Monday, April 5, 2010

Kamikaze Deer

Until this week, I prided myself on never having hit a deer.  I was always cautious when driving in deer country, and I knew that when you see a deer standing near the road, you need to be prepared for a second one to dart out from the opposite side in a last minute attempt to get across and join the first one. 

Sadly, my perfect record fell this week.  While I was driving home on Highway 93, a deer I couldn't see darted up the steep embankment at the edge of the highway and seemingly materialized on the road in front of me.  At that point the highway is just two lanes with no shoulder, so I had nowhere to go (not counting into oncoming traffic).  I hit the brakes hard, but I didn't have enough room to stop.  The proverbial deer in the headlights just stood there like a basketball player trying to draw a charging call.  I smacked it pretty good.

I might've felt bad about killing the deer, but it jacked up my right fender and headlights, and damaged my bumper, grill and hood.  My insurance will cover it, but it's still aggravating.

4 comments:

  1. Glad you're ok, thats the important part. a few years back i was leaving my fishing spot right after dark and i noticed a cow had gotten out of the pasture on the other side of the highway standing in the middle of a lane. i pulled over but the car coming over the hill the other way at 70 mph didn't see it at all, never touched her brakes. its weird to see a cow fly that far (75 yards) in the air but amazingly the lady walked away from her Ranger which was totally destroyed. funny though...while waiting for the ambulance i asked her if she wanted me to get something from her truck and she said "my glasses....and my lottery tickets".

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  2. It's hard to imagine a cow flying like that, but I'm sure a 70 mph impact could do it. Mari kept telling me mine could've been worse, but all I could think was that it could've been better. I think I was only going about 30-something when I hit it. I'm just glad my airbag didn't deploy. That would've made for a bad-hair day.

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  3. Yes, that air bag would have rumpled up your beard.
    LDB

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