front end vehicle guards

[judi]

Grille Bush Guards. On the Cassiar Highway I saw two RVs on Sprinter van chassis like mine, at two different times - both had hit a deer or moose or something. There was traffic around them so I didn't stop but one of them looked like the driver area was impacted. I'm considering having one of those grille guard things that also go over the headlights installed. I think it is mainly for off-roading, which I don't do, but I'm thinking it would absorb some of the impact of a large animal. Does anyone know about these front end of your vehicle guard thingys? My vehicle would still be damaged but I'm thinking I might not be injured.

[retiredhappy]

The grill guards are no guarantee that you won't be impacted as the deer often are thrown up into the windshield area. Your Sprinter should have airbags to protect you. Also try not driving at dusk and early morning as this is when the critters are usually on the move and if you see one, slow down andn look for the rest of them.

[avalen]

a hunter once told me when your in a string of cars driving through deer country or elk for that matter, its most often
the second car that gets the deer, and like Karen said its dusk and dawn.

[MandysMom]

I did some research on grill guards about 12 years ago when son was moving to MN where deer hits are a regular frequent risk. I seem to recall they were not that effective for reasons already stated. I was thinking, though, you might see if you can talk to some highway patrol people who drive the roads daily and ask what they see as to how effective brush guards are in protecting drivers.
Velda

[judi]

Talking to the Highway Patrol is a good idea, and I did do that. Most of their cars and trucks have grille guards on them because they drive around at all hours. They recommend them for every one. The vehicles I saw that had hit animals had it occur in the middle of the day. I'm mostly concerned about moose, since this season it seems the moose have been getting hit on a regular basis, and those animals are huge! I've called around but no one has one of these guards that will fit my sprinter. I have air bags of course, but I want all the protection I can get! Receiving trauma care up here is no easy feat and usually involves a helicopter ride, weather permitting.

[Cougarfan]

Judi,
I know that on the police cars here in Salem, they install the PIT (pursuit intervention technique) bars. They have to add an expensive kit to allow the airbags to deploy in a front-end collision. If you decide to put a guard on the front of your motorhome, make sure you are not going to void the warranty on the chassis and you still have all the safety features that are designed to work together in an accident such as the front, side, and head curtain airbags, and the active head restraint. There are also crush points built into all vehicles and if you alter the way those crush points work in a collision, you could be susceptible to far greater injury than the impact with an animal. Those crush points allow the energy from a collision to be dispersed around the driver area to lessen the possible injury to the driver and passengers.

The state troopers may advise everyone to get a guard on their vehicle, and if I lived there full time I would probably have one, but I wouldn't do it for a visit. The best option is to be aware of your surroundings and don't let your guard down for a second. Sometimes there's nothing you can do and there isn't time to react, but I'd rather take my chances and have all the safety features that have been exhaustively tested do what they're designed to do without any alteration by me.

Just my .02

Laura

[judi]

Laura, wow, I never considered all those things. It's probably best to leave my vehicle as it is, and let it do its job. I didn't even think about changing the way the airbags would function. How do you know this stuff? You always know stuff!

[Deeann]

I don't know that anything can keep you safe if you hit a moose. They average 6' tall at the shoulder and about 1,400#. They stand at a perfect height to go into the windshield regardless of what kind of cattle guard you have on the vehicle as the guard will be well below the animal. Best advice: slow down in areas where they can be found.