TurnAround
06-25-2006, 02:00 PM
Stooopid deer. I wish they'd never been invented. This is the second time now that I've almost whammed into a deer at 60. I've never had trouble with them before.
This one, I have to say, was actually comical.. a split second after shock subsided. Here goes...
This X5, and BMW's in general, never cease to amaze me in their handling abilities..
Wide country two lane back road. Little traffic (we're by ourselves at this point). The X is loaded with gear in the back, plus we've got a plug-in bike rack in the tow receiver and a veeeery expensive tandem bicycle strapped to it (sideways. Sticks out an inch more than the side mirrors).
Beautiful sunny day. Middle of the day. Deer are supposed to come out at dusk, not noon. Everything I'm about to say takes place in 1.5 seconds (really). Instantaniously.
Deer pops out of the black berry bushes at the side of the road (other side - oncoming lane) and starts to cross. There is no time for braking.. I'm thinking.. this is all going to have to be swerve maneuvering. My instincts told me to actually start pointing the X AT the deer (cross the yellow line). This works, to cause him to stall for a few milliseconds, buying me the time I need to set this manuever up. Had he not stalled for that instant, I'm quite sure he'd have gone over the hood and into the passenger compartment.
He starts up again. Merde.. he's not going to flee back into the bushes. He's going to go for it and try to come across the road at full speed. He launches. I crank an instant hard right, then an instant hard left, then the final "cancel" neutralizing right. All in a few milliseconds. During the first right, the deer finally decides to see the 4,500 lb vehicle in ernest and changes his mind. He jumps straight up in the air.. towards us!!!
Now in case you don't know this, deer can jump really high. 7' easy. I've seen them do 8' over tall fences. I realize we are totally hosed. He reaches the impact point with the car right at the drivers rear quaarter panel and right at the tandem front wheel. But somehow, I don't know.. the wind from the car.. creates this micro buffer of a vortex.
I kid you not (I'm now watching this in the side mirror) the wind spins him around. The spinning causes this minute slow down in is progress towards us and the bike. His front hoof just baaaaarely wisks the rear hatch by the window. "By the window??". Yes.. remember.. this s-head is FLYING in the air at this point. 5 feet off the ground! All I am seeing is four lower legs and hoofs in the mirror!! The bulk of mr deer is waay up in the air.
He never actually impacts the X. Misses it by a micron of a whisker. He just baaarely clips the edge of the tandems front wheel. This completes his 320 degree turn in mid air.. AND ACTUALLY ACCELERATES HIS SPIN!! I saw it and could not believe it. He was like someone's dining room table spinning in the air.. and then... crashing to the ground on the highway. I saw him hit. Now way to know whether it broke some legs or not, but it was an absolute train wreck.
Did I mention that I'm seeing this all happen while I'm trying to complete a hard cranking maneuver at 60.
It was THE weirdest thing I've ever seen with a car. Beeeezare.
Took me a half mile to start breathing again.
These BMW's are nothing short of amazing. Any other SUV.. we'd have flipped it, and I mean bad sir. I executed a high speed classic roll over scenario for an SUV. The X5.. I sensed.. actually kind of enjoyed it. It was in total control the whole time, and apparently thought that we'd decided to enter some kind of highway speed autocross at the last second. :thumbup:
Thank you, thank you, thank you BMW, for engineering these cars. Owners talk about how they feel better knowing that the car could "get them out of trouble" if they had to. This is not BS.
(A search on "X5 saves itself" will turn up the first deer encounter, which was aaaalllmost as amazing as this one)
Ciao
This one, I have to say, was actually comical.. a split second after shock subsided. Here goes...
This X5, and BMW's in general, never cease to amaze me in their handling abilities..
Wide country two lane back road. Little traffic (we're by ourselves at this point). The X is loaded with gear in the back, plus we've got a plug-in bike rack in the tow receiver and a veeeery expensive tandem bicycle strapped to it (sideways. Sticks out an inch more than the side mirrors).
Beautiful sunny day. Middle of the day. Deer are supposed to come out at dusk, not noon. Everything I'm about to say takes place in 1.5 seconds (really). Instantaniously.
Deer pops out of the black berry bushes at the side of the road (other side - oncoming lane) and starts to cross. There is no time for braking.. I'm thinking.. this is all going to have to be swerve maneuvering. My instincts told me to actually start pointing the X AT the deer (cross the yellow line). This works, to cause him to stall for a few milliseconds, buying me the time I need to set this manuever up. Had he not stalled for that instant, I'm quite sure he'd have gone over the hood and into the passenger compartment.
He starts up again. Merde.. he's not going to flee back into the bushes. He's going to go for it and try to come across the road at full speed. He launches. I crank an instant hard right, then an instant hard left, then the final "cancel" neutralizing right. All in a few milliseconds. During the first right, the deer finally decides to see the 4,500 lb vehicle in ernest and changes his mind. He jumps straight up in the air.. towards us!!!
Now in case you don't know this, deer can jump really high. 7' easy. I've seen them do 8' over tall fences. I realize we are totally hosed. He reaches the impact point with the car right at the drivers rear quaarter panel and right at the tandem front wheel. But somehow, I don't know.. the wind from the car.. creates this micro buffer of a vortex.
I kid you not (I'm now watching this in the side mirror) the wind spins him around. The spinning causes this minute slow down in is progress towards us and the bike. His front hoof just baaaaarely wisks the rear hatch by the window. "By the window??". Yes.. remember.. this s-head is FLYING in the air at this point. 5 feet off the ground! All I am seeing is four lower legs and hoofs in the mirror!! The bulk of mr deer is waay up in the air.
He never actually impacts the X. Misses it by a micron of a whisker. He just baaarely clips the edge of the tandems front wheel. This completes his 320 degree turn in mid air.. AND ACTUALLY ACCELERATES HIS SPIN!! I saw it and could not believe it. He was like someone's dining room table spinning in the air.. and then... crashing to the ground on the highway. I saw him hit. Now way to know whether it broke some legs or not, but it was an absolute train wreck.
Did I mention that I'm seeing this all happen while I'm trying to complete a hard cranking maneuver at 60.
It was THE weirdest thing I've ever seen with a car. Beeeezare.
Took me a half mile to start breathing again.
These BMW's are nothing short of amazing. Any other SUV.. we'd have flipped it, and I mean bad sir. I executed a high speed classic roll over scenario for an SUV. The X5.. I sensed.. actually kind of enjoyed it. It was in total control the whole time, and apparently thought that we'd decided to enter some kind of highway speed autocross at the last second. :thumbup:
Thank you, thank you, thank you BMW, for engineering these cars. Owners talk about how they feel better knowing that the car could "get them out of trouble" if they had to. This is not BS.
(A search on "X5 saves itself" will turn up the first deer encounter, which was aaaalllmost as amazing as this one)
Ciao
