Hitting a deer at 75MPH...

[mdsalemi]

Yikes! Do not try this yourself, please.
The other night, I had just gotten on the highway (US131) at Big Rapids, Michigan, and had just gotten up to highway speed of 75MPH. It was dusk, 9:30p (still a lot of light here though) when a deer just appeared in front of me, coming out of the woods.

I did what my defensive driving training taught me: essentially nothing. I held the car straight and true. The car had been on cruise control and upon impact three things happened. The cruise came off as the front sensor was damaged. The 4-way flashers came on immediately and automatically. My driver's seatbelt retractor-detonator went off with a bang, locking me in place. I rolled to a stop on the shoulder, and smoke was coming from the engine bay. Turned out that the smoke was steam as the radiator was damaged. There was no rapid deceleration thus the airbags did not go off; they were not supposed to.

Nobody injured. The car (a 5-week old Ford Flex with only about 1,500 miles on the clock) did what it was supposed to.

The sheriff came, she called the tow truck, and the car was towed to the nearest Ford dealer 30 miles south. The next day, the insurance estimator prepared a 7-page estimate, and damage is ~ USD 7,800, about $5,000 in parts and the balance labor. Will take about 2 weeks to repair provided there's no issue in parts availability in the supply chain.

I hit the deer straight-on, but the deer was in motion from my left to right, hence the concentration of damage on the passenger side front. Everything plastic in the front of the car is shattered (except the Lexan bug shield) including inner and outer parts. The hood/bonnet is crumpled a bit, as is the right fender, and the right F door.

I don't recommend this as a pastime. I'm sure glad I was NOT in my Pagoda.

[Iconic]

Michael, glad to hear the car was damaged, but you weren't !!

[hauser]

Glad to hear you're ok.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Sorry to hear this Michael, glad you are okay!

Dieter

[scoot]

Nobody injured.

Except the DEER !!!!!!   Glad you were not hurt, and who cares about another Ford getting in an accident.

[mdsalemi]

There are far too many deer in Michigan, our DNR reports in excess of 2 million twice as many as a target population they set years ago. Annually, there are 40,000 car-deer collisions in the state, and around 5 people die each year because of these crashes. The deer that are living and not crashing into cars, are stripping a lot of plants in the forest; some are starving to death because there isn't enough food and there are too many deer-mouths to feed. They are constantly in my suburban backyard too (until I let my Labrador chase them away) eating nearly everything that grows. What little tolerance I had for them before the crash is now littered on the side of the highway along with a lot of plastic pieces. They did not find the deer; but the Sheriff looked for it--so it did scamper off. How it did that after being hit broadside by a car weighing 4,700 pounds moving at 75MPH is beyond me...but it was nowhere to be found.

...as Fords are my daily transportation, I do indeed care very much about "another Ford getting into an accident".

I am also quite thankful I was not hurt; my wife was not hurt, and that I was indeed driving a 4,700 pound car with a lot of safety gear built in. Maybe you laugh at Ford but a lot of my friends around here engineer these things. Glad they take their job seriously. It all worked, yeah, except for the deer. This is no way to cull the herd however.

[scoot]

I cannot imagine how the deer could have scampered away from anything after getting hit that hard.  Where I work a bicyclist collided with a deer and was thrown from his bicycle and broke his neck and died.  We haven't had any car-deer accidents in a long time though. 

RE:  another Ford being deleted - just think of it as more work for American workers!   But I guess I was thinking that hitting a deer at 75 mph would total the vehicle...

[Tyler S]

Not much of a deer issue here in the city but one managed to rear end me on the freeway a few months ago while I was dead stopped in traffic. This deer somehow managed to learn how to drive a minivan and apply makeup at the same time!
I was lucky in that I had just dropped off my young (carseats) kids. The rear window exploded and sent glass all over me. The kids would have gotten the brunt of it in the back seat. Like in Michael's case the pre tensioner went off and I think that scared me more than the hit. I saw the hit coming in the mirror. I somehow managed not to hit the car in front of me by yanking the wheel right. I was in the slow lane so there was nothing to run into in the emerg lane. This thing was actually driveable afterwards. Cant say the same for the Honda Odyssey that hit me. It was so crumpled the windshield was broken and both front doors wouldn't open. What put my car over the totaled amount was a small crease in the roof above the left rear door. You can barely make it out in the pic. I'm sold on the safety of Ford's. I ended up buying the same car (4 years newer) that next weekend. Its a 2017, was only the second one sold in my area with the new body style. The new one does have a few extra bells and whistles
I'm still fighting with insurance company about the cost I paid to replace the carseats. They are telling me it wasn't necessary. I directed them to NHTSA's website where it states to replace them whether or not they were occupied during a moderate or severe crash. Then they came back offering partial payment stating the seats were used and have depreciated. Seriously!!??? How do you depreciate a safety item.

[280SE Guy]

Michael, as others have said I'm glad you are OK after the deer incident.

They always say that hind site is 20/20. Did you ever think after the mishap that if you were doing the 70 MPH speed limit that the deer would have crossed the road safely before you arrived at the impact site?

[Cees Klumper]

Except the DEER !!!!!!

X2

No commment on whether there's too many deer, too many cars or whatever.

Where we live in France there's lots of car-deer accidents also, unfortunately.

[66andBlue]

Hi Guy,
what is your logic here? Why not suggesting that he should have driven 80 MPH to leave the deer behind?   
IMO, posted speed limits are often quite arbitrary and not correlated with a safe driving speed. A few days ago I was driving on several rural undivided 2-lane highways (e.g. US-89, US-95 and US-6) and the posted speed max speed limits ranged from 75mph to 55mph. When you enter CA on US-6 from Nevada the posted limit drops from 70 to 60 mph although you are still  in the middle of nowhere with the same tumbleweeds blowing across the asphalt.
The real question is, did Michael  drive "at a rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and proper under the conditions existing at the point of operation", that is, when the deer decided to challenge the Ford ... or was it the other way around? 

[mdsalemi]

Interesting and thoughtful logic there, Alfred. One of the greatest proponents of proper speed, not posted speed, in the state of Michigan is one Lt. Gary Megge of the Michigan State Police. http://jalopnik.com/michigan-state-police-lieutenant-denies-speed-kills-myt-1612236051 Conventional wisdom wouldn't have you believe that a Lt. with the State Police is talking about speed the way he does.

In Michigan, most divided highways (except in the densest of urban areas) have a 70 MPH posted speed limit. I can tell you with certainty ones chances of being pulled over for anything between 70-80 is nil; I routinely drive past State Troopers  at 75-78...following a lot of traffic, all behaving. It's the outliers they are after...85 when everyone else is doing 78 or something like that. Or, the slowpokes doing 45 when the minimum speed (yes, we have that too) is 55. Michigan also has an 80% percentile rule, and that states that the posted speed limit must be what 80% of the traffic flows at, absent any other speed controls. Exceptions are for the obvious: school zones, residential neighborhoods, and some other road engineering factors.

Was I doing a safe and reasonable speed? Absolutely. Dry pavement, very little traffic, clear good roads, and still some ambient light from the sky. Had I been going faster or slower I might have missed the deer at that point in time. Had I been going a certain amount slower I might have actually seen the deer and reacted in some stupid fashion, like swerve or brake. Faster did not seem to be the order of the day. The fickle finger of fate wiggles at strange times. Did I make a mistake? Yes...now I know this particular stretch of highway, which borders heavy forest, is a potential trouble spot for deer collisions. I can avoid it on local roads at dusk. I did not see this deer coming and my eyes were glued to the road ahead...it was just there.

Oh, 280SE Guy--that's a great photo. I don't know if that was near the precise location, but it could be. As you can see, good road, no traffic. I was in the left lane. Deer came from the left. Forest on the left, and forest on the right.


Scoot, get with the program. The car is made in Canada!  Oakville Ontario to be precise!

[Norm]

Glad you are OK Michael!

This was my 1991 Acura NSX.  Like Michael, there was no avoiding the deer.  It came out of nowhere, I was going about 45 mph when I hit the brakes, it jumped and hit us just at the top of the windshield.  It pushed the roof back (it was a coupe, no T-tops) and the deer came inside, landing on my wife's lap.  Dead! 

The car was totaled based on a repair bill that included a cracked dash and the difficulties repairing an all aluminum car.

Six inches lower and I probably would not be writing this post 17 years later.

We live in central Texas with a significant deer population and see dead deer on the road almost every time we drive somewhere outside of our little town.  Not much you can do except be alert and try to avoid driving around dusk, especially in late October / early November during rutting season.

Norm

[49er]

 Deer are a very big problem where we live. My son hit one several years ago while coming home late on a very dark two lane road that crosses a migration route for deer. His car, a Ford Focus, suffered major front end damage and since he was in a cell phone "dead zone" the CHP called me to let me know he was in an accident. Luckily he was fine but it was the call every parent dreads. A few years ago my wife and I were taking one of our favorite scenic drives up into the mountains when a deer jumped in front of our Toyota Camry. I was driving about 45mph and the deer came out of the woods at full speed and literally ran in to us causing about $4500 damage to the right front of our car. The deer survived and ran back into the woods.  I have had one close call in our SL and that was less then a quarter mile from home when a large buck just walked out in front of us, stopped and stared at us before crossing the road. Our private roads have a speed limit of 25 mph which was the speed I was driving so thankfully there was plenty of time to stop.
 Glad you are OK Michael.

John   

[Benz Dr.]

Interesting and thoughtful logic there, Alfred. One of the greatest proponents of proper speed, not posted speed, in the state of Michigan is one Lt. Gary Megge of the Michigan State Police. http://jalopnik.com/michigan-state-police-lieutenant-denies-speed-kills-myt-1612236051 Conventional wisdom wouldn't have you believe that a Lt. with the State Police is talking about speed the way he does.

In Michigan, most divided highways (except in the densest of urban areas) have a 70 MPH posted speed limit. I can tell you with certainty ones chances of being pulled over for anything between 70-80 is nil; I routinely drive past State Troopers  at 75-78...following a lot of traffic, all behaving. It's the outliers they are after...85 when everyone else is doing 78 or something like that. Or, the slowpokes doing 45 when the minimum speed (yes, we have that too) is 55. Michigan also has an 80% percentile rule, and that states that the posted speed limit must be what 80% of the traffic flows at, absent any other speed controls. Exceptions are for the obvious: school zones, residential neighborhoods, and some other road engineering factors.

Was I doing a safe and reasonable speed? Absolutely. Dry pavement, very little traffic, clear good roads, and still some ambient light from the sky. Had I been going faster or slower I might have missed the deer at that point in time. Had I been going a certain amount slower I might have actually seen the deer and reacted in some stupid fashion, like swerve or brake. Faster did not seem to be the order of the day. The fickle finger of fate wiggles at strange times. Did I make a mistake? Yes...now I know this particular stretch of highway, which borders heavy forest, is a potential trouble spot for deer collisions. I can avoid it on local roads at dusk. I did not see this deer coming and my eyes were glued to the road ahead...it was just there.

Oh, 280SE Guy--that's a great photo. I don't know if that was near the precise location, but it could be. As you can see, good road, no traffic. I was in the left lane. Deer came from the left. Forest on the left, and forest on the right.


Scoot, get with the program. The car is made in Canada!  Oakville Ontario to be precise!

Damn Canadian cars killing American deer! What's this world coming to?

[Alex D]

A friend of mine had something similar happen a few years ago.  What was interesting is that he got a ticket and his insurance went up because of it. After questioning his insurance agent about why his rate went up, his agent said because on the police report he said that the "he hit the deer"  but had the police report said the "the deer hit him" he would not have gotten a ticket and his insurance rate would not have gone up.   

Just curious, Mike, did you get a ticket ? and do think your insurance rate will go up because of it?

Glad your ok.

[mdsalemi]

Alex--I have not yet received a ticket. I did not get one at the scene, but that doesn't preclude the friendly sheriff from determining something after the fact. However, I don't know what the actual citation would be for. I would find it difficult to make a distinction between "hitting a deer" and "a deer hit me" after the fact.

I'm sure the insurance will go up because that's what insurance companies do I'm afraid. Make a claim--rate goes up. Rates go up here all the time but the rate of the rate going up will change depending on claim.

[hauser]

I am unfortunate enough to have this happen twice.  The scariest was with my wife's Maxima.  We were five miles from home when the deer jumped out from the right.  Upon impact the hood popped open!  Luckily there was just enough visibility though the bottom of the hood.

[ejboyd5]

Guess I'm an ace - killed six of them to date.  Two by Jeep Cherokee, two by Chevrolet pick-up, one by Dodge pick-up and one by 380 SL. All deer appeared instantly from wooded areas and were determined to cross the road at full gallop.  No lessons to be learned other than I don't ride motorcycles anymore.  If you do see one or two crossing in front of you, be sure to slow down as there is bound to be a third straggler who is not quite as fast as his/her companions. Only one insurance claim and that was for the SL. Insurance company did not change rate as a result.  On one of the Cherokee strikes the only noticeable damage (aside from some fur lodged around the trim) was the deer whistles being knocked off the front bumper.

[Peter van Es]

I'm sure most of you have seen the effects of a deer being hit by a BMW at 140 mph on the Autobahn. Guess where the deer went?

Warning: do not watch if you are easily upset: Pictures.

(Actually, just read the remainder of the thread... apparently it might be fox instead)

[mdsalemi]

Guess where the deer went?

Well, there's a huge difference between 75MPH and 140MPH for one, and two, the Flex is shaped like a refrigerator on wheels. I guess it just went flying somewhere!

As for the BMW that's where the body-shop guys say, "that's way beyond my pay grade!"

[waltklatt]

Glad you are OK Michael!
At least it can be repaired, but it's never the same after a repair.
Last Father's Day evening:
A DUI drunk kid 21 yrs old swerved and slammed into my wife's parked car in front of our home, pushed it back about 10 feet.
Into the garage about 3 feet, crumpling the garage door.  All the while there was a police car parked right there ticketing another drunk driver.
Police saw everything.
We are still haggling with the insurance companies.  What a royal PIA!
Insurance first claimed that we caused the accident, and the drunk driver said he hit a yellow sign.
We are switching our insurances, because of the treatment to us.

Hopefully, none of you have to deal with this absurdity.

Walter

[mdsalemi]

I do have high hopes for the repair being pretty good. Three pieces of sheet metal were crumpled: door skin, front fender, hood. These were on the "replace" list. The rest of the "replace" list was a ton of small pieces and parts, much of it plastic. New seat belt too. Insurance was right on it with the dealer, and they already got paid and repair is underway. Your story is what is called a horror story. How could a parked car cause an accident, when the driver who hit the parked car was drunk? Yes, I'd change insurance companies too.