Two More and I'm an Ace

[drcollie]

On the way home this evening it's pitch black on the highway and I'm less than a mile from home, and I collect a deer that decided to run across the highway at 7 p.m. while I'm traveling 50 mph.

This is my third deer strike in the past 11 years, and I'm getting to where I really don't like these critters very much. My first was in 1997, and it did $ 12,000 worth of damage to my BMW M3. My second was about midnight in Delaware three years later along I-95 when one decided to commit suicide by going head to head with The Keeping Room Freightliner. That was did $ 6,000 worth of damage to the truck. Tonight this one tore up my '06 BMW pretty good, hood, grille, passenger door, A Pillar, headllght and front bumper cover. Looks to be about $ 6,000 on this one to my eye.

I live in Northern VA in a semi-rural area at the edge of the 'burbs. Prime deer forests, and we typically have 15 to 20 in our yard some evenings. We're all very watchful for deer on the roads around here, but you can't miss each and every one. Coupled with the lyme disease problem and the way they destroy all the landscaping around the house, they're not longer the cute Bambi's of the movies but considered pests around this part of the world.

I do like the way my BMW's absorb the hits. Here's a photo I took of my car after the hit and you can see the front grille folded down and the hood crumple zone folded up exactly as it should. My car never shook, or even wavered at the strike, I didn't even hit the brakes or had even the slightest loss of control.

Off to the Body Shop next week! Looks like I'll be on my motorcycle commuting for a few weeks......