[dashwehacct]

I’ve often wondered if this has an effect on wildlife. If we perceive the front end of a truck as “meaner”, does that apply to deer as well? Curious if there is any data on the likelihood of hitting a deer with a truck vs a sedan. I assume this would be difficult to capture as areas with higher chances of hitting a deer are also the areas where drivers are more likely to be behind the wheel of larger trucks.

[AlexandrB]

Deer don't avoid cars because their visual system shorts out when they see a light source shining directly in their eyes[1]. You could make the truck look exactly like a mountain lion and it probably wouldn't save any deer.

[1] https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/animals/why-do-deer-get-tr...

[rascul]

It's not just the headlights, but that might very well be the majority. There have been cases where I've had to stop for deer crossing the road at night, but they didn't look into my headlights and freeze, they just kept walking across the road. Also once I had a deer run out of the woods into the side of my car while I was driving.

[cjrp]

How long before LED headlights can simply shine around the deer (thus not blinding them), as they do for oncoming vehicles. On second thought that would mean the driver doesn't see the deer; maybe not the best idea!