Lawrence Grodsky and his girlfriend,
Maryann Puglisi, in August 2005
Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com
The motorcycling world was saddened in 2006 when Lawrence Grodsky, America’s top expert on motorcycle safety, was killed when he was hit by a deer. We were saddened but not surprised.
"Just a few weeks ago he said to me, 'That's how I'm going to go, it's going to be a deer.' He could deal with all the idiot drivers, but at night when a deer jumps in your path, that's it and he knew that," said his girlfriend, Maryann Puglisi.
Most folks who ride share that fear and the knowledge that deer and other animals pose the single greatest hazard to riders. We can train and learn to ride defensively but there’s not much we can do when an animal suddenly crosses our path. Who among us doesn’t know someone who was seriously hurt or even killed by a deer?
This time of year, late fall and early winter, is the time when deer are most on the move, either because it's hunting season or because they are seeking a mate. It’s the time of year when we ask ourselves if there anything we can do to lessen the risk.
The obvious answer is to mount a deer whistle on your bike, but do they work? That question has long been debated by riders. One rider said that he knows they work and cites as evidence the fact that he has one and has never hit a deer while someone he works with doesn’t have one and has hit a deer.
If you’re like me, you’re looking for a little more scientific evidence and so was Peter Scheifele, director of bioacoustics research at the National Undersea Research Center. The center conducted a test of six air-fed whistles, both in the laboratory and in the field.
The study found that the whistles typically produce a signal either at a frequency of 3 kilohertz (kHz) or 12 kHz. Unfortunately, the hearing range of white-tailed deer, the most common species in the United States, is between 2 kHz and 6 kHz, so the animal is not capable of hearing the 12 kHz signal.
Although deer may be able to hear the 3 kHz signal, it is only 3 decibels louder than the road noise created by the car, so the signal is buried. Scheifele points out that the situation would be worse with additional traffic in the area or if the wind was blowing.
Since the conclusion of the study, a new electronic whistle has hit the market with considerably different specs than those of air-fed designs. The new device has not been tested by the center yet.
Of course, even if deer can hear the device, any device, there is still a question as to how a deer might react to the sound. Will it run away from the road, the desired result? Or will it freeze in place, the proverbial “deer in the headlights”. Maybe will it dart right into your path in a panic.
What’s your experience? Do you have a deer whistle? Do you think it works? Please leave your feedback in a comment.
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Comments
Oh, I hope the whistle works wonders! And just in time for dashing through the snow... another great piece.
I know a guy whose poor defenseless Kawasaki Concours was attacked by one of these vicious creatures. He has put the air-fed deer whistles on his bike and has had much fewer deer running through the road during his commute. He swears by them.
My bike and my husband's both have electronic deer whistles (not the air but on constantly with the flip of a switch). They each have a different sound and when we travel together I feel that between the two sounds, we are likely to get the deer's attention. That fraction of a second when the deer pauses and looks up gives both the deer and us a chance to react and avoid a collison.
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