Cybertruck - 1 Deer - 0; Deer strike at 60 MPH (Video Added & Graphic Image)

[M0unt41nm4n]

Struck a deer last night in rural WI coming home (ironically) from turkey hunting. Deer dashed out of wooded area adjacent to road at dusk - I didn't even see it before I hit it on front driverside corner.

Man... you don't think this was planned? You don't think the turkeys had a chat after killing their buddies and convinced a deer to act as a suicide drone?

Trust me... they are in on this... I know...

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[koolio]

Damn! The truck didn’t even jolt when you hit the deer (at least not on the video).

Little off topic but the slicing through the deer reminds me of a guy I met at a motorcycle track day camp. He owned a Ducati Multistrada (it has a pointed beak for the nose). He was doing around 65mph on a backroad and a deer jumped in front of him. He hit it, was covered in fur and blood, but was still riding. He pulls over, realizes his front tire is flat, and his wrist hurt from the handlebars jerking. Cop shows up and tells the guy he legit cut the deer in half. The design of the Ducati saved his life or saved him from serious injuries.

 

[btcrealm]

It's pretty hard to tell who saw it first because once you put the brake on it kicks out of Autopilot (or FSD). It gives full control to the driver. So, even if the automated system beats you to the brake, you will disengage the auto systems by hitting the brake a millisecond after it already started braking.

Only by looking at the logs could it be determined if man or machine started braking first (and if the human started braking first there is no way to tell if the machine would have braked or not).

True. There was no breaking till my conscious effort though and that was with the deer at the passenger side of the truck. If it was going to do it then it still wouldn't have stopped the impact.

Damn! The truck didn’t even jolt when you hit the deer (at least not on the video).

Little off topic but the slicing through the deer reminds me of a guy I met at a motorcycle track day camp. He owned a Ducati Multistrada (it has a pointed beak for the nose). He was doing around 65mph on a backroad and a deer jumped in front of him. He hit it, was covered in fur and blood, but was still riding. He pulls over, realizes his front tire is flat, and his wrist hurt from the handlebars jerking. Cop shows up and tells the guy he legit cut the deer in half. The design of the Ducati saved his life or saved him from serious injuries.

A pothole felt worse than my deer hit.
Not a Ducati, I don't remember which crotchrocket it was but a similar story years ago in SO Oregon. This guy broke at least one of his wrists though.

 

[24tex24]

To everyone that asked - I was not using FSD at the time of the accident.

The video picks up a lot more light than there actually was. It was late dusk (the time stamp on the video is an hour off - thank you DST!) and pretty dark. I didn't see the deer at all before we hit it so didn't break before impact.

The truck shuddered a little, but pretty much drove straight through the deer without much effort. The deer caromed off the corner of the truck and struck the driver's side front wheel fender (black trim) and knocked that off; but it clipped back on and we drove the rest of the 120 miles home.

The front plastic part of the wheel well is pushed back a few inches into the wheel well (I think because of the smashed light) and my tire rubs when I turn right, but doesn't rub if I take the same right turn very slowly. So, I'm taking right turns like my 95 year old grandma. Other than that, the truck operates just fine.

 

[btcrealm]

To everyone that asked - I was not using FSD at the time of the accident.

The video picks up a lot more light than there actually was. It was late dusk (the time stamp on the video is an hour off - thank you DST!) and pretty dark. I didn't see the deer at all before we hit it so didn't break before impact.

The truck shuddered a little, but pretty much drove straight through the deer without much effort. The deer caromed off the corner of the truck and struck the driver's side front wheel fender (black trim) and knocked that off; but it clipped back on and we drove the rest of the 120 miles home.

The front plastic part of the wheel well is pushed back a few inches into the wheel well (I think because of the smashed light) and my tire rubs when I turn right, but doesn't rub if I take the same right turn very slowly. So, I'm taking right turns like my 95 year old grandma. Other than that, the truck operates just fine.

That rubbing may be the wheel well liner. You can pull on it and see if its loose. Might be wind speed that is causing the rub and why it doesn't happen at slow speeds.

 

[VAF84]

Oof… sorry that happened to you. I had the same thing but on the passenger side in my first month of ownership with the Sierra EV. It took about 4 1/2 months to get this thing fixed properly. I’m curious to see how long it takes to get the Tesla up and running

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

Mine would have skinned it and chopped into pieces ready for BBQ.

 

[ModelXer]

Struck a deer last night in rural WI coming home (ironically) from turkey hunting. Deer dashed out of wooded area adjacent to road at dusk - I didn't even see it before I hit it on front driverside corner.

I'm a hunter, so thought I'd keep the deer. Nope, not happening. The truck basically cut the deer in half and it exploded.

Now I get to experience the insurance/repair process. Yeah for me!

Happy Good Friday, everyone!

VIDEO ADDED:

Was able to grab video from my Hansshow front facing camera and truncate it down to just the collision part. Notice the calm demeanor of the driver. Captain Sullenberger has nothing on me...

That was fast. I've experienced that (hit the windshield and collapsed the front of the the roof). Good to have video to show Insurance company.

 

[HaulingAss]

Tesla horn reprogram and Tesla headlight reprogram
Tesla should be able to prevent this deer impact buy using deer headlight and deer horn. Even more effective than the deer car truck whistle
Tesla horn can be set to any frequency and volume and run continuously in deer country.
and
Tesla headlight can be programmed to flash faster than the human eye can see and scare off wildlife like deer, rabbits, raccoons, birds, cats, and dogs.
Now
If Tesla will not do it we should do it, and maybe make a few bucks $ doing something good.

Unfortunately, neither fast flashing lights or loud or obnoxious noises will prevent deer from jumping in front of (or running into the sides of) vehicles. They are hardwired from a long evolution to run perpendicular to attacking prey. Once the flight response is triggered, there is no stopping it.

A magical vehicle, one that was invisible and made zero sound, would not trigger the flight response and deer would calmly walk across the road, making them quite easy to avoid. But, IMO, the louder the noises and the more obnoxious the lights, the more likely the flight response is to be triggered.

The size and speed of typical vehicles seems counter to the flight response, which is why the deer tend to run on a collision course, even running broadside into the vehicle. In time, deer will be naturally selected to avoid cars too. It will take a long time.

 

[HickoryGoose]

Struck a deer last night in rural WI coming home (ironically) from turkey hunting. Deer dashed out of wooded area adjacent to road at dusk - I didn't even see it before I hit it on front driverside corner.

I'm a hunter, so thought I'd keep the deer. Nope, not happening. The truck basically cut the deer in half and it exploded.

Now I get to experience the insurance/repair process. Yeah for me!

Happy Good Friday, everyone!

VIDEO ADDED:

Was able to grab video from my Hansshow front facing camera and truncate it down to just the collision part. Notice the calm demeanor of the driver. Captain Sullenberger has nothing on me...

FSD saved me from hitting one on a road trip earlier this year.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our Cybertruck with 13.2.2 saves a deer. Started breaking hard before I saw it. I took over - probably didn’t need to. Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/Tesla_AI?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@Tesla_AI</a> <a href="https://t.co/nPjsc1Mldu">pic.twitter.com/nPjsc1Mldu</a></p>&mdash; Gilles Guenette (@GillesGuenette3) <a href="">January 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[swengl]

That sucks : (
Let me put up some estimate pictures from mine. I was about 55.
Deer hit about ~55mph.
Headlight replacement, as service was still months out.
Double sided tape to hold panels on while waiting for repair.

Initial estimate.

Actual repair so far.

Wow, labor less than $1k! Overall, around $4,500 isn't terrible considering what happened. Glad you are OK.

 

[sirozha]

Imagine if this was a pedestrian and the whole “exploded” comment.

 

[SpykeDaddy]

For those above, did any of those crashes were with FSD active? I am wondering if FSD would see the deer before our eyes?

I too drive on Texas highways at night……

My CT FSD stops for deer. Sadly, I had FSD off the day I hit the deer because the roads were very icy in Minnesota. I don't trust FSD to handle ice patches yet. Any other day, I'd be using FSD and would have saved me the inconvenience of repairs!

 

[btcrealm]

Imagine if this was a pedestrian and the whole “exploded” comment.

Hitting any truck at 60mph will take someone out.
Many of these deer hits would have never happened with a human. Most of these cases are of the deer running across the road. I would have never hit a human as they do not move fast enough. They would have had to have been on a bicycle for example and in that case would have rolled up the windshield and over the truck.

 

[sirozha]

Hitting any truck at 60mph will take someone out.
Many of these deer hits would have never happened with a human. Most of these cases are of the deer running across the road. I would have never hit a human as they do not move fast enough. They would have had to have been on a bicycle for example and in that case would have rolled up the windshield and over the truck.

I’m not talking about hitting a person when he runs across your way. I’m talking about the impact on a living body by that sharp edge, which basically acts as an axe. It’s scary to think what it would do to a pedestrian.

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