So it's not pertinent to a new commuter vehicle, but it's along similar lines as a bumper built for action. But I have hit way more than my share of animals in my life. Cows, deer, even got two flats at once hitting a porcupine.
But, anyway... Some of the critters I have hit were all me, just not paying enough attention. But others, just jumped out of the dark right in front of me and nothing I could do. I recently added some lights to my LJ specifically to help avoid animal strikes at night. A pair of Dually Side Shooter driving beams on the A pillars, aimed out to the sides. Not useable in traffic, obviously. But most of the situations where I'm really worried about hitting an animal, there isn't any traffic. Those suckers light up the shoulders and beyond just amazingly well. If I'm paying attention (a personal shortcoming...), nothing is going to sneak out in the road on me when I'm able to run those lights. A surprise added benefit, for some reason, they seem to help me stay awake too. Maybe it's just the interest in all the wildlife I'm seeing along the sides of the road I never noticed before - I see a LOT of animals, of all kinds, in those lights.
Depending on the traffic conditions you are typically dealing with in the high probability zones you are driving through, I would highly recommend some lights specifically aimed for lighting up the sides of the road. You mentioned oncoming with that buck, so maybe they just wouldn't be useful for you. But now that I have been using these lights a little bit, I'm kicking myself for not doing it a long time ago. Probably could have saved a few grills and such. My truck, doesn't get driven much in those conditions, but it does occasionally, so as soon as I can come up with the cash, it's getting the exact same lights. If nothing else, the entertainment value of seeing all the critters I have been seeing, makes them worth having to me, but I'm sort of critter centric.
- DAA
