Car vs. Deer

Like I needed something else to add to the F'd up year 2010 has been, a gigantic buck decided to jump in front of my car on my way home from my sister's on Tuesday evening. Now, if I lived in a particulary rural area, or if I were on a long stretch of uninhabited road, this might not seem all that unusual. But I don't, and I wasn't. I was driving through a very residental area when it happened. 6:30 pm, and because of the time change, it was already dark out. There is a small park area nearby, but this deer came out of someone's yard and attempted to cross the street just as I was passing by. It happened so fast, I barely had time to react.

Even as I slammed on my brakes, I knew the deer would be hit. Most of the hit was on the front right turn-signal area of the car, but the size of the buck -- it had antlers! -- meant that the entire front of my car would sustain damage. I watched as the deer rebounded off my grill, slid across the road, and then miraculously hopped up and, though you could tell it's hind left leg was injured, ran back into the neighborhood, closer to the wooded area.

Heart pounding out of my chest, I put on my hazzards and just sat there. Another motorist who saw the whole thing happen (it was near an intersection) pulled over to see if I was ok. Since I was unhurt, he gave me his card and went on his way. I called the police and within minutes they were there. 3 of them. Must've been a slow night.

I told them what happened, they wrote the report, and I headed home. The car was driveable, but pretty banged up. I wouldn't even know until the next morning, in the daylight, just how much damage was done.

These pictures barely show the full situation. There are 4 cracks in the grill, hood bent, brackets broken inside the grill and under the hood, lights broken, the wheel well disjointed, and more.

So now I'm in the process of getting the estimates, repair work, rental car, and insurance stuff taken care of. I've driven around that area twice to see if I could see a huge, injured deer. Nothing so far, so I hope he's healing and not suffering.