My luck just keeps getting worse.
Saturday I wake up with a 20 foot long TREE BRANCH sticking through my garage roof and a dent in my passengers door That Thread, and today THIS happens.

I live deep in the woods and the DEER are plenty around here.
When driving at night, you need to go SLOW and keep an eye out for animals.

I’m driving to work today and I’m putting in some extra hours so I start at 6AM.
Going only about 30MPH I pass a building on my right side which blocks the open field.
EXACTLY after passing the building this dumb bastard comes running right-to-left across the road directly into my path.

I went FULL LOCK on the brakes, but didn’t stop in time.
I actually heard tire squealing, but even with ABS I had nowhere to turn.
It hit square on my drivers side headlight.

I pulled over up the road a bit and the damage was far LESS then I expected.
The drivers side Xenon is dead (I see fragments of plastic inside) and the bumper is knocked out of alignment, but I think the hood & fender may be OK.
Granted, it’s still dark outside and I need to look at it better once the sun comes up.
The gap between the hood & fender is about 1/4” wider toward the front of the car, but I don’t see any dents.
The gap between the fender & bumper is about 1/2” so I think there are some clips broken under there.
I popped the hood and the radiator & CAI area look fine.

More details to follow once I look at it in the daylight.

Shawn S

 

This is a clear case in favor of low deductibles for comprehensive insurance coverage if you're "very unlucky" with your ride.

 

Sorry about the car damage. I hope you have a good body shop in your area.

Mick

 

Did you at least kill the thing and make dinner out of it, or did you let it limp off into the forest to suffer and die for its own stupidity?

 

You need a tank!!!!!!

 

Sorry to hear that man, and I thought the treebranch was bad enough.

Yo you shouldn't really hit the brakes when u see a dear cause, your car leans foward and you end up hitting the lower part of the deer causing it to come up on the hood and then through the windshield and possibly killing you. My friend works at a hospital and he tells me all the time. I know first instinct is to hit the brakes and you had no choice but just to let ya know.

BTW i would of ran after that bitch or even throw rock at it. Sucks for your car.

 

oh Shawn, that sucks ass man
I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm also glad that you weren't injured or anything like that...it could always be worse that's waht I try to keep in mind

 

Thats just terrible!

I was telling my fiance about your tree incident and how horrible that must be & now this! good luck w/ the repairs.

There was a baby deer on the sidewalk at a major intersection in gaithersburg (355&shady grove) the other evening. just eating grass. looked like he wanted to use the cross walk.

 

ShawnS:

Thats horrible! I hope you can get it repaired to make it look as good as new!

 

I just went out and looked at it in the daylight.
The headlight is pushed back about 3/4”, but the hood and fender don’t look to be damaged.
Under the hood there is a black trim piece between the grill & radiator that is cracked and the grill is twisted slightly out of alignment.

I go to visit Allstate tomorrow morning at 8:40AM.
I agree with what was posted above about LOW deductibles.
Mine is only 100 bucks so this shouldn’t cost me too much.

Shawn S

 

Glad you are okay, and feel sorry for your luck lately.

 

Geez Shawn, glad to year you're okay.
Did you spit on a church recently or what's the deal here?

 

Sorry to hear that. I hit a deer once pretty much in the same type of situation except that I was in my '91 Good ol' Grand AM (Ma) back in the day and hit a deer's butt. Bastard dented my driver side front hood, driver side headlight.

I think that car took the hit very well. Then what pissed me off even more was that this deer fell down but then got up and just walked away as nothing happened.

 

Glad you're ok but it sounds like your car is not. These are just more signs that you need to get rid of the auto for the upcoming 6sp.

[ 10-11-2001: Message edited by: kensteele ]

 

Don't sign anything at this meeting with Allstate. Better yet-Get a Lawyer. He'll make sure you don't settle cheap. Remember-the insurance company is your adversary. They'll try to get pay you as little as possible to settle this claim. They may drag their feet, too. If you can't afford a lawyer, find someone you trust with lots of experience in filing claims. Take it from this "grey head", you won't regret taking this advice.

 

what are you talking about, i have allstate and when my 98 3.0 cl was damaged i called the claim in, dropped the car off at the body shop my dealer has (we are a direct repair for allstate), they fixed it and i paid my deducatble, the only thing i signed was a workorder when it was finished and my lifetime paint warranty paper

there was no meeting with allstate

 

Ah-hah... that's where the insurance companies get you. If you accept a payment from allstate (a.k.a. only paying your deductable when you pick it up) then you have waived your rights.

It's one of those BS insurance company things.

 

I have been through this before with other cars and never had a problem.
I have been with Allstate since I was 16.

When I went to the claim office on Friday they did the estimate and gave me a check (minus 100-bucks) made out to both the Body Shop and me.

They said if the body shop finds any other damage when the bumper is removed that they should call them for an adjustment.

No Lawyers required.

Shawn S

 

i didn't get the whole lawyer settlement thing, my body shop billed allstate, car looked great, no problem, maybe if i got hit by a person and it was there ins co, but these are just minor repairs to the vehicle we are talking about

shawn where are you getting it fixed at?

 

To think I made fun of my uncle for getting a new Explorer with those metal wire thigns on the headlights...
You live pretty far out there?

 

Shawn, it seems the deer are going nuts right now in the S.E. PA area. I drive the blue route (476) everyday and there have been deer on the shoulder of the blue route all over the place that have been hit. In fact, I was driving home from Delaware last night and decided to take I95 north instead of the blue route because of all the deer that I have seen there. I figure it's hard to hit a deer on the raised roadway of I95.

Sorry to hear about the run of bad luck.

 

Have you checked out I78 about 50 miles East of Allentown? There were parts of something strewn all over the road in both directions. I had to drive a company car through that crap...

 

I haven't made my way up there in a while. However, a few weeks ago there was a long red stain trail on the inside lane of the westbound turnpike (after Fort Washington) that goes for at least a few hundred feet. I can only imagine what caused that. In fact, I think it still is there but not as noticable.

Excuse me for not being up on my deer facts, but is there some reason why there are a lot of deer going ape shit and darting across roads lately? Mating season? Something else?

 

What you are seeing is referred to as "The Rut". It is when the Does come into estrus, and the Bucks start acting like 16 year old boys on Prom Night. Basically, they lose their minds and will chase Does across the road with reckless abandon.

It should have started in PA by now. Thanksgiving is the peak here in N. GA. Still, gotta be careful on full moon nights as the Deer will be feeding all night long.

Take it from an old GA boy who has been hunting all his life. If you see one deer run across the road - STOP. Does will still be in groups this time of year. If you miss the one you see, the next will be in your door.

P.S. Sorry to hear about your car. Good thing you are OK though. Not too long ago here, a Fiero hit a deer and flipped it over the roof into the windshield of the car behind. It killed the driver and crushed the chest of the passenger. They were in an Expedition!

Chrisbert

 

HOLY COW...I MEAN...HOLY DEER!