I’m living in a town now where there are a fair amount of deer out at night, even in the middle of town in residentital areas. And they all seem to know what they are doing, as my Mom said, they are walking around like they own the place. You drive by and they just look at you. But the other day, after passing a group of five, suddenly one ran out in the road in front of me. I wouldn’t say I almost hit it, it was maybe 10 yards in front of me. It came from my back right.
Anyway I drive a 2008 Altima, worth about $2000 or so, and I’ve just had the most basic insurance I could get. Nothing to protect against falling tree branches, vandalism, etc. But since it is only $5 more a month, I added comprehensive damage coverage. I think if I were to hit a deer, and it rolled onto the hood and windshield, the car would be totalled
It definitely would total it. My dad hit a deer 2 weeks after buying a new Acura and that damn thing was in the shop for MONTHS. I can only imagine how many thousands of dollars per week that was…
I hope it never happens. Paying for body work is nothing, compared to the ordeal of having a panicked deer trying to get out of the front seat with you.
If you want your kids to be safe drivers, have a deputy sheriff tell them a few crash stories.
[quote=“Mike_Mabes, post:1, topic:926546”]
I added comprehensive damage coverage.
[/quote]If you hit a deer while moving, you need collision insurance, not comprehensive. What’s your deductible?
I hit a deer recently. I am very glad I have insurance as it was > $10,000 in damage. Car is actually in the shop. This is the second time I have hit a deer.
I am pretty sure deer is comprehensive. I believe collision is hitting other cars.
Yep. Almost “hit” one on horseback once. Cantering through a meadow and a deer suddenly stood up in front of us. Horse was startled, but handled it well.
Been lucky living in the Colorado Mountains. Have never hit one. One ran into the side of my Wifes car once not really causing any damage. We have moose now, which are scary. Would be like hitting a horse. But they just sort of amble about, so the likely hood of them ‘darting’ in front of you is small.
At a bicycle race a number of years ago, in Boulder Colorado, a woman ran into a bear on her bike. Tacoed the front wheel. They got her a new front wheel, and she finished the race. They made a special award for her ‘Bearly Made It’.
Back in Missouri I had a deer hit me. Ran headlong into the side of my big Bronco. Damaged the rear fender well, busted out the taillight, and that’s about it. Took about a week in the shop. It cost more than my deductible, but not too much more. Of course.
Glad I don’t have to deal with them anymore. Worrying about hitting snoozing 'gators is soo much better.
First time was in my Aerostar van. I saw a small herd of deer in the lane ahead of me, and I stopped. Inching closer didn’t persuade them to move, so I decided to drive around them. Just as I started to accelerate, another deer came charging in front of me from the left. I wasn’t going fast, and it got up, and the entire group ran away. The damage to my van was pretty much cosmetic - the plastic grill and trim around the left headlight. The dealer wanted $800 to patch it up. We bought a roll of electrical tape and that was that.
Second time, I was driving my Scion xA and I hit a deer that bolted in front of me on a dark stretch of road. I was going around 50MPH, but the deer did get up and run away. However, my car was too messed up for me to continue to work so I went back home. The repairs came to over $3K (this was about 12 years ago) and our deductible was $1K, so that hurt. It took a week to get all the pieces and put it back together.
As you might imagine, I’m a tad nervous driving down dark county roads this time of year.
That happened to my wife once a few years ago. She saw a bunch of deer crossing in front of her on a local rural road, so she came to a complete stop so as not to hit them and let them cross. That’s when one of them ran headlong into the side of her car. It did a couple of thousand dollars in damage, including having to replace the driver’s side front door. I took photos of the deer hair on the broken driver’s side mirror to prove it was a deer and not another vehicle. That way it was classified as a no-fault accident and covered under our comprehensive coverage instead of collision.
You’d think that, but the deer left the scene of the accident and didn’t stop to exchange insurance information.
My accident was similar. Most of the small group of deer crossed well ahead of me but a straggler had to wait until I was right in front of it before bolting across the road to join their pals. I wasn’t stopped but I was moving at maybe 10mph and never saw it before it hit me going full tilt.
Yeah. I had a bit of skin & fur wedged under the chrome trim piece outlining the fender well. Made the sleuthing easy for the insurance adjuster.
My close call was with a moose in Quebec. I screeched to a stop so close, I couldn’t see his feet.
Once, while camping about 50 yards from a Texas highwy, I was awakened by a crash, and a minute later, a woman’s voice on a cellphone – I just hit a deer.
In Michigan, the average is seved deer crashes per county per night. Enough to keep a deputy busy full time