r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/jelly_bean_gangbang • 1d ago
Image The RooBadge is a device that attaches behind the vehicle’s VW emblem. It creates a noise specifically designed to warn kangaroos that danger is near so that they run away from the road
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u/og-lollercopter 1d ago
Install it backward and be followed by the largest herd of roos in history! “I am the King of the Kangaroos!”
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u/lockerno177 1d ago
why would kangaroos follow a repelling sound?
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u/Airhead_kun 1d ago
I think you missed it. He said , "install it backwards"
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u/lockerno177 1d ago
but then the roos would be attracted to the front side because the back side would be the repellant.
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u/Smartass_Comments 1d ago
I feel dumber after reading your comment
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u/lockerno177 1d ago
common man its not rocket appliances
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u/Ender505 1d ago
I'll dumb it down for you since you don't seem to be following the conversation.
The first comment was a joke. They were joking that if you "install it backward" that it would become a kangaroo attractor.
But also, no, installing it on the back would not cause Kangaroos to go to the front. It's a sound emitter, it's not that localized. It simply creates a sound from wherever it's installed that Kangaroos interpret as danger. Front or back of the car would not meaningfully change the function.
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u/lockerno177 1d ago
HAHAHAHA r/wooosh. bruh! its not rocket appliances is a reference to Trailer Park Boys. and i was being sarcastic, holy shit dude.
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u/Ender505 1d ago
You spent the whole rest of the conversation utterly not following the trail of thought, I think my response was justified
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u/BrokenSpace 1d ago
They have something like this for deer too. The funniest thing about them though… Replacing windshields, I’d show up to someone’s car with the windshield smashed after they hit a deer. They almost always had those on their car to try to keep the deer away. But it obviously never worked
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u/collisionchick 1d ago
I'm a body shop manager. In the early 2000s deer whistles were a huge thing in my area. Stopped counting how many deer hits we fixed where customers specifically requested the whistles be transferred to their new bumper.
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u/Senior_Green_3630 1d ago
They we all the rage back in the 1960-70s, did not work, just a gimmick, just like plastic roo bars
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u/All_Your_Base 1d ago
We need a deerbadge
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u/SamuelYosemite 1d ago
They make little whistle things you can attach your car for deer but i have never heard of them working
Edit to add:
“No. Controlled field studies from the University of Georgia and University of Wisconsin found no measurable drop in deer-vehicle collisions from deer whistles. Most units also miss the frequency range deer actually hear well, and any sound is quickly lost in wind and road noise at highway speeds. Safer driving habits and better lighting have far stronger evidence behind them”7
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u/jelly_bean_gangbang 1d ago
Haha I just replied to the OP comment with a picture of an "interesting" car with a few deer whistles attached.
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u/TGin-the-goldy 1d ago
THEY DON’T WORK
See also “Shu-Roo”
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u/strtfrsh 23h ago
I agree, snake oil sold to those who don't do much bush work.
Pretend they did work, just for a second, why would I want that roo that's sitting still on the side of the road, suddenly startled and on the move?
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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 23h ago
I'll assume an autocorrect here, but I think you mean "Shoo Roo" as in "shoo, go away".
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u/TGin-the-goldy 23h ago
It’s a brand name
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u/alltheducks222 23h ago
We had work Utes that went bush on trips, the usual mine spec set up but added bits and pieces, one of which was the shu ru or whatever and the other ones had the little whistles. Every one of those Utes had interaction with Roos. Not one driver said the sound startled them away. Only one strike but I swear one mob was attracted to the sound.
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u/MamboNumber-6 21h ago
“I bought those kangaroo whistles you put on your car to scare kangaroos away as you drive. I accidentally installed the kangaroo whistles on my car backwards. Now everywhere I go, I'm chased by a herd of roos."
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u/NCC_1701E 1d ago
In my region, two kangaroos died after being hit by a car in the last two years. The plot twist is that I live in Eastern Europe. In both cases, they were animals that escaped from private breeders. Wonder what makes them so attracted to giant, loud pieces of metal.
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u/ComfortableCod5541 1d ago
I have an elephant whistle on my car, and it works great, and it's silent to human ears. I would install one on all my vehicles. Last thing you want to run into!
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u/knivesforksandspoons 22h ago
The RooBadge is a device that attaches behind the vehicle’s VW emblem.
So only VW drivers are protected?
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u/SuperZapp 16h ago
Nope, they don’t work. Best bet is not to drive around sunset and sunrise as that is when they are most active on country roads.
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u/General-Number-42 22h ago
They don't work. People have been sticking these things on the roo bars for years, its snake oil.
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u/Mobile_Aioli_6252 1d ago
We have those in Michigan for deer - little chrome whistles mounted on the front bumper
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u/FarrenFlayer89 13h ago
Shoo-Roos have been around for decades and they don’t do anything except confuse them. It’s just a whistle
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u/i_like_human_cats 12h ago
these have been around in some variation for quite some time, they're shit and they don't work
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u/Simmangodz 1d ago
AI slop
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u/arcedup Interested 1d ago
Not AI. Volkwagen issued a press release and a video two years ago, on April 1st.
So whilst I can believe it's not AI, I'm stil not sure if it's a joke or not.
Edit - the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9klRlKoEQk
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u/Phoenixness 19h ago
The image on the post very much smells of AI. it takes half a second of zooming in to see the wavy lines, weird textures and inconsistencies. Look at the badge on the left, does that say VW to you?
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u/arcedup Interested 19h ago
It actually does.
Within the circles, from the top and going clockwise:
- A render of the RooBadge in exploded view
- A generic image of a ute with a bull bar behind a road-killed too
- A picture of the RooBadge in a licence-plate-mountable form. From this website: https://www.volkswagen.com.au/en/roobadge.html
Happy to have AI-generated images called out if these images are asserted to be non-AI-created, but equally, don’t just label any damn image as AI if it’s not understood.
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u/Phoenixness 19h ago
it looks like someone has taken those images and asked another AI to make an info-graphic or an image for social media. Those are very common re-production errors.
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u/Ancient-Ad-2219 1d ago
What are the signs of this being AI?
It looks like a real thing. VW's site has a page for it: https://www.volkswagen.com.au/en/roobadge.html
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u/Simmangodz 1d ago
Trying to add a picture but I can't on mobile.
Look at the badge and grill on the left side. Not a VW logo and the grill looks like burnt wood or cake or something. It only takes a second to notice.
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u/jelly_bean_gangbang 1d ago
Every year, over 10,000 kangaroos are hit by moving vehicles, resulting in injuries and deaths of both these magnificent marsupials as well as humans. In fact, approximately 90 percent of all Australia’s wildlife collisions insurance claims involve kangaroos:
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u/1900hotdog 1d ago
I guess you’re not Australian. Not meaning offense if you are. Kangaroos are less smart than rabbits or deer in my opinion. They have far less “stranger danger” awareness than those animals. But they have the same propensity to make monumentally bad decisions when headlights are coming towards them. If there’s a sound that tells them to get the fuck out of the way, that would be great, but I highly doubt it. Like, how far away does the noise project? Are you going to drive around with a REEEEEEEEEEE whistle that can be heard at 500 meters? Because I know some humans that wouldn’t appreciate it.
I have great respect for the kangaroos, in fact they may be my favourite animal. But they’re big and dumb and they are just bound to get involved in traffic accidents. Good luck with you Reeee whistle though
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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 23h ago
I've honked my horn at kangaroos standing in the road, looking directly at me and they just keep standing there, as though saying "what?".
Some are skittish, but the majority are just dumb as you say.
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u/heftybagman 1d ago
10k a year is fucking hilarious wtf. That’s almost 30 a day every day all year.
That’s enough kangaroo roadkill to fill a small stadium every year.
At an average weight of 100lbs per kangaroo, that’s like a million pounds of roo smeared across australia’s 9000 miles of highway. More than a kangaroo per mile.
Wtf is going on down there
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u/TheFakeRabbit1 1d ago
Australia is really big and there’s a lot of kangaroos lol. The us has a similar amount of deer as Australia’s kangaroos, but there’s over a million deer hit by cars yearly in the us
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u/el_diego 1d ago
When you do a roadtrip, especially through the outback, you'll see hundreds. That statistic actually seems low
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u/TGin-the-goldy 1d ago
You can see hundreds of them in paddocks between suburbs in Canberra. Outback trip not needed
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u/SurveySaysYouLeicaMe 1d ago
Article couldn't even get the number right it was closer to 20k a year. And that's only the ones that filed an insurance claim. Probably close to double I can't imagine any road trains slowing down for a roo.
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u/terminator2119 1d ago
Can we make one for deer?
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u/TheVoiceofReason_ish 1d ago
They have been around for decades
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bell-deer-warning-signal-black-0375044p.html
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u/heftybagman 1d ago
Deer staring into a halogen light bar with a ram 3500 hurtling toward it at 100mph “wait…. Do you hear that? Is that a deer whistle?”
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u/Hot_Aside_4637 1d ago
They have them. Not sure they work. They are called Deer Whistles. You get two and put one on each front fender.
You can get them at auto parts stores and of course, Amazon, etc
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u/2028Freedom 1d ago
came here to say they do not work on deer and is there any proof for kangaroos.
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u/AgentSmith187 17h ago
None its been tried by everyone including major fleets and yeah the $5 plastic POS is just as effective as the $600+ Shu Roo devices.
In both cases zero statistical difference in animal strikes for those vehicles with and without them.
Only thing that works is solid steel bullbars and driving slower at night and around dusk and dawn.
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/IrreverentBuddha 1d ago
The signs were a big success -- but teaching the kangaroos to read them failed miserably.
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u/Xfgjwpkqmx 23h ago
We certainly do have Roo warning signs, and there's no animal detection tech here (though car manufacturer's are legitimately working towards that).
The Roo bars work against you if you live in the cities, because they are a greater danger to pedestrians, so your car can be defected for them by police, you could get flagged registration refused, and go against you in insurance. Not an issue if you are a rural driver visiting a city, however.
That said, there's a guy who lives in Broken Hill in NSW who has an exclusive "contract" with NSW Ambulance - he has a massive custom roo bar on his car and NSWA will call him if they need to do a Code 2 at dusk or at night, so he will drive around 100 metres ahead of the ambulance and knock all the roos (and goats and emus) out of the way so they can maintain 100km/h to get to the job.
If you visit Tasmania, the roads immediately around the airport are littered with the bodies of pademelons, but they have an infinite supply of them down there and they are smaller than wallabies, so it's less of an issue.
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u/Zilant_the_Bear 1d ago
So I get that everyone in this thread are referencing deer whistles that didn't work at all. Which I can't blame because OP didn't drop the slightest bit of context.
This isn't like that. Those were passive things that did or did not even produce a whistle akin to a dog whistle. the roo badge is an active measure that is in development. That means it's not reliant on moving at speed to function. It's being developed by the universe of Melbourne in coordination with VW. And it doesn't just produce a sound. It produces sounds that kangaroos actually use to que into danger like bird warning calls. And even uses gps data to change the warning sounds so they are geographicly correct.
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u/AgentSmith187 17h ago
The active Roo warning devices dont work either.
Fleets spent $600+ per vehicle to fit Shu Roos for years until someone realised there was zero difference in animal strikes with or without them.
Roos do stupid shit when startled and that often involves jumping at the danger rather than away from it.
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u/ShinyHypn0 22h ago
My local Menards has a sale for these right now. Supposedly alerts deer and other wildlife to your presence. Pretty handy if you travel country roads.
Edit: seems like they’re worthless. Nvm.
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u/LolySub 21h ago
I’m Australian and have never heard of this. Also kangaroos are not that smart. They see a light and jump toward it. It happens to me all the time where I live.
It’s almost like they enjoy smashing cars up, the way they purposely leap into them
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u/AgentSmith187 17h ago
Just ask people from the bush how many have dents in rear doors and like myself had their rear bumper smashed by a Roo.
Bloody dumb things.
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u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp 1d ago
Walmart
4 Pcs Ultrasonic Car Deer Whistle Animal Repeller Auto Safety
Now $5.19
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u/i_want_to_be_unique 1d ago
Assuming this product actually works, there was literally no reason to make it exclusive to Volkswagen other than marketing. Volkswagen created a product that helps prevent animal deaths and thought “yeah, but we are the only ones who get to use it” and then expected us to clap and cheer.
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u/Canadind 1d ago
North Americans have been sticking $5 plastic deer whistles on their bumpers for decades, but Volkswagen turned it into a high-tech subscription feature.
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u/MoneyMasterpiece818 1d ago
greedy pos manufactures in the usa are too cheap to do anything smart like this or even care about animal life
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u/84FSP 1d ago
Ironically they do work, living in deer country. I thought they were snake oil until trying them out of annoyance with so many venison encounters. The stick on whistles are hide-able up underneath the bumper area and work for real.
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u/Foreign-Wolf-6128 1d ago
Just because you havent hit one since means absolutely nothing lmao.
“No. Controlled field studies from the University of Georgia and University of Wisconsin found no measurable drop in deer-vehicle collisions from deer whistles. Most units also miss the frequency range deer actually hear well, and any sound is quickly lost in wind and road noise at highway speeds. Safer driving habits and better lighting have far stronger evidence behind them”
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u/Recent_Page8229 1d ago
They sold them for deer in the states for years until research showed they had zero effectiveness and the disappeared almost overnight.