In October I was returning to St Louis in my car, at night. Somewhere near Cadiz, KY a 300 lb. ish deer bounds out onto I-24 from the median, a whole 50-60 yards ahead of me in the left lane. Needless to say, I had no reaction time at 70 mph and short of slamming on brakes and holding on tight, there was nothing I could do. I hit her in the dead center of my front end, and I assume she went flying off to my left. Seatbelts caught, airbags deployed, and we’ll just say I pretty much won that fight. Little Focus had a pretty well-built front end!
Here is what happenedto the car - ugly, huh?
In that last picture, you can tell that it wasn’t the deer that shattered the windshield - it was the explosion of the passenger side airbag door. That kinda blows, but meh. The engine is fine, save for a bent radiator. All lights intact and working, suspension seems to be undamaged, alignment still near perfect. So I drove it home from there. It’s about 3.5 hours from St Louis, and it was night time so I could see well enough. Blessedly did not get pulled over, that car is in no way street legal.
My uncle in Phenix City Alabama has collected the parts to repair the front end for me (I was only carrying liability insurance - and I can’t sue the deer). I plan to get it down to him over Thanksgiving with my father’s help. Here’s the issue - Dad would like to have his motorcycle with him if he’ll be at our home in Florida for an extended visit, and would need to tow it on his pickup. He told me he wanted me to drive the Focus down with him and we’d convoy to my uncle’s home. This is St Louis to southeast Alabama, mind you.
I flat refuse. A) it is impossible to drive the Focus during the day, because the sunlight hits all those little cracks and dazzles the driver. B) the road vibrations on that long a trip and bumps and possible road debris and gusts of wind…that windshield could finish shattering in my face at any time. C) it is not street legal, it’s bright red and very visible, and no one wants to explain all this to a State Trooper. D) just because the engine got me home, and SEEMS fine, does not mean that it IS fine, and safe to drive on long distance.
TLDR: We want to move a pickup truck, a busted Focus, a motorcycle, and two adults from St Louis to south Alabama at the same time. We would like to spend as little money as possible doing so. Any suggestions on how this might be accomplished short of renting a second truck+trailer?
ETA: Typing all this up and re-reading it for clarity and such I realized that the second truck+trailer option is likely to be the ONLY option, but I went ahead and submitted anyhow just in case someone can think of anything else! Worth a shot!
