Hit a deer tonight

[Tony H]

Hit a deer tonight on the hiway driving home. It was raining hard, and it was dark. I was less than .5mi from home. I was in my 4wd pickup and the damage appears to be bolt on stuff-bumper, fender, grill/headlights, hood-that kind of thing. But anyway it got me thinking-what if I hit a deer in my 3.5 coupe. The damage would be way worse. I'm sure replacement parts are not oozing off the shelf. I don't think I will drive it at night.

[Autoputzer]

All my road trips north start with a 70 mile drive through the boonies on two-lane roads. Between deer and drunks, I never do it at night.

… risk management.

[vwnate1]

Glad you're O.K. ! .

They can be killers .

[Diseasel300]

You've identified the primary reason that my MB's and Bimmer don't go out at night or in inclement weather. Deer are about as common as fleas around here, no road is straight or flat either. The Honda is sacrificial, has good headlights, and good visibility. If I write it off, I don't really care. The 350SD tho? Been 18 months since the 300SDL was written off and I'm still not over it.

[Tony H]

Deer and windy 2 lane roads are the norm here. The closest freeway is 2 hrs away.

[Diseasel300]

So many deer here that even the freeway isn't a safe bet. Probably more hit on I-10 than on the back roads in this area. You see so many standing on the sides of the road at night that you just stop counting. You never know which one wants to jump out in front of your car at the last second.

[75Sv1]

I hit a deer many years ago in a Ford Tempo. Not fun. Same thing, hood and radiator. Deer pop in IN has gone down, a lot since then. They are coming back though. Had two run out in front of me this morning. Seen a few others in the past few months. Used to see more in WV in a trip, than I'd see all year in IN.

[barry12345]

Oddity. Deer are fairly larger or normal size here. Where just two hundred miles away in Maine. They are dwarf size in Comparison. Not much bigger than a large dog tall.

They just leave them lying alongside the highways there after they have been killed.

Some areas of Canada have a high moose population. Those you do not want to hit. They can fall through the windshield on impact and kill you. Plus are large tall and heavy.


One road I use has a lot has deep ditches. Chances are if a deer leaps out of them onto the road. You will not see it early enough in many cases. Now with the bear population exploding around here. I guess they will become a problem.

[75Sv1]

I was told there are 7 subspecies of whitetail deer. Also, around me, there is a size difference in deer from where I'm at and the next county west. Flat land vs Forest hills. There are other species of deer in the US. Black tail in MD. Its a smaller deer. Then the Mule Deer. A lot larger than your typical whitetail.
Around me, its getting common for 200lb whitetails. A few years back on dressed at 280. I've heard of one much higher. There was a 350 lb in OH a few years back.

[t walgamuth]

One night near here a cow wandered onto the highway. A fellow hit it with his buick and was killed as the cow broke down his a pillar and crushed his upper body.

I felt like a Mercedes would have possibly saved him.

[sloride]

I keep score on my drive home each night. It is usually deer that win but O'possums have been giving them some competition. Last night 2 possum, one raccoon, one rabbit one deer. Back in the 90s when I used to go to the horse race track a few times a week there was a popular sulky jockey Hostetler,sp killed by of all things, hit a horse on the road while driving.

[my83300cd]

When I lived in VT I learned to drive in the middle of 2 lane roads when it was dark. When I got my first benz I re-aimed the fog lights to shine more toward the sides of the road, better to see eyeballs or movement at night...and continue to drive in the middle of dark 2 lanes.
It freaks out passengers a bit, and I've had cops stop me a few times, figuring I must be drunk. I tell em why, and they have all nodded and commented it made some sense.

[Tony H]

I'm going in to the body shop next week for an estimate. Assuming sheet metal needs to be replaced would they try to match 17 year old paint or paint the entire truck? It's white so it doesn't fade but I would think at a min the rest of the paint would need to be polished to match the new parts? It's a 03 Tacoma SR5 4x4 with very low miles-they hold their value well so I doubt they would total it unless the damage is extensive.

[t walgamuth]

I'd ask for a good buffing on the rest of the truck. Talk to your insurance adjuster, they can be flexible if they wish. It is not reasonable to fix it with mismatched panels.

[Sugar Bear]

Thoroughly clean the vehicle before going to the body shop so they get an appreciation for how it is maintained. This can make a difference to many techs.

Explain that mismatched panels won't be acceptable. This may change how they paint the replacement parts, tell them you would like the parts painted on the car (vs on a saw horse platform off the car and then installed) and blended in to the adjacent panels. They may say they can't, that's the sign to look elsewhere. This is partially about the paint mix and where the blend line is to fool the eye.

Had the best frame and alignment shop in town (they are good) say that the panels I wanted painted wouldn't match because they didn't have "fade-in-a-can" that was the decision point to move on to another painter.

My guess is that a small been around for a while shop with their name on the door would be best.

Good luck!!!