we had a g2g the first, all went fairly well. its about a 3 hr or so drive down there to meet up with the guys. no probs going down other than it took 5 hrs due to icy roads and stopping for a couple idiots that blew by me and ended up in the ditch.
on the way back i drove over 2 hrs through a blizzard with occasional whiteout conditions without a hitch. cleared up fairly well for the last hours driving. im cruising along at 60 in a 70 zone due to it being a little slick in spots. see a herd of deer cross in front of me and thought what a mess that would have been. guess what...there was a stragler i didnt see....took her to the frontend at 60, didnt even try braking due to not trusting the road. well, hit her square on with the frontend. total damage, 1800. when i hit her it slammed her on the hood and actually bounced her over the car and into the ditch. i stopped and backed up to check damages. hood is trash (bent support structure), grill, foglight, radiator support(why the hell are they made of plastic), both headlights (didnt actually break the housing, just the seals, get moisture in them). i honestly thought that deer was coming through the windshield. whats also wierd, a dead on hit at that speed and no airbags (actually, thats a good thing).
then to top it off, the deer was still alive, but had a shattered shoulder. after calling the hp i got permission to put her down and out of her misery.
all in all, the focus really held up well compared to other cars and pickups ive seen at even lower speeds.
Deer strikes are very, very common here in Ohio. The Bambi lovers fight every effort to thin the herds, despite the fact that hundreds die of starvation every year. Sorry about the car, but I'm glad you're all right.
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its the same way here mr v. too many deer. cause nothing but trouble for the farmers and such and there is always accidents with them. good thing is this went on my comp not my accident, so the ins co doesnt count it toward me at all. almost 15 years without an accident....
good thing about the deer is it was a yearling, so not overly big.
really bad thing about this is my deductible is 1000... should have fixed it myself, it would have been less of a pain.
I want to know why those damn radiator supports are plastic as well. BE GLAD your bags didn't deploy! That would have cost you a LOT more. Bags plus a new windshield plus new seatbelts (the Focus seatbelts permanantly lock when the bags deploy). You'd be looking at at least another $2000.
I understand the overpopulation very well coming from Maine. They're a menace on the roads and espcially the Islands in the Casco Bay area. They are excellent swimmers.
I've had one dart out in front of me once here in NH on 101 East. I had plenty of time to slow and not a lot of traffic (thankfully) and it was sunny and warm. Poor thing was spooked out into the eastbound lane, came up to the Jersey barriers deviding the E & W lanes and couldn't clear it. Slipped, fell and then ran back into the woods where it came from. Scary stuff animals. Hate to say it, but we're partly to blame as we move into more rural areas they find food around humans, thus making them oblivious to the danger they pose.
I'm just glad you're ok and your car isn't totalled.
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Chelly03PZEV wrote: Hate to say it, but we're partly to blame as we move into more rural areas they find food around humans, thus making them oblivious to the danger they pose.
Not to mention the lack of natural predators, which we are also mostly responsible for removing.
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Mr. Versatile wrote: Chelly03PZEV wrote: Hate to say it, but we're partly to blame as we move into more rural areas they find food around humans, thus making them oblivious to the danger they pose.
Not to mention the lack of natural predators, which we are also mostly responsible for removing.
problem is, the predator population is declining here. can tell because the varmint population is booming. seems mange is hitting them.
that and theres way too many wildlife areas that arent hunted much. they really need to double the tags next fall and thin them out. one other problem is tags arent filled. seems alot of people only want a trophy buck, not the meat.
that and theres way too many wildlife areas that arent hunted much. they really need to double the tags next fall and thin them out. one other problem is tags arent filled. seems alot of people only want a trophy buck, not the meat. Yep! I agree. IMO, they should double the length of the hunting season.
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yep, Well in Maine they had a program years ago to re-introduce the Norther Timber Wolf to the Forests to help w/ this population problem. Now that they are there and flourishing because of the food supply, they are re-thinking the plan because family pets are being killed.
Here's a hint - If you live in the boonies like the great north woods etc., you shouldn't be leaving your pets out at night. You could also think of building a pet run that is completely fenced in from sides to top to bottom to keep them safe.
There was a very sad story here in NH where a beautiful champion hunting companion was killed by a pack of coyotes that lived on the outskirts of the owner's farmland. The poor thing got out at night and was ripped apart by them.
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
goinloco. Glad that you are ok. Remarkably little damage to the Focus. You are fortunate that the deer didn't decide to give you a lap dance. Whole pile of hurt when that happens.
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A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams...John Barrymore
what would you be looking for for them. mine still fog after i resealed them. took it to the carwash today...they look like a tropical terrarium with all the moisture
audiojunkie wrote: I got a set of headlights if ya need them
that was my first thought when she slammed the hood. thought she was gonna come through the windshield, but the hood acted like a trampoline and catapulted her over and into the ditch. amazing the bags didnt go off. but then again the front just kinda took her legs out from under her.
insurance adjuster said all the deer hits on foci hes seen have caused suprisingly little damage since the front is so low.
also said dont try to avoid deer, go right through them like i did. if you avoid and wreck the car its on your accident part, do like i did and its comp. and make sure to call the cops and get a report
Codger wrote: goinloco. Glad that you are ok. Remarkably little damage to the Focus. You are fortunate that the deer didn't decide to give you a lap dance. Whole pile of hurt when that happens.
