Kangaroos

[rondeo]

Having chosen Mondeo over Hilux, there's the kangaroo issue.

Dusk/dawn = kangaroos. Speed limit: 100km/h. Damn, I didn't want to drive at dusk. Slow down. At least there's more time to stop. And if we do meet, damage to the car proportional to the square of the velocity, like braking distance.

On my left, a dead looking roo, fresh blood in the headlights. Hmm... 80km/h, given there's that great music on the stereo, and high beam is nice.

Then a car behind (only one) decides it's awfully slow (which it is). I think you can see the rest of it, I'm soon passing another roo and the same car near it, thankfully just the roo and the car stuffed by the look of it.

That's not to say I couldn't have hit it as well, just less damage?

[cobrin]

What kangaroo issue, you drove to the conditions, the other guy didn't and look where that ended up lol, even with telltail signs he still didn't get it.

Originally Posted by rondeo

just less damage?

perhaps, my experience is there's no guarantee, no roo has always hit the same place. Sure the front once or twice even under the front, teeth over the bonnet (width wise), nose/teeth down one side, tail done some damage.

Mate's ute had the front RH quarter and headlight damaged, side mirror taken out but the nastiest was it emptied the contents of it's bowel down the rest of the side lol...

I treat drives on HWY the same, 'no two drives are the same', it's always new and keep the awareness up. No matter how experienced you are treat it as a new one.

You did well....

edit: It's the Emus that you gotta worry about, at least that was in WA a generation ago. They're the scatter brains and they are a solid hit. Just ask my mother...RIP XA GT...

[rondeo]

Yes, I see your point.

[hackney]

I have hit Roo's in both vehicles(I leave home around 4.45am) you just do not see them coming.As a result my speed now rarely goes above 100kph(sometimes only high as "90kph".) in the early hours.This is still no guarantee that I will not hit one.I have become "paranoid" in these hours.Hate the things!! :(:(

[BradZ]

Originally Posted by hackney

I have hit Roo's in both vehicles(I leave home around 4.45am) you just do not see them coming.As a result my speed now rarely goes above 100kph(sometimes only high as "90kph".) in the early hours.This is still no guarantee that I will not hit one.I have become "paranoid" in these hours.Hate the things!! :(:(

I deal with this every day of my life also

Damn near impossible to see, luckily there's only one real place in particular they're bad. Investing in 6000k hid's helped me spot them somewhat

Green grass on the sides of the road is a good indicator they aren't far away usually.

Surely they could find a better animal for our coat of arms instead of the 2 worst highway obstacles known to man!

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[bundybear75]

I have the same issue as well. My Mondeo replaced a tired old VP Commodore that I commuted 100km each way each day to work, with at least one trip in the dark. I had fitted the VP with a good quality alloy bullbar and heavy duty springs to counteract the extra weight. I also fitted a ridiculous amount of lighting to the front. The bullbar has seen some action, not the least from a Victorian who pulled an illegal U turn right in front of me.



After experiencing a random electrical problem that ended up leaving me stuck on the edge of the highway, I splashed out and bought my first ex-lease Mondeo (which was totaled the following day by an idiot truck driver). I then splashed out again and bought another Mondeo and then tried to source a bullbar for it. No such luck. Same issue trying to find a nudge bar to mount lights to, no body seems to make them anymore.

I have started to add some extra lighting, but would love to have the added protection of a bar. I see dozens of roos every trip, and usually have to brake for an errant one once a week or so.

[BradZ]

I had a kangaroo issue once
Hit him at 80kmh hard on the brakes, got very lucky!


I since solved that issue with this
I've lost count how many I've collected but I can tell you there's no use of the brake pedal if one gets in my way. If I swerved even slightly at highway speed she'd be flipped on her lid before I knew what had happened haha


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[DougalXR6]

I have a similiar view of the headlights on my MD Trend.

The lowbeam projector headlights are great however, the high beam is not so good compared to my BA MkII XT and FG XR6, which both had great highbeams. The Mondeo's highbeams do not have any where near the range that the Falcons had.

The MD Titanium may be better with the LED headlights.

[Russ]

A good light bar is a sound investment for anyone doing a bit of night driving, I have had 2 fitted to my Outback, the first was a smaller 13.5 " which I had fitted to a number plate mount and bolted through the front bar. The current one is a 23" which I have mounted down lower in the bumper (more for the aesthetics) Both provide excellent light and fingers crossed have helped me spot some potential road kill before it became a hood ornament :(

[383hq]

I do 40-50k km's a year in a mondeo diesel - all country highway
easiest mod is the phillips extreme +130% bulb replacement (high beam).
Google around cheap from powerbulbs.com at $30-$40/set.
easier then driving light mounts etc.

Don 't over think it, no need to overcapitalise on a car that might get written off or sold

[NZ XR6]

I found the low beam on the MB was poor. A set of Philips Extreme bulbs helped, but one blew last week after 3 years, and I bought a set of Narva Plus 110 bulbs on sale from Repco. They turned out be Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited bulbs and are even better.

[bundybear75]

I installed the Narva plus 120 globes and was a bit disappointed with them. Couldn't see any real difference from the factory bulbs I replaced. Adjusting the drivers side head lamp helped immensely, it was pointing way off to the left and very low.

[BradZ]

Osram Nightbreaker's aren't a bad globe I've found. Nice light colour aswell as being nice and bright still, unlike cheap 5000k globes than actually have less output than standard.

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[NZ XR6]

I've only ever seen one when driving in Oz but that was enough. They certainly move fast and must be very difficult to avoid.

You might see the odd sheep on backroads in NZ, but that's pretty uncommon now. The main hazard is hawks feeding on road kill (possums) - it can pay to slow down as they do need a few seconds to get airborne.

[NZ XR6]

To be honest, the main hazard on NZ roads is actually tourists from countries in Asia where they drive on the right. We're not supposed to mention which country as apparently that's racist.

[castellan]

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

To be honest, the main hazard on NZ roads is actually tourists from countries in Asia where they drive on the right. We're not supposed to mention which country as apparently that's racist.

That's because under a Marxist Political Correct agenda, right or wrong is something you have no right to claim as the truth (truth does not exist but for the party lines objectives) because there objective is only solely a political concept (no God ?) and they will tell you what you can say or not say because they are the god as they see fit.

You see they are a gov not working for you the people, as in a healthy democracy but you are being forced under there control because they own you, you are now there slave, just that most people do not know that's the way PC works, it's done in a Fabian way, by stealth as it builds strength year by year until we all become good Communist.

[NZ XR6]

Hmm. Apparently the police have been told not to give out the ethnicity of those involved in fatal or serious crashes, so you could well be right.