Tonight my wife and I and our 3 kids were on the way back from a 6 hour trip visiting family and half an hour from home I hit a well fed Iowa doe at 65 mph before braking. I was in the right lane and saw it coming onto the highway from the median. I hit the brakes and took a death grip to the steering wheel and went straight and heard a thud to the driver's door and all the side-impact curtain airbags deployed. I slowed it down and parked on the shoulder and dialed 911. The airbag left a pretty gnarly burn down my arm and the seatbelt tensioner beat me up a bit, but the kids slept through it and only woke up when the dome light automatically turned on from the deployment. My wife saw the deer from her seat in the back. It was about 9 pm and luckily we were able to reach our neighbor who had a 3rd row SUV to pick all of us and our stuff up, car seats moved, etc. Started the insurance claim, etc.

I had an ambulance come just in case one of the kids started having problems but I needed them to bandage up my arm anyway. Now I need to go get new car seats. The Suburban was a 2017 LT with 18,500 miles, I didn't see the aftermath of the deer, but it looks like I took it to the driver's side headlight and the impact spun the body into the driver's door, which with my full braking deployed the side airbags. The driver's door has a 3' circle dent in it. I doubt it will total it as NADA shows value around $45,000 right now.

Sorry to hear that, Steve. I know many people who have gone through that, and it's rough.

As to the burns from the airbags, I've also known a couple people who suffered those in otherwise minor accidents like yours, and honestly, I think the factories (no-doubt under government orders) set the deployment threshold way too low.

I hope you get the Sub back quickly, and the burn heals as well.

Glad you are all ok.

I’ll be interested to hear what the insurance company does with this. I’ve heard from several people that any accident resulting in airbag deployment results in an automatic “total loss” and salvage title being issued. I’ve always found that hard to believe. Maybe that varies by state.

I know your pain.
My girlfriend was a newspaper distributor for 31 years. The last 20 was in a rural area in the river and swamp area in Louisiana.
She hit or the deer hit her 17 times. That got old.

Glad you and the family are ok. The detour I have to take to work has me in an area that is swarming with deer. The other day I had 3 separate instances where I almost hit multiple timber rats.

Better in a vehicle than on a motorcycle...don’t ask me how I know.

I drove back from KC MO the other night, saw like 8 deer. Right after crossing back into OK, at a single point, there were three to my right, and at least two on the left side.
That sucks though, glad you're ok.

Glad you and your family are OK! Sorry about the Suburban. Had a close call this weekend myself. Two ran across the road from right to left just as we pulled onto the highway. Had I been going the speed limit, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid them.

Sorry to hear that. BUT, glad that everyone is safe and sound and able to get home.

Sorry to hear about the accident. Suggestion about the burn - might be obvious, maybe not - keep it moist while healing. I like Neosporin. It also has a mild painkiller. The logic of the moisture is that it prevents a dry scab from forming. With movement the dry scab keeps breaking, causing pain and (believe it or not) slower healing.

I had a major scrape on my left shin, ankle to just below the knee (think road rash). New ointment and bandage daily, but it allowed me to walk and I was incredibly impressed how fast it healed. Ointment was antibacterial, so it helped prevent infection as well.

I took one in the center of my grill in a 2012 GMC Sierra about 5 years ago doing 80mph on I-20 in West Texas at 3am. Tore up my radiator and transmission cooler. That was a long wait for a tow truck.

That headlight is likely $1k. Ask me how I know. Didn't even get to shoot the damn thing, it ran off after $5k of damage & shitting down the side of my truck.

Yup, that time of the year again. Breeding season and the deer are out looking for mates.

Glad everyone in the suburban are OK.

Glad you're all ok-ish. Sounds like you did everything right in a situation that could have been made much worse.

I totalled my Jeep 9+ years ago hitting a buck on the expressway at 75 MPH passing a rig.

Really messed up the Jeep. I didn't come out well from that. Insurance paid it off, except for $2000.00.

Not fun. I hope that you and your family are OK.

ARman

Your insurance should cover your car seats as well. Make sure they know about it, as that is not something they will delay. Last time we had a car in an accident with car seats they had us stop by the agent to pick up a check for them immediately so that they could be replaced.

All things considered, glad you're OK. Better to be in a Suburban than a Civic. Better to hit it on the headlight and have it bounce away than hit it dead center and have it come through the windshield.

Instinct is always to brake, but be careful. Braking dips the hood lower which increases the likelihood of whatever you're hitting coming up the hood and through the windshield. You also always want to keep the car on the road. If swerving or braking leads to loss of control you may hit a tree, sign, guardrail, or something else much less forgiving than the animal.

Your description of accident matches what happened to me back in 1968. 1966 Chevelle left front and drivers door.

Glad everyone is OK. No much you can do in that situation.

yesterday ( Sun) morning I was east bound on I-80 from Iowa City , before sun up .
the fog had me down to 50 m.p.h.

people were flying past me at 70-80- m.p.h.

right at 7:20 I thought to myself one of these speeders is going to find a deer here any minute now.


just then I saw three adult deer hop the fence and head for the interstate.

Sounds like a lot of drama for hitting a deer. Just say'in.

Never any fun and glad all ok.

You may want to consider getting it quickly fixed and selling it, as 'Accident with airbag deployed' on your CarFax will cause noticeable depreciation. CarFax could be a few weeks behind in getting it listed on your report.

If you choose to keep the vehicle, I'd suggest filing a diminished value claim to cover the depreciation. Your insurance company may or may not allow it, depending on how your policy is written.

I've killed at least 6 and counting. In Montana they are like mosquitoes and hardly a 20 mile drive happens without seeing a few. Nearly every drive sees a dead one on the side of the road.

This morning, coming out of Whitefish, MT at about 8:00 am, a big old doe was laying in the middle of the road with a whole bunch of plastic and stuff strewn around her carcass. Ho-hum.

Just don't swerve to try and miss them. Many folks are crippled or dead because they tried to save a deer. We got plenty more where that one came from.

Important: If you kill your vehicle hitting a deer, it is a comp claim and shouldn't affect your insurance rates. If you avoid the deer and kill your vehicle around a tree or something, it is a collision claim and you know what happens next.

Besides, it's easy after the first few.