Hey, fellow ct Prius owners, don't do what I did Sat Nov 19 at 1900, A nice looking Doe thought it was a good idea to stop in the front of my Prius going 63Mph on cruse. well with a hard brake, and a quick jerk to the right I was able to only hit the deer on the left rump with the Front left side of the car, just right of the head lamp. I was luckly, as it was, if I had hit that Doe dead on... well I don't think I would be here typing this. The car is still driveable (by way of duct tape) but the driver door can only be opened about 10", making it real hard to get in. When I have gotten the very big pic files converted to something priuschat size I will post some pics. They are 4+meg is size now (8.2 mega pix from my 20d camera) As hard as I jerked, that VSC kept me from flipping... the car did fish tail a little. But I don't remember much, as all this happend in about .5 to 1.5 sec... I did not have much time to react... this part of the road did not have a shoulder (was at 17 miles east of Brady on 71) From the looks it is not totaled. but might run 1,000's Well ya'll take care.. and have a happy holiday. Back to driving my S-10 truck. (sorry in adv for any miss-spellings)
Sounds Like You Were Lucky ...and sounds like the Prius did what it was supposed to do. Good luck getting your baby back in shape.
You were very lucky. I too yesterday had a close encounter with a deer. Fortunately for me we didn't actually connect - but it was way too close for me. Keep us updated, but the most important thing is you are all right.
Most driving experts recommend NOT trying to avoid deer if they dart out in front of you - they see far more serious injuries from drivers losing control while trying to avoid colliding with deer than they do from head on deer collisions. In most cases, the deer is short enought that if you do hit it, it's going to hit the hood of the car and then continue up over the windshield rather than come in through the windshield.
When I was still doing a lot of contract process control work at paper mills, scattered throughout Manitoba and NW Ontario, the big danger for me was moose. Unlike deer, you won't see a moose's eye glow at night. Those things are huge too, think Clydesdale horse. Never popped a moose but have come very close. I did pop a deer once with a company truck. The impact killed the deer but shouldn't have been enough to disable the truck. The transmission cooler line came off and I got less than a km down the road before losing the auto.
But at that speed and impact force the bags would have gone off, and I am very sure it would be been in the ditch... but yes you are right.. dogs, small stuff... road kill... sorry buggs... nice big fat deer (and moose) I try to adviod... will know next week what is est on cost... thanks to one and all for the well wishes... later
In my case (94 Merc Sable) I was on a rural highway at 4 AM, coming back from visiting a friend. I was using my brights, watching for deer. When this happened, though, the highway was getting busy, and there was an oncoming semi. I was also approaching a short bridge (the kind you cross in about a half second at highway speed), so I didn't have anywhere to dodge to. Both the bridge and the semi would have done a bit more damage than the deer. The deer was stopped on the side of the road, and I was already pretty close to it when I saw it. I started slowing down, and then the deer took another step forward. I locked up the brakes, and that's when the deer decided to run across the road. I hit the rear end of the deer, so the deer impacted the left (driver's) half of my car. The mechanical stuff inside seems fine, but my hood was bowed a bit and curled down where the impact happened. The left front quarter panel was also dented, so I think I spun the deer around when I hit it. I never used to believe in deer hunting, but now... X__X
ok, here is that pic of the damage (after I duct taped it back to a driveable state) The headlamp mountings are broke and the whole thing will need to be replaced. hope this is the correct way to do this jpg .. if not let me know what would be.. I also have a 2.9 (hi res) version of this if people want to see it.. later
Speaking of hitting a moose, check this out: http://www.strangepolice.com/content/item/103838.html Believe it or not, the person driving the car received very minor injuries. You'll note the car has Ontario plates, the central and especially NW portion of Ontario is infested with moose.
Yep, your jpeg worked. Oww. The mismatch between the quarter panel and the A pillar looks especially nasty, but hopefully that's just the quarter-panel piece itself. Which I think is removable via a few bolts, i.e. not part of a unibody... but while you're in there you should probably look for nontrivial bending of the underlying framework and surrounding stuff too. . I wonder if those little whistles you can glue onto your bumper to theoretically scare off deer actually do anything? . _H*
No, they don't work. Amazing how a gadget can be sold based on fear of something, with no proof of efficacy.
ouch, that picture looks pretty painful. that front fender is definitely smoked. i hope they get it fixed up for you asap. i also really hate deer, but have never hit one in my car. everyone else in my family has, though. good luck and let us know how this turns out.
I don't hate deer, I just hate hitting them. What we need is more wolves. What about armadillos? Do they do much damage? We almost hit a porcupine once... That probably sucks. Anyone know if the quills can puncture tires?
well I called Tue, and the parts are in ( yea, yeppie, Yahoo ). Service quy said about $3800 in cost. Said car should be ready by Dec 19. just in time for x-mas trip. I will input detailed report when I get it. later
OUch ...HOW'S the car....seems like you'll do OK..only like 2 leg dears, not the 4 legged deers..so no concern about the wildlife... good thing you'll have your baby back before Christmas.
I work for an insurance company, and adjusters always tell us that if you are headed for a deer (cow, moose, etc), hit it, do not swerve off the road or into other cars. If you hit the animal, it is registered as a comprehensive claim (act of God). If you swerve and hit a guardrail or another car instead, it is a collision loss and could raise your premiums. So much for humanity. There have been others on this community recently that hit deer and had a lot more damage, so it looks like you got pretty lucky. Let us know how it turns out! -- Hillary
