Hit a deer. Pics inside!

[dlock13]

Well, I just got my 09 Toyota Matrix XRS this past September. I ended up hitting a deer last night. The little ah heck appeared from no where and bam. I nailed it of course. Girlfriend and I are perfectly fine. I don't know what insurance is going to say, but you guys and gals can take a look and tell me what you think. I was going about 60 MPH and then a deer jumped out and wham.

Without further ado...

Oh, deer..

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Wow... I'm surprised the airbag didn't pop. That could be anywhere from "oh it looks bad but really is just hood, bumper, and radiator support = $3000" to the car being totaled.

Glad you and GF are ok!

 

[dlock13]

Wow... I'm surprised the airbag didn't pop. That could be anywhere from "oh it looks bad but really is just hood, bumper, and radiator support = $3000" to the car being totaled.

Glad you and GF are ok!

Thanks. I'm surprised it didn't go, too! Honestly, the thing that's getting me right now is the fact that it looks like the deer literally shoved it's body weight into my engine. I'm thinking there might be some kind of damage there, but I don't really know.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

holy deer! thats a lot of damage from a deer.

 

[dlock13]

holy deer! thats a lot of damage from a deer.

I know it is. The amazing thing is that we didn't really feel us hitting it. I guess I slammed on the brakes in a quick enough time that when it hit it, we were slowing down quite a lot. My GF told me she didn't even feel anything except the brakes.

Also, when I hit that thing, I was in the right lane of a 2 lane highway. The deer literally flew off the road at about a 45 degree angle and landed in the woods probably about 3-5 feet back from any sort of pavement. It was astonishing. I now know what real life rag doll physics are capable of.

 

[TechBoyJK]

from when I hit a deer with my bmw.. the deer jumped at the last second, so I clipped it's hind quarter, causing it to slide up my hood into my windshield. I'm lucky it didn't go through the window, and as the cop said "that it wasn't a buck".

 

[z1ggy]

Wow that's pretty crazy man. Poor, stupid deer.

 

[dlock13]

I'm just amazed the deer was shot forward instead of into my windshield and then over the top of my car.

 

[TechBoyJK]

I'm just amazed the deer was shot forward instead of into my windshield and then over the top of my car.

that is what happened to me

 

[dlock13]

that is what happened to me

I'm glad you're OK. How fast were you going when you hit your deer?

 

[TechBoyJK]

50

 

[Ferzerp]

I hit a completely demolished deer once at 80mph. Other than cracking my bumper, and painting my white car solid red/pink, all was well.

The truck in front of me that hit the deer didn't fare so well, I am sure. I saw it run out in front of that one, so it was in one piece at that point.

I know it was in pieces because you could see the smear along the top where it sort of cleaned the blood spray (think bloody, but as if someone took a bloody rag and made a single swipe cleaning a small strip), but then I also had stuff stuck to the bottom of the car as well, so I drove over part of it.

It was a mercury sable, so, while not low, definitely could not have run over much of a deer with no damage. There was no damage to the top, so I didn't go under a lot of it either.

It all happened so quickly, in a huge cloud of red though, so I am not sure exactly what happened, but my car sure had an interesting smell, and I was cleaning fur out from all the seams for months.

My sleeping passengers were a bit traumatized though.

 

[ghost recon88]

Aftermath pics of the deer?

 

[Sluggo]

Wow... I'm surprised the airbag didn't pop.

Probably just too high of a hit for the airbag sensor.

 

[Ferzerp]

Airbags are pretty specific on when they'll deploy.

 

[dlock13]

Aftermath pics of the deer?

Sadly, it was quite dark at night, and when the deer flew into the woods, I mean it literally flew, bounced, and then landed like I said about 5 feet into the woods probably 20-30 feet away from my car. I nailed that thing so hard.

 

[waggy]

whoa. glad you are safe.

I was behind a semi that hit a deer. i seen it (well chunks) fly up and over my car. the front of the semi was not pretty lol

 

[skyking]

Airbags are pretty specific on when they'll deploy.

They are getting better all the time. In a case like this, it could add injury to insult. Those bastards will still burn you.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

just be glad it wasnt a moose. We have plenty'o'moose in my area and it can get bad when they are hit. I saw an older dodge caravan that had hit one - apparently the moose was hit dead perpendicular and rolled onto its back over the roof of the van, crushing it down (as well as the passengers), fell off the back end, then stood back up and ran away.
The van did not fair so well - nor it passengers.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Stupid deer...

 

[_Rick_]

Thanks. I'm surprised it didn't go, too!

Wheelbase looks pretty much untouched, indicating a relatively weak impact, and deer weight is relatively low, so deceleration was not sufficient to explode the bags in your faces.

What you see here is rather the 'pedestrian crumple zone' being used to its limit. It is pretty impressive how far the hood has folded back, without getting compressed against any parts that are directly connected to the drive train. This is the technological break through to look for.

I suppose whether or not it's totaled depends on whether the vehicle's chassis has gotten out of alignment or not. At a glance it looks mostly like only the front end, and possibly some engine bay internals that got snatched by the hood/deer will have to be swapped.

But yeah, might want to drive slowly through areas where you can't see the wildlife, could be a big nasty boar next time... Even if you can't dodge, going slower still means less impact forces when one of them critters goes for a crazy dash across your bumper.

 

[dlock13]

Wheelbase looks pretty much untouched, indicating a relatively weak impact, and deer weight is relatively low, so deceleration was not sufficient to explode the bags in your faces.

What you see here is rather the 'pedestrian crumple zone' being used to its limit. It is pretty impressive how far the hood has folded back, without getting compressed against any parts that are directly connected to the drive train. This is the technological break through to look for.

I suppose whether or not it's totaled depends on whether the vehicle's chassis has gotten out of alignment or not. At a glance it looks mostly like only the front end, and possibly some engine bay internals that got snatched by the hood/deer will have to be swapped.

But yeah, might want to drive slowly through areas where you can't see the wildlife, could be a big nasty boar next time... Even if you can't dodge, going slower still means less impact forces when one of them critters goes for a crazy dash across your bumper.

Thanks. That's very helpful. I was talking to one of my coworkers and he suggested that if the bar or what have you that holds the radiator in place is in anyway bent or broken or whatever, that there's a good chance they'll total it. I'm not much of a car guy so I don't really know a lot which is why I came on here asking about the damage you guys think.

Also, thanks for everyone that are glad we're OK!

 

[jlee]

Wow, glad you guys are ok.

If it's totalled, buy an MR2 Spyder with a blown motor and put your 2ZZGE in that.

 

[dlock13]

Wow, glad you guys are ok.

If it's totalled, buy an MR2 Spyder with a blown motor and put your 2ZZGE in that.

Sadly, the car wasn't completely paid off. I don't know what that truly means, but I'm assuming they would just pay me whatever the amount would be... so I don't think I could do that.

 

[compman25]

Last deer I hit just put a crack in the bumper, but there was nothing left of the deer. 8 axles and 105,000lbs running it over will do that!