hurts a lot less than that secondary crash into a tree trying to come down from 80.
If you are in a real danger zone you might consider getting a set of those replacement HID knock off headlights. Some are good some aren't but I've talked to a lot of long distance night drivers who swear by them and they aren't all that expensive around $100 - $200 for a set. You do have the legality considerations though in some places if the cops are especially hungry there though.