You were really lucky. But you probably already know that.
A friend of mine was traveling on the interstate a few years ago in his Suburban and one went through the right side of the windshield, killing his wife.
As many as we have around here, I'm surprised there aren't more injuries and fatalities.

Its amazing how instincts kick in. I knew not to swerve, and am glad I didn't when it mattered. If I hadn't braked, maybe I would have passed it, maybe it would have jumped into my windshield, side, etc. Can't fix that. I'm on it on the car seats and it sounds like insurance is on board replacing them. No word yet on what's going to happen with the Suburban. Its still sitting at the tow lot waiting to go to the body shop to be assessed. I had to make some calls about that this morning to try to get it going quicker. Got a rental car on my dime so we are back to a 2 car family.

My back and shoulder is feeling it today, I think I had left the seatbelt adjusted to my wife's height, so it clamped down on me when the pretensioner activated, or the airbag came down on my shoulder and did it. I didn't see the deer hit the front, but felt it hit the door, I thought it ran straight into the side of the car, and the airbag deployment surprised me from that. Afterwards it makes more sense.

If it was just me or even just me and my wife, it wouldn't have been as problematic, but we had our 3 kids, 6, 4, and 9 months with us and I was scrambling trying to think of transportation to fit all those car seats and us in. It was about 35 degrees and dark outside too, and we were miles from anywhere, so we had to get something roadside.

As far as being totaled, from what I've read, Iowa insurance has to total if its more than 50% of the value. That's just what the interwebs say. I'm thinking with the airbags, seat belts, door, and front parts, I might be getting close to that. We really liked it as its an LT but has a bench 2nd row, our dealer had to go to 300 miles to get it for us. Somehow, it ended up with the uptrim HUD digital gauge cluster, even though it doesn't have HUD. I'm going to miss that, but nobody will want to by this thing with the airbag deployment if it gets fixed.

Time will tell.

Reading this thread again this morning, I remembered that I bought some "Deer Whistles" for my girlfriend's Jeeps. Back then they were about $9 a pair, and may have been the products by Bell:

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=U..._sl_7x93uwih94_e_p37

On her Cherokee Sport, they sat level to the road and worked exceptionally well, we never even saw a deer after that, other than several hundred yards off in the fields. I did see them scatter a couple times up the road as we approached, so I'm convinced the whistles worked.

On her Grand Cherokee, with a sloping bumper, they didn't work well at all, and in fact, she did hit a deer with that vehicle, a glancing blow with the LF fender that we didn't even need to repair, but still...

In that Amazon link there are a couple battery-powered alerts. I didn't read the listing, but if I was still in that driving situation, I'd get something like that, despite the high cost. The most expensive one I saw was still less than my deductible.

Good on you for holding it straight. So many don't and pay a high price...

I popped 2 with my Honda and one with my wife's Ranger.

Glad you are all well.

I still have no idea if its going to get totaled or fixed, I think it is still at the tow yard. This is me today: Call body shop: no car yet, haven't heard anything about it. Call tow yard: waiting on insurance to say tow it to body shop. Call insurance again: we sent an electronic message authorizing them to tow it to the body shop. Call tow yard: yeah, we got the message, the insurance lady is on the phone, I'll tell her to look into it. SIX HOURS LATER, call body shop: no car, we've been looking for it. Call tow yard: insurance hasn't told us they'll pay us to tow it. Call insurance (get a real grump lady): it can take 24-48 hours for our tow truck to tow it to the body shop. I tell her they've authorized the same exact tow yard to tow it 10 miles across town to the body shop, they just want you to call them and authorize it. "Ok, I guess I'll give them a call too." Couple hours later at the end of the day, no word... What a circle jerk. I imagine tomorrow will be much of the same. My left ribs and shoulder hurt today a bit. I've been stalking dealer websites in case its a total, but I got a two week rental car in case it isn't. Costco has an Enterprise discount code I found online that also gives a free upgrade. Booked a full size car and ended up in a Dodge Caravan at the same price.

Who is your insurance company? It sounds like they suck.

I'm glad you didnt need a

bambulance

Warning... definitely NSFW

Maybe a little humor for you.

James in Denver

EDIT: Updated link... hate trying to cut/paste link via smartphones.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: James in Denver,

quote:

Who is your insurance company? It sounds like they suck.

Why? Because the car hasn't been totally repaired and returned in the 12 hours that has elapsed?

The insurance representative is dealing with many cars. The tow company is dealing with many tow jobs. The body shop is dealing with many repair jobs. Sometimes it take a business day or two.

A car owner could avoid this entire aspect by paying for the tow themselves (seeking reimbursement from the insurer later), and have the tow truck take the car directly to the body shop they wish to do business with.

So long as things are moving along and nobody is completely dropping the ball, then none of those involved suck. They're simply dealing with more than one customer.

"Don't Swerve". ????

If a person is such a poor driver that they can't
make a quick maneuver they shouldn't be on the road. I am not talking stunt driving at the edge of your vehicles performance envelope, just talking about a quick lane change at highway speeds. Most modern vehicles are capable of pretty decent handling.

Then again one needs some training , a place to practice these maneuvers, qualified supervision, etc.

^^^^^^^^ Agreed.

Driving around here is like running the deer gauntlet every time you get on the road. If you don't swerve, you'll be hitting a whole bunch of them.

I'm kind of curious why you had to have it towed and possibly totalled?

Sounds like you banged up a headlight and dented the door. Happens all the time around here with deer/elk/bighorns/etc... and folks drive home and/or to the body shop.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
^^^^^^^^ Agreed.

Driving around here is like running the deer gauntlet every time you get on the road. If you don't swerve, you'll be hitting a whole bunch of them.

I'm kind of curious why you had to have it towed and possibly totalled?

Sounds like you banged up a headlight and dented the door. Happens all the time around here with deer/elk/bighorns/etc... and folks drive home and/or to the body shop.

I was doing 65 mph+ in a fully loaded Suburban at night, they don't handle like a Maserati and can flip somewhat easily. I wish you would have been driving then I wouldn't have been in this predicament. Also, when the deer struck the door the side airbags deployed. The car would not start after I got it on the side of the road again, I tried. It shut itself off and would not re-start, the flashers and dome light automatically turned on. The fire department offered to cut the airbags out so I could see to drive, but it wouldn't start again anyway. I went to the tow lot today to gather a couple more things and found it unlocked with a dead battery (probably from the dome light and flashers, I couldn't turn off either), so glad I was able to secure it at least. I took a couple of pics and it appears the only front damage is to the driver's headlight area, so I think only the airbag deployment would have immobilized the car. I assume GM didn't want the liability of successive accidents or something. Insurance is State Farm, I've been less than pleased, I'm in Des Moines, there are lots of tow trucks, not sure why it takes 2 days to tow it across town. Since it is released to them, me paying for another tow company to tow it isn't an option.

Gotcha. I wasn't aware that the airbag deployment prevented it starting.

BTW, I wasn't trying to be a jerk, just curious why you did what you did.

Sounds like the deer was more of a side dish for the Suburban.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Gotcha. I wasn't aware that the airbag deployment prevented it starting.

BTW, I wasn't trying to be a jerk, just curious why you did what you did.

Its all good, I'm home with our daughter who has croup and I'm wound a little tight today thanks to State Farm.

quote:

Why? Because the car hasn't been totally repaired and returned in the 12 hours that has elapsed?

Yeah. Of course that’s why.

Sorry to hear, Oct & Nov are the big months for unpredictable deer encounters. Often half of the yearly total happen in these months.

The whole swerving or not debate is answered by ‘it depends’. One may have more time, especially in daylight, often not at night. My M.O. is to brake fairly quickly if one is spotted, often there are others besides what’s initially seen.

I’m up to 3 total, 40 years of driving. The 1st was a kamikaze deer at full blast out of the woods, the other 2 I slowed to about 25 before contact. With the type & age of the vehicles I never got any of them repaired.

Good on you the vehicle was substantial enough to protect all. I’d hate to hit one at high speed in a Prius.

Estimate came back today, $14,400. Only $2,300 of that is labor. The front and rear headliner alone is $3,500, all the airbags add up pretty quickly too. Two week repair.

As a guess, with that little amount for labor, the frame is probably straight. They're just bolting on a bunch of new parts and painting them. You should get back a pretty good vehicle.

Just an educated guess, but I'm hoping you'll be fine.