Deer Dance

I killed a deer on Sunday while coming back from the movies. 

There was no chance whatsoever for me to swerve and avoid the impact: I was driving in Potomac on a double-yellow-line, two-lane road when a deer leaped out of the woods on the immediate right side of the road -- clearing the guardrail -- and rammed its head and body directly into my right front fender before hitting the ground.  It happened in a split-second. 

No glass was broken, and miraculously my Corolla was still driveable.  My 10-year-old niece was actually pretty calm about it, though she did say "Wow, I'm going to have nightmares tonight."  (Actually, she was fine the next day, according to her mom.)  The deer kept trying to get up, but it could only move its front two legs.  Watching it flop around was disturbing, but at least the impact had knocked it to the shoulder. 

A passerby called the cops to put the deer out of its misery, but she said they didn't seem to care very much.  That might be because she called 911 instead of a non-emergency number.  I started wondering whether the deer had a deathwish, and whether it was possible for a deer to not look where it's going before it leaps into the street.  Aren't these things supposed to be much more skittish than we are? 

I drove the short distance home and immediately called Geico.  It took several minutes to file the claim, and they referred me to a combo adjuster's office/body shop in DC.  I dropped my car off there today and picked up a rental car.  The damage totaled over $2500, minus my $500 deductible (I changed this to $250, but it was too late to have that take effect on this claim). 

What an annoying twist of fate.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt (except the deer) and I should get my car back by Monday.   

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