The problem with hybrid vehicles.

[Glassunion]

Their sole purpose is to protect the environment. You know, trees, the air, etc... And in turn that helps save us and all the little creatures that walk, crawl, sliver, or fly around.

But my problem with them, is that they are too damn quiet. I feel like absolute shit. Me and my little hybrid just snuck up on a baby dear and I killed it. All the while getting 39mpg.

All sarcasm aside, I do feel like crap, senselessly taking the life of another creature. At least it was quick and the little guy never saw it coming, but that does not help the fact that he is dead.

Those little wistles don't do crap. Sarcasm back on... Should I put baseball cards in the spokes?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. That IS a problem, my dear Glassunion...

And it's something that the manufacturers are talking about, as well as the public. I've seen it discussed in the press.

I'm so sorry about the baby deer. That has to hurt really badly; I know I'd feel horrible if I'd done something like that...

:hug:

[Glassunion]

2. If they could make it sound like a 69 Camaro SS with glasspacks, that would

be ridiculous, but awesome. It would be ridiculously-awesome!

My other car is a truck, 17mpg. Even bugs steer clear.

[Mopar151]

7. Somebody makes a gizmo

Has like a dozen engine sounds, speeds up and slows down from a tach signal. I want one sounds like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp8KQAcuOEU&NR=1
or maybe this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOJHeHrRp3g&NR=1

I worked with a college instructor who was involved with a solar car racing team- he wanted to do his own hybrid (15 years ago) with a huge stereo and a tape of a high-compression big-block....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD0GU16eHmk " 'cuz ya can't cruise the A&W with a little whir..."

[MajorChode]

3. If it makes you feel any better, there's a good chance it would have happened anyway

Baby deer follow their mother or other deer. The first deer to cross checks for predators and then scampers across, and the rest follow.

I found this out the hard way one time. I was driving late at night and was admiring three deer that had just crossed the road and scampered off to my left. As I was distracted watching them, a young deer followed the leader right into the grill of my car. It wasn't a hybrid.

Young deer have a strong instinct to follow other deer and sometimes this is to their demise.

[Orrex]

4. I agree that it likely would have happened anyway, even if you were driving an 8 mpg Hummer

A deer can hear the twang of a bowstring from like 500 miles away; I'm confident that the fawn heard you coming even if it didn't know what you were. As such, it would have heard your gas guzzler coming too, and it still might not have gotten out of the way.

[hobbit709]

5. Bumper mounted deer whistle

http://www.deerwhistle.com/?gclid=CNjw4KLxn6MCFZRa2godFmeYaA

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. +1000 But they do need to add an audible whine or something to alert people to the approach of

those kinds of vehicles.

[Glassunion]

17. Problem was I had those on my bumper.

And yes they were facing the right way(I laugh my ass off when I see people put them on backwards). They do not always work.

I was going fast enough for them to be working(60mph).

[david13]

6. Whoa, stiffle yourself, there Glass. Oh, I guess I shouldn't put

it that way. But what I mean is that all cars, trucks and motorcycles hit deer on a regular basis. In many instances the motorcycle rider is killed. Sometimes the car or truck driver is killed.
Every piece of food you eat is killed, either previous, or when you eat it.
There are certain inevitabilities in life that we must accept and live with. This is one of them. In fact, since you have a hybrid and are using as little environmental impact as possible, you are doing good, better than most.
You didn't intend to do this. It was an accident, beyond your control. The lack of noise by the vehicle was a tiny factor, or no factor at all.
Forgive yourself for it, you are not to blame and neither is your car. Feel good about your concern and action to help the environment.
dc

[hippywife]

21. It's still pretty

freaky and shocking when it happens, not matter how one rationalizes it. In my 30+ years of driving, I've only hit three small animals and it made me feel just awful. It took time to get over it each time.

[david13]

25. Fortunately, you weren't injured. I ride a motorcycle, and we get

those close, near death calls every day.
But I always feel great about it. (If I don't kill an animal).
It was Churchill what said, "there is no greater feeling than to be shot at. ... And missed".
Give it time. I haven't run over any in many years. But I do know the feeling. And the sad regret about it.
dc

[MiddleFingerMom]

28. EXACTLY what david13 said.

.
.
.
.
.
.
Chances are you would have hit it with a growling Hummer anyway -- so your
choice, on balance... is excellent. You're trying to minimize your impact
(sorry about the word) -- NOT remove any consequences of living whatsoever.
.
.
.
That said, I zigged and zagged and zagged and zigged once and hit a rabbit
who used the same damn pattern. I had done everything I could to avoid hitting
it -- even putting myself in some danger.
.
Even knowing that, the ensuing thump had me feeling sick for the rest of the day.
.
.
.
It's OK to feel bad that it happened -- there might be something intrinsically
wrong with you if you didn't. But don't beat yourself up over what is essentially --
"life".
.
.

[NewJeffCT]

8. You can kill a deer in a regular car, too

I did it in 2002.

[LynneSin]

9. Consider that just a part of Evolution.

Clearly that deer was not smart enough to stay out of the roads. You just smartened up the deer population!

I hope your car is ok. At 39mph you can do some damage to the vehicle too.

[hobbit709]

10. A friend of mine had a deer hit him at 5mph.

The deer caused one little dent. The airbags caused $1000 damage when the dash cover blew into the windshield and that wasn't counting the cost of the airbags themselves.

[Glassunion]

16. Similar thing happened to my wife.

She was leaving work late at night and was exiting the shopping center she worked at. A deer ran in front of her car and she was able to stop. She was not even moving when a second deer ran headlong into the driver-side door and front quarter panel. Lots of damage. It was so bad that she could not open the driver's door more than about 6 inches.

Scared the crap out of her as she did not see the deer coming, she thought someone was attacking her. After the fact she was laughing her ass off. The poor deer after plowing into her car had flipped up onto the hood of her car. It stood up on the hood, looked at her for a few seconds then just walked off. All exaggerations aside, she said it was huge, and had a nice rack(chuckle) of antlers.

[Glassunion]

15. I was actually going about 60mph... I was getting 39mpg at the time.

I was very lucky that it did not do any major damage.

I caught the poor little guy just below the headlight and the front-left part of the bumper took the brunt of the impact.

I was really impressed how easily the bumper popped out. You cannot tell I had an accident at all. There was also no blood.

[SoxFan]

11. Mount a Harley engine on the roof

Rev it like a juiced-up stumpfuck every time you pull away from a red light.

[KamaAina]

12. People who are blind have the same concern.

Sorry about the deer, but think how much you'd hate yourself if you'd made a blind person into roadkill. Blind advocacy groups are calling for hybrids to be fitted with noisemakers for this reason.

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. *hugs* I am so sorry

[chillspike]

18. They are going to fix the quiet problem

They are going to add something that will make a little more noise as the car moves.

[ChoralScholar]

19. The problem is they're not a big enough improvement over

your average Honda Accord to justify the price.

[hippywife]

20. A brand new Honda Accord rates at

31 mpg. My husband bought a Honda Fit which rates at 35 mpg, but actually performs better than that most of the time. It was only $18,000 compared to $3000 more for the standard non-hybrid Accord.

[ChoralScholar]

22. Well, at those numbers, I suppose I'm mistaken.

I guess my point is, I wish that hybrids were more than just a few mpg better than our most efficient gasoline automobiles.

[hippywife]

23. Well, when you're clicking off the difference

per gallon, I'm sure it adds up and represents quite the savings in fuel. It makes ever much more sense now with the cost of driving.

:hi:

[Radical Activist]

26. Especially GM hybrids.

Hopefully that's changing now. GM has hybrids that only get 2 or 3 better MPG for a few thousand dollars more. Who the hell buys that? Dumb executives.

[midnight armadillo]

24. EAT IT.

Baby deer...tasty!

The Prius is not so quiet as you think, I readily hear them from tire and wind noise coming up from behind me on my bike.

[Glassunion]

27. Not as tasty as baby seal, plus you get more meat.

Tastes a lot like bald eagle, but with less dark meat.