Oh Deer, What an Adventure!

Glad to be home safe tonight. Story time….

Went to Galesburg to do some shopping, and on the way home, a few miles from Monmouth, IL, we were discussing the safest way to pull to the side of the road, and the safest way to treat vehicles that were pulled over.

As we came around a corner, we saw a vehicle that was pulled over with hazards on. As appropriate, I signaled and pulled into the other lane.

And then, in a split second, we saw the reason that car was pulled over.

But it was too late. We hit the freshly dead deer carcass full on at 65 MPH. There was a very jarring THUMP, a fraction of a second of sideslip, and then the terrible sounds of a damaged exhaust system and who-knows-how-much body damage.

We pulled over right away, and after calming down (and making a few phone calls), called the highway patrol. An officer was already talking to the people who had originally hit the deer, and called in a tow truck. After taking care of them, the officer and tow truck driver came over to us and together we all took a good look at the damage. Front fender is destroyed, definitely a damaged exhaust system (the car now sounds like my old Honda when the muffler fell off), parts of the splash guard dragging on the ground, and A LOT of blood and deer guts on the underside of my car.

BUT, there were no leaking fluids, no damage to lights, no engine warning lights to indicate real engine damage, so the police officer and tow truck driver both agreed that we should go ahead and try to drive it home.

The tow truck driver was headed the same direction we were, so he said he would follow us for a few miles until his turn, so he could pick us up if anything more happened.

Long story short… we made it home with a functional, but noisy, car, which is going to need some TLC tomorrow.

Most importantly, of course, we are all fine. A little rattled, but nobody got hurt (except the deer), and we’re all home safe and sound.