I Killed Bambi Today

[Muzikman7]

Couldn't believe it. I just left my mom off she lives on a dark ( we live in a cheap town ) but busy street I was going about 30 the deer ran right in front of the car. I thought it might go through the windshield so I ducked down but held onto the wheel while pulling over. From what I saw before I ducked I figure I hit the deer mid shoulder it knocked off the driver side mirror put two fair sized dents in the fender and pushed in the door to a point where it rises above the sill thought I was going to stroke out. Anbody got a kill size deer stencil?

[hieronymous]

Glad you are safe! Lots of deer here in my neighborhood. Would not want to hit one, for my sake or for theirs.

[Pilgrim]

Never can tell what those deer are going to do.  My wife's family lives down 7 miles of a twisty road thru a canyon surrounded by wheat fields - just about everyone who lived in the neighborhood has nailed a deer at one time or another.  Glad you weren't hurt!

[Muzikman7]

Thanks guys. I live near Saratoga NY So I see plenty of deer and about 15 years a herd ran out in front of my car I barely saw their white tails but stopped in time. This time it was a foot in front of me the only good thing is that I caught her in the shoulder or otherwise the deer would have gone through the windshield.

[Hornisse]

Glad you are ok Tony!  My wife's Mom lives in NE Arkansas and has hit a few deer over the years.  Sure can cause some serious damage to your vehicle.  The scariest stretch of road where deer cross here in TX has to be I-10 between Ft. Stockton and Junction.  The speed limit is 80 mph so there is not much time to react!

[Barklessdog]

Good thing you are OK. I know a lady that hit a deer & nearly died, she had to have her neck fused. Very dangerous.

[Freuds_Cat]

Glad your OK. Over here the problem is Kangaroos. I would guess about the same varying size and weight of deer. I was coming home from a gig Sunday before last and usually I drive through the hills to my home because the winding roads keep me concentrating on the road more so than using the freeway. This night I had dropped of my 6 year old (Nicholas) at my sisters place because the gig was around the corner from her. After the show I picked him up and he was sleeping in the back seat as we headed up the freeway.
On a bend doing the speed limit of 110 kph I had a roo come straight at me. In all my years of country driving I have never seen them do this. Always across left to right or vis versa. I resisted the immediate reaction to swerve and in the split second I had I nudged the car to the right, as if I was simply changing lanes. I missed him by less than a foot. Scary enough normally but with my son in the back it took me a little while to settle the adrenaline. The other annoying thing about the roos in my area is that they are mostly western Greys which means they are the same damn colour as the road.

My wife hit and killed one about 6 weeks ago. She was a good girl and did what I've always told her. Braked but not hard enough to lose the rear end and let her foot off the brake peddle at the last second and did not deviate in any way, just held the wheel straight. She hit it smack in the middle of the car doing about 80 kph and it bounced off. Lots of trees on that road, better a dead roo than a dead wife due to hitting a tree to avoid the roo.

[Pilgrim]

Amen.  A lot of people are killed every year by trying to miss animals and losing control.  You have to stay within the vehicle's limits and then - what's gonna happen will happen, either hit or miss.

[Lightyear]

Good point Pilgrim.  My brother was killed in east Texas when a guy trying to avoid a deer swerved to the gravel shoulder,at 55+, which shot him diaganally back onto the road, into the opposing lane, and head on into my brothers car. 

I see lots of people with those little deer whistles on their front bumpers - any idea if they work?  Seems like a gimmick to me.

[Pilgrim]

Good point Pilgrim.  My brother was killed in east Texas when a guy trying to avoid a deer swerved to the gravel shoulder,at 55+, which shot him diaganally back onto the road, into the opposing lane, and head on into my brothers car. 

I see lots of people with those little deer whistles on their front bumpers - any idea if they work?  Seems like a gimmick to me.

From the test reports I've read, they're a total waste of money.  No benefit at all.

[Freuds_Cat]

They have a similar product here called a Shoo Roo. My company uses them on the Govt cars that they use for country trips. All reports are that they work well.

We had a friend die last week on the Strath road. She veered onto the wrong side of the road into an oncoming car. Both her and the guy in the other car died. She was a very sensible person in my mind, no one is quite sure what exactly happened. She left her Husband Trev and little boy Jackson who is the same age as my boy. They live around the corned and we are very similar as far as families go. Very hard to understand what Trevs going through at the moment. I live in a small town so most ppl know each other. She was a very community involved kind of person so the vibe of the town is rather subdued right now.

A couple of months ago a woman was driving up the freeway to a neighboring town and swerved to miss a Koala sitting in the middle of the road. She skidded sideways into the pylons of a bridge impacting on the drivers door killing her instantly. They later found out that the Koala had already been hit which was why it was stationary in the middle of the road, it later died of its original injuries. A sad lesson in why you never swerve at speed.

[Muzikman7]

Sorry about your friend. I travel that stretch of road a lot its 30 mph road (school zone) and there aren't any houses, I kept control and hit the break and pulled over on the shoulder I was aware the whole time. I checked the car this morning there was hair some blood but no parts, I'm having the car checked out Monday.

[uwe]

Glad you were lucky. Good reaction. Where you live, people should eat more venison!

[Highlander]

Excrement happens... you had a lucky one...

[OldManC]

people should eat more venison!

I concur. Cook it up with mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter and you can't go wrong!