Deer whistle for the prius! Do they really work?

If you are referring to the little plastic bumper whistles... They do help. However nothing is perfect and deer, like most animals whan panicked, run in just about any random direction.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(stanlwyjohn @ Jul 5 2006, 08:08 AM) [snapback]281333[/snapback]</div>

Hmmmmmmm...let's see...

Without deer whistle = 1 hit
With deer whistle = 0 hits

Seems to work










ok, sorry. Figured this would be more fun than that darn [ you ] tag.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tnthub @ Jul 5 2006, 08:26 AM) [snapback]281338[/snapback]</div>

Somewhere between 20 and 30 years ago the state of Iowa tried putting deer whistles on all of their State Police cruisers. They hit more deer the next year than the previous year sans deer whistles. They took them off. I expect tnthub's explanation is correct and the whistles frightened deer that would have been too far off the road to get hit early enough that they managed to make it to the road to meet the police cars.

See http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1677/eb1677.html . They don't mention the old Iowa story (maybe I misremembered the state) but do talk about other studies - all negative.

- Tom

 

The above goes with what I've heard,


They only work to hit the right frequency at certain speeds, and need to be installed at the proper angle toget the right air flow.
They may cause the deer to move, but right in front of your car from the roadside or edge of the woods


Hitting a deer is so random, that besides driving with caution, there is not much else you can do. I've ben hit by deer 3 times in the last 10 years (notice I didn't say I hit a deer). In 2 cases, I never saw the thing until the 'thwack' of the car and deer. The other it was in the road as I rounded a bend and I turned to hit flank to flank, & we both went on our not so merry ways.

 

Don't get a deer whistle.

Get a wolf whistle instead.

It'll send the deer scattering and can attract women at the same time.

 

I read that the deer whistles are ineffective for warning deer. They might alert pedestrians when the ICE isn't running, though.

 

I was told to save my money and not get one as they do not work. The last deer that hit my RAV4 did $4000 worth of damage. To top it all off the auto body shop did a lousy job putting the car back together.
FishHawk

 

We have kangaroo whistles, which certainly help at low speeds, and we get a lot more roo hits than deer hits in these parts. I don't know if deer whistles are the same, but these are super-audible frequency (very high pitch) and a normal pedestrain can't hear them, while dogs and cattle do. The comment has been made that if you're travelling above 90km/hr then they are a waste of time, because they don't give the animal enough time to react. Generally I keep my speed down to less than 90k when travelling at night. That's 56mph according to my calculator. Our limit is mostly 100k, and 110k in some long straight sections.

 

I had them on my saturn and swore by them until one day a deer stayed in the middle of the road until I stopped..... Luckily I had my brights on and could stop in time. He then strolled away.
They don't work under 35 MPH.
Try to get the cheap ones.
If you do get them, watch out if you use a car wash with brushes or flaps, they will get knocked off.

 

Deer whistles don't work on the Prius, or any other car for that matter. They're just a gimmick to make money.

Tom

 

I'm not sure if they work or not, but before you buy one, talk to your insurance agent. Last year our State Farm agent had them for free for their clients.