Oh Deer!

[Jace]

So summer finally arrives this week and I decided that today was the day to take the Westie on a nice long run into the office (about 120 miles one way to be precise). Having spent most of last week fitting my RAC rollbar and modfiying the bootbox as per the article in old copy of Westfield World (thanks to PEW for sending it to me) and not making too bad a job of it followed by the second refill of the cooling system because the blanking cap split feeling the car with coolant . I was looking forward to a nice trouble free jaunt across the Mendips, over Salisbury Plain and then up the A303, M3 and M25 to work.

So I set off in good spirits, being the summer holidays traffic was light and many opportunities were had to pass the more pedestrian motorists that felt the need to try and spoil my journey.   Having negotiated some slow traffic I found myself with clear road ahead on a nice winding country lane about 10 miles from home when what should appear in front of the car? A bl**** deer!   Applied large amount of shoe to the brake but was unable to avoid making contact with Bambi who preceded to fall under the front offside wheel, shearing the steering arm bolts off and sending me careering across the road towards a large bank hiding a very nice ditch!  

Still braking like a mad man and holding on to the steering wheel like it was the last bottle of cider ever made, I managed to steer the car along the bank rather and then back on to my side of the road. I then pulled up, jumped out of the car and ran to the front of the car to see what damage was done (get your prioirities right is what I always say   ) before looking back up the road to see what had happened to Bambi...

...well Bambi had ceased to be and was no more. A kindly passing motorcyclist dragged Bambi off the road and threw it into the hedge, so that I could focus on the damage done and here's the list:

- Wheel arch destroyed but sporting a nice fur lining!

- Wheel arch mounting bent to b*******y and now providing additional braking, in case I need it.  

- Upper and lower wishbones bent

- Steering arm bolts sheared off.

- Headlight mounting bent back in towards chassis

- Damage to nose cone

- Brake pipe broke through main fibre glass skin of car.

- Main fibre glass skin seems to be dented inwards (probably cause by wheel doing a 90 degrees into it). and cracked where nose cone meets the bonnet.

- Tyre damage (massive tear in the tread all the way around!)

So whilst Bambi copped it, the Westfield will live to fight another day. Waiting for the assessors to come and look at it before packing it off to Westfield to be fixed and using the opportunity to get them to fit me a shallow sump whilst they have it!  

See every cloud has a silver lining.

[felters]

They have been known to come up the bonnet and in through the windscreen - no fun in any car let alone a Westy...

Have you considered that it may be a write off?  

[Jace]

Took the bonnet off and had a damn good look at the chassis and it all looks okay, the major damage was to the offside front wheel, steering arm and wishbone apart from that it seems okay.

Did have a good look underneath and managed to keep the car under control well enough to avoid doing any damage there. On the upside I think I was lucky that it was obviously still very young (probably under a year old) and not likely to do as much damage as a full grown deer or stag.

Plus my cars only 3 years old and hopefully the cost of the repairs won't outstrip its value otherwise I will well gutted as I have only had the car since April  

[Lurksalot]

That is bad luck    Of all the signs for deer prancing that you see I don't think Ive ever seen one on the road

(By the way I think your supposed to tie the victim onto your bonnet,take it home, and then get it carved into some juicy and tender cuts , lightly pan fry and serve with your favorite tipple   )

[Jace]

Apparently the olde english law is that if you provide road kill the car behind you can pick it up! Could have done with some fresh meat for me tea!  

Also worhtwhile noting that you don't have to report a RTA involving a deer to the Police, just have to let them know where your local council can pick the remains up from (if they can be bothered)...

[jeff oakley]

Great news you are okay, you were very lucky. I hit a deer on the M4 in a Peugeot 405 estate and the damage was unbelivable. It took the entire front end out plus the passenger door windscreen roof, almost writing the car off which was 2 month old at the time, and this wasn't full grown.

from you description of the damage you might be better off repairing it yourself and not upping your premium, as it does count on all cars you drive.

[DIY Si]

You've been lucky. An older deer would've jumped at the last second (it's a survival instinct apparently) and taken your windscreen and scuttle out! And if really unfortunate you too.

Either way, glad to hear you're ok, and that the damage is relatively minor. Hopefully. But wishbones are meant to bend before the chassis does, to prevent excessive damage, so it sounds like they did they're job.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Sorry to hear about your incident.  

We have Muntjacs around here - small but solid, in brain and brawn. They look a bit like pigs with skinny legs.  

Phoney Blair used to be called Bambi. It didn't have a particularly ugly companion, did it?  

[Jace]

from you description of the damage you might be better off repairing it yourself and not upping your premium, as it does count on all cars you drive.

Yeah, I have considered that option and thought if I got it shipped to Westfield and they quoted on how much damage was actually done, before getting it done through the insurance, I could make a choice on whether or not to do it myself.

[Jace]

Phoney Blair used to be called Bambi. It didn't have a particularly ugly companion, did it?  

No ugly companion but the biker that stopped wasn't much of a looker, does that count?  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Phoney Blair used to be called Bambi. It didn't have a particularly ugly companion, did it?  

No ugly companion but the biker that stopped wasn't much of a looker, does that count?  

Only if they had a mouth like a letter box.    

[adamhay]

Little tip about deer that someone may find useful . . . if you get yourself into the situation where the only way of avoiding one is swerving - go in front of it, as when scared; they tend to return to the last place of safety they knew.

Obviously, if they jump out in front of you, e.g. from bushes, and it's instantaneous (as has happened to me) there's no time to do anything.

If it was a female and you're the animal loving type, you can check their nipples to see if they're suckling - if they are(bald circles around them), some nice folk from some deer loving bunch will go and try to track down the slowly starving baby Bamby, sitting in a hide somewhere, waiting for a mother who's never coming home. Obviously, you'll need to report the killing first though.

Got this info from a mate who was doing a PhD in what appeared to be; watching deer . . . He clearly didn't do a very good job of it in his spare time though as he failed to spot one of the buglers when he was a passenger in my Lancia  

[Blatman]

All you ever wanted to know about hitting a deer...

[Mark Stanton]

QUOTE

A kindly passing motorcyclist dragged Bambi off the road and threw it into the hedge,

What a waste of venison                  

[Jace]

OKay, so I finally have an update nearly 4 weeks after Westy met Bambi (I'm sure there's a film plot in there somewhere )

Assessors came to take a look and decided the car should go to Westfield to get a proper estimate done before they decided whether or not they were going to write it off

Westfiled picked the car up last week with impeccable timing, the minute they arrived an we started to push the car out of the garage it p*&^%d down Because the front wheel developed a mind of its own, it took 30 m,inutes to get it on the trailer!  

Anyhow they did the quote and I found out today that it has been approved Took the cheeky decision to ask the assessors how much all the work was going to cost to fix it. Nearly £5,500!  

Intrigued I phoned Westfield and Simon kindly listed all the things that need replacing, I won't bore you the details but the highlights for me were new Body Tub and Nose Cone. Not one to miss an opportunity like this I have asked for them to be Black rather than the current Dark Blue. Used the flash colour changer  link to have a look see and don't think it looks too shabby...

...at least if I decide to change the rest of the car the respray costs won't be so bad.