John's Blog

Let's call this one a draw. It could have been much worse for both parties. Last night I had to drop off my car at the repair shop, and the wife followed me to bring me back. We were just about home when into my peripheral vision comes a deer heading right for us. My cry of "Look Out" enabled her to hit the brakes and almost stop, which meant we hit the deer at a pretty slow speed. The low front end of the Miata just scooped it up and flipped it on to the roof of the car. Luckily, we had put the top back up earlier or it would have been right on top of us. It bounced off the top like a trampoline and went into the other lane of traffic. As fate would have it the person in the other lane avoided hitting it again.

So now I get out of the car and call the cops to tell them that there is a dead deer lying in the road. As I'm on the phone trying to convince them that this is something they might want to send someone over to deal with, the deer stands up. Dazed, yes, but after a moment he runs off. I'm sure he had a bit of a headache. The car; dented, but drivable.

From the "locking the barn door after the horse is gone" department come this article on how to avoid it. Not that I think it provides that much helpful advice...

"Learn to identify high-risk situations." Oh; like driving in my neighborhood?

"Understand that most beasts are social beings." Ok, next time I'll invite it over for drinks afterward.

"When it comes to large animals avoidance is best."DUH...wish I had thought of that. And I thought I was Mr. Obvious.

"Practice dodge-dodge in a large deserted parking lot." Oh yea; that might be as much fun as the time I taught the wife to drive a stick shift. We should just skip this step and call the lawyer and have him draw up the divorce paperwork before we go through that torture.