Accident involving Deer

WEBellSystemChristian · November 08, 2015, 06:04:25 PM

Last night, my family was heading home from a film premier that my mom worked on, and it was very late at night, must have been 11:30 or so.

I was falling asleep in the truck as we got closer to home, when I heard a loud bang, and felt the truck lurch. Next thing I know as I opened my eyes, the front airbags had gone off and there was smoke everywhere from the airbags igniting. I got out of the truck in a daze, and found a deer laying in the road behind us, and pieces of plastic everywhere! Apparently, a deer had jumped about 2 or 3 feet in front of the truck, while we were moving at about 40 mph. The deer, without surprise, didn't survive, which haunted my sister for a few hours. Surprisingly, the only damage to the truck was a bent bumper, destroyed radiator and front grille, and a smashed front cowl. Engine coolant lines were broken open under the radiator and coolant was dripping everywhere. Thankfully, everyone in the truck was okay! The driver of a utility truck that was driving behind us got his lightbar turned on and started directing traffic around us and the deer.

As we saw police cars coming down the road towards us in response to the accident, three deer darted in front of them and almost got hit!

We were held up there for an hour or so, answering questions about the accident from police and firefighters. My uncle came to pick us up and bring us home, and as he was driving up up our driveway, he almost hit another deer!!

Moral of the story, especially if you live in a northern area populated with deer right now, BE CAREFUL ON THE ROAD!!! We had to deal with one damaging deer-related accident, plus two more close calls in one night! This time of year, the deer are really close to the road, and are constantly darting out at cars. My dad was doing everything cautiously while driving, and we still got in an accident, without any way of avoiding it. Had we been driving anything smaller than a pickup, that deer could have gone through the windshield and seriously hurt or killed someone. BE CAREFUL!!

Dennis Markham · November 08, 2015, 06:23:30 PM

Pretty scary story, Christian. Thankfully no one was hurt (besides the deer). It is a frequent occurrence in these parts (Michigan) as well. I jokingly tell my son he doesn't have to go deer hunting to get a deer----just drive up and down (fill-in-the-blank) road, and you'll get one.

The deer hunting season starts on November 15th here in Michigan (next Sunday).

~Dennis

WEBellSystemChristian · November 08, 2015, 06:39:16 PM

Quote from: Dennis Markham on November 08, 2015, 06:23:30 PM
Pretty scary story, Christian. Thankfully no one was hurt (besides the deer). It is a frequent occurrence in these parts (Michigan) as well. I jokingly tell my son he doesn't have to go deer hunting to get a deer----just drive up and down (fill-in-the-blank) road, and you'll get one.

The deer hunting season starts on November 15th here in Michigan (next Sunday).

~Dennis

My uncle is actually a hunter, and was interested in in the deer, so he took it. The first police officers who arrived on the scene and the utility truck driver were also interested, and were dropping hints. I felt like we should have called an auctioneer for the deer!

WEBellSystemChristian · November 08, 2015, 08:03:18 PM

For anyone interested, here are some pictures of the accident. This was actually the first car accident I've ever been that I can remember. (I was in one when I was 2 years old, but I don't remember it.) I just thank God that there were no other cars involved!!

compubit · November 08, 2015, 09:09:51 PM

Glad you and your family are OK. I saw 3 separate deer along the side of the road this morning heading up from DC to Harpers Ferry, WV (60 miles - mostly urban/suburban, but lots of National Park/Forests/Open Space along the way. One was in the road and the road was a mess.

Jim

NorthernElectric · November 09, 2015, 12:11:23 PM

2 years ago, I hit a moose on my way home from deer hunting. I was driving the Jeep I had at the time and pulling my trailer with my ATV on a 2 lane highway at about 50MPH. The moose came trotting out of a swampy area below the level of the road, up the bank and I only saw it out of the corner of my eye seconds before impact. I instinctively swerved hard to the left because there was no time to brake and in doing so, lost sight of the moose. I remember thinking, 'I'm a dead man', then heard and felt the bang, then realized that a) I was still alive, b) the Jeep was was still moving under my control, and c) wasn't totaled. I pulled back onto my side of the road then off on the shoulder to survey the damage. All I could find was the passenger side mirror was folded flat against the window. It wasn't even broken. There was a bit of a clean spot on the side of the Jeep where the moose hair had rubbed. Later on at home I discovered that the right side tail light bracket on my trailer was bent.

I made a U-turn to go back and look for the moose which was nowhere to be seen. From the wet tracks on the road and impressions on the shoulder, it looked like it turned around and gone back the way it had come. I didn't try to track it through the swamp to see if it was OK because at the time I hadn't spotted the bent tail light bracket on the trailer and assumed it wasn't seriously injured. I hope that it didn't have a broken leg.

That evening I looked online for info about avoiding wildlife collisions. A government web site recommended to brake, not swerve, but if I had hit the brakes and drove straight ahead, I wouldn't be here. At best, I might have been able to slow to maybe 45MPH and would have hit that moose broadside.

I was very lucky that night, and I will never forget it.

PS. 2 nights before that on the same road I rounded a curve to find 4 deer standing in the road. There was nowhere to go but I had enough room to brake sharply and would have been going very slow when I hit the closest deer. Fortunately, it ran just in time, as did the rest.

andre_janew · November 09, 2015, 12:46:33 PM

This is that time of year when the deer are darting out onto the roads. When I lived out in the country, I would see deer running across the road from time to time at night. Luckily, they were far enough away that I could slow down to avoid hitting them. Since I've been living in town these past few years, I have yet to see any on the city streets.

19and41 · November 09, 2015, 01:54:06 PM

Caution and alertness is your only defense. Good luck.

WEBellSystemChristian · November 21, 2016, 03:26:26 PM

Wow, nearly a year (plus a couple weeks) since that accident. I guess history repeats itself...

Last night, my Mom was driving home late at night (yes, around 11:30, coming home from working on another movie), about a mile or so from home. As she was driving along the highway, a buck rammed her driver's side door. No one was injured, although I'm not sure about the deer...

From what I can see, there isn't much serious damage to the truck, other than some scuffs and chipped paint. The damage was deflected very well: no dents, and no airbags deployed. At least the deer didn't dart out in the road a few seconds earlier, or the situation would have ended up like last year!

LarryInMichigan · November 21, 2016, 03:41:32 PM

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on November 21, 2016, 03:26:26 PM
Last night, my Mom was driving home late at night (yes, around 11:30, coming home from working on another movie), about a mile or so from home. As she was driving along the highway, a buck rammed her driver's side door. No one was injured, although I'm not sure about the deer...

Your mom should have done like most people and just passed the buck

Larry

TelePlay · November 21, 2016, 05:08:38 PM

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on November 21, 2016, 03:41:32 PM
Your mom should have done like most people and just passed the buck

Ohhhh, deer . . .

HarrySmith · November 21, 2016, 09:02:56 PM

WOW! Close call, glad nobody got hurt. That is a good reason for deer hunting season, that many deer in a populated area is not a good thing. I recall living in Connecticut and driving on the Merritt Parkway at night. I learned to scan the shoulder ahead to check for reflections of their eyes, Saved me from hitting quite a few!

AL_as_needed · November 21, 2016, 09:20:23 PM

I actually had nearly the same thing happen to me about three weeks ago. Got out of work, parked the truck and got in my 30 year old volvo to head home. As soon as I hit third gear after leaving the yard, WHAM! The deer came up over the driver side fender and pushed the windshield back to the steering wheel. Amazingly I got out without a scratch and the only real damage was to the windshield and fender (nothing a pry bar couldn't fix).

Your Ford Raptor used crumple zones and airbags to keep you safe....my car used reclaimed german panzer steel lol

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Accident involving Deer