It was a beautiful day for a ride. I was out front with my best friend following with his wife on the back. We are having a great run on 29n just out side of Baker, West VA. I check my mirror and my buddy isn't there so I pull over to let him catch up. After about 1 minute I turn around to head back and see what is holding him up. About a mile down the road a lady flags me down and says there was a bad accident.

Then I see it... my buddies bike is under the guardrail and about 100 feet back he is laying face down on the gravel shoulder. His wife is on the other side of the road about 20 feet apart. I have never seen anything like this before let alone it being my friend. I ran over and he is alive. I check his wife she is alive too. Both awake and not moving much. They couldn't say what happened. There was no witness to the accident. I just tried to keep them both still and calm until the rescue squad could get there.

Eventually one of the motorists who stopped to help called me over and said it was a deer. There was **** and hair all over the front of his bike. We found the dead deer about fifty feet behind my buddy in a field next to the road. He never saw it jump in front of him and he and his wife don't remember anything about the accident. We got them to the hospital and while they are both in a lot of pain suffering from broken bones and lots of road rash they are both alive and should recover in time. His wife took a pretty hard hit to her face and lost her two front teeth and face is pretty scraped up. After a few days in the hospital they both came home yesterday. He says he is done riding.

For me it was a sobering event. My friend is one of the safest riders I know. I always kid him that since I take point and lead the way I would be the one to go down. In fact, I hit a deer on the same road a year ago but didn't go down. I'm not sure when I will climb back on the bike. I'm still in a bit of shock and there is no hurry to ride for the near future.

This accident happened mid day with no warning so I thought I would share and remind everyone that critters are lurking just waiting to take you down. Ride safe and keep your eyes open.

 

I know where you are coming from, he is one of the lucky ones. At the end of this month, I will be going on a memorial ride for a friend that wasn't so lucky.

 

Yikes....
Prayers sent to your friends and take your time before you saddle up again. It could take some time or maybe never again.....

 

Wow I'm glad they are ok!

I'm in Kentucky and in our part of the country deer are thick as ticks. Been to WV and much the same thing. Woods are thick and they can burst out of nowhere and kill you. I hit one back in 2004 and didn't go down. Ever since then it is one of my biggest fears. There really needs to be more population control because it's getting out of hand. There's more deere in Kentucky now than when Daniel boon crossed the Cumberland gap.

 

Big problem in Michigan nowadays also,definitely need some kind of control to happen although it's not gonna solve the problem but it will increase the odds of it not happening,truly my biggest fear when riding.Bright LEDS help at night but there as plentiful in the middle of the day.Ride Safe

 

This is my first year riding. Amazing on how many people have hit deer already this year. Probably happens every year im just new to the scooter scene. Ride safe guys

 

Yikes! Best wishes to your friends and I hope they have a speedy recovery. I think about this a lot and asked a friend the other day if they thought a deer whistle mounted to the bike would be effective. Don't know a lot about them, or even if they work, but maybe opening the idea to a wider audience may give some useful feedback. Again best of luck to your friends and to you as well.

 

Avoiding backroads late afternoon and dusk will increase your chances of not learning the hard way. Deer are on the move late evening and dusk to go feed. I avoid riding at all around here at dusk. My sister hit 2 deer in one week comming home from church revival in her car. A motorcyclist would be so lucky after the first one. But yea as the evening begins to cool deer come out of bed and travel to their nearest feeding plots which usually involves crossing a road if not many roads.

One observation is I never see a deer attempt to cross when I'm driving the truck. The chevy v8 with duel glass packs maybe detours them because of the noise. Maybe loud pipes do save lives.....or scare deer away.

 

Snake oil.

 

Hope they are doing well, and wishing them a fast recovery.
I live out in the sticks and see them all the time. Definitely looking out for them the best i can, but i know they come out of nowhere and only reduced speed will help. The closer the woods are to the road, the slower i go. At night, when there is nobody behind me, i even slow below the peed limit in some areas.
Might be time to research deer-whistles again....