Deer collision damage results in $6k repair. Insurance lessons learned

[Jman79]

The real question is ... did you eat it? I mean that would be a very befitting end to the story. Follow the damage pics with one of a nice dinner plate!

Of course go through all proper channels. But those road deer often wander off and die, never tone found again!

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[First Sergeant]

Have has that happen many times. They always seem to avoid it. Deer not so much have hit more than my fair share.

Worked for railroad for over 20 years/locomotive engineer (after retiring from Army). Killed at least a hundred deer and a dozen or so elk. Ran freight trains between Grand Junction, CO and Denver through very remote and mountainous territory. Hit 8 deer once on a bridge over a river, standing there just looking. Started running and only one made it off bridge. Two got knocked off into the river alive, but pretty sure they drowned as the ice broke when they hit and under the ice they went. The rest "balled up" under the locomotive. Makes a loud snapping and cracking noise . No damage obviously to locomotive, not even a paint scuff on the plow. Hit a herd of elk once at a little place called "Dotsero", right off I-70. That herd had maybe 50 elk in it and all got off track except the last 4 cows. 2 balled up underneath and the other 2 got tagged in the head. The 2 that got hit in the head were collected up by a signal guy who was off track and waiting to work after we went by. Called me on radio about hour later and said he had them all cleaned/gutted. Said thanks as his wife and kids loved elk! I never even got a steak! Bummer. I liked to hunt back then, but sure isn't fun killing them this way.

 

[Deweyordeweynot]

Deer suck.
We have had to pay for way too much deer damage over the years!
I will say after my daughter put deer whistles on she never hit another one. Not sure if they work or if it was luck. She was driving home from work at night in the Adirondacks. She would see many deer every single night.

I recall talking with an Indiana state trooper and I asked him if the deer whistles I noticed on the patrol car had made any difference. He said "you wouldn't think so, but we haven't hit one since installing them."
It doesn't seem to make sense in a scientific way; I mean, how can a deer hear a whistle and avoid it when the vehicle's traveling at highway speeds...can it hear it before it's in front of the vehicle? I have no idea, but enough people who've installed them after a collision report no contact with a deer afterwards...but it is just luck (No, I've not installed them and I've never hit a deer in the 50+ years of driving all around the country and all around Michigan)?

 

[Walter56]

guy I worked with hit one. Got his vehicle back and 2 days later hit another one.

 

[BlueSnake77]

It fascinates me how much smarter crows are than deer. Turkeys, too.

Crows are very smart. Some scientists say as smart as a 7 year old and equal to a chimp. They do use tools and solve complex puzzles.

 

[NJBob]

guy I worked with hit one. Got his vehicle back and 2 days later hit another one.

Once I has my car in a body shop getting an estimate after hitting a deer. Minor damage. As I drove home hit another one. This almost totaled the car.

 

[bluesteel]

I remove one deer a year with a license and a gun but over the decades I’ve taken out five the hard way. Sorry to hear your loss and issues with SF. I was an independent adjuster for 40 years and would not work their claims because of just such adjustment bs. Send an appraiser to work it out with the body shop and get it 99% right the first time they order parts. Either that or pay for a rental car longer.

At least my shop gave me a courtesy loaner. Ford Flex with a non-functional audio system (bad module). They "forgot" to tell me that in advance ... But free is free!

 

[Montana]

It fascinates me how much smarter crows are than deer. Turkeys, too.

Oh man you are crazy. Turkeys are a plague where I live. Those dummies will walk out in front of anything. I guess you are right though, because most times if you create enough noise they will run the opposite way. Deer? They just run some random direction without any consideration at all.

I once saw a video of someone cutting a deers antlers from a fence and it hopped around a couple times straight back into the same fence it was initially caught on. Derpy.

 

[bluesteel]

I guess I should've said "even turkeys." I wholeheartedly agree that crows are far above them on the intelligence scale.

 

[bluesteel]

guy I worked with hit one. Got his vehicle back and 2 days later hit another one.

Once I has my car in a body shop getting an estimate after hitting a deer. Minor damage. As I drove home hit another one. This almost totaled the car.

This was (and still is) a fear...

 

[bluesteel]

The real question is ... did you eat it? I mean that would be a very befitting end to the story. Follow the damage pics with one of a nice dinner plate!

Of course go through all proper channels. But those road deer often wander off and die, never tone found again!

I thought about that afterwards, but I don't think the cost-benefit analysis would've penciled out on this little one.

 

[JennyJoannSuebeeMcNash]

Have has that happen many times. They always seem to avoid it. Deer not so much have hit more than my fair share.

Hit three deer in the 10 years I lived in upstate NY. The one time was in my Honda Civic. F'er came up onto the windshield and I thought for sure my daughter and I were goners. Nope. Ripped off my side mirror, huge dent in left front quarter panel. Second time was in my Honda Element coming home from a work function. Cracked my front grill but nothing too horrific. Third time was coming home late from Naples, NY and one was coming down off the side of a mountain and I slammed right into him head-on. Got home and realized the front grill was completely f'ed. Got up the next morning and called Geico to come out and assess the damages. By Monday I was getting it fixed in the body shop. PITA!!

 

[NJBob]

Have hit 3 deer with my Honda CRZ 2 within a week. And one tore the driver side mirror off. That was the only damage. I did not even see that one. Driving to work in the dark hear bang! Rural road I has to turn around to make sure it wasn't a person. Guess it could have been a bear. NJ is not all one big city as some think. Not that someone would be walking down the middle of that road at that early morning hour. Was the second time a deer hit me. I probably hit 6 or 7 over 50 years of driving.

 

[lajlmt]

I had a turkey fly at my car - thankfully he got enough loft before contact could be made. Looked like a bowling ball with wings coming at the car!

I saw a dead turkey on I80 from SF to Sacramento, it was huge! People dodged it dangerously..

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