Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: Bambi Must Die
Yes. I know. Brutal. Harsh.
But none the less true.
If you are rockin' down the highway (my hat tip to the Doobie Brothers) and suddenly, out of nowhere, a deer jumps in front of you...
Bambi must die.
Do not swerve to avoid the cute little mammal. Run it down. Become one with Bambi. Substitute the German peace symbol with an antler.
Yes. I know. Cruel.
But consider the alternative. You could slam on your brakes forcing you to slide to the right, taking out the two cars next to you. One of those cars could catapult into the ditch on the side of the road while the other car rolls over five times and smashes into a tree.
The two people in the car that has ended up in the ditch survive. Barely. One has a broken neck and is paralyzed from the neck down. The other has to have their right leg amputated.
The single driver of the car that has ended up against the tree was killed on impact.
Your auto insurance coverages are 50/100/50.
So, boys and girls. Two choices.
1. You have been found 100% at fault in the accident. Judgement is in excess of seven figures. Not only will your paycheck will be garnished...FOREVER, but your home will have a lien placed against it. You can forget about any retirement fund. Your credit is destroyed because the judgement is entered on your credit report. That summer house on the lake? Splash around in the tub instead. That new Mercedes? Can you say Kia? Winter vacation in the snow? Scrape out the bottom of your freezer and throw it at your spouse.
I won't even mention the lifetime of guilt you will probably feel.
Or....
2. Kill Bambi. Pay your deductible and let your insurance company repair the car. _________________ Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
The area of the world that I work and live in (NW MO)...I would guess that atleast 30% of the vehicles I write are animal hits..and this is prior to harvest and the runt...then it's about 50-60%....mostly deer some turkeys....I would never advocate trying to miss them etc....as you mentioned usually ends up much worse...and when you swerve and hit a tree instead of the deer guess what?...bingo bango it's collision not comp, and yep, chargeable....rate increase! I don't know that there is a solution, whistles are a joke, can't tell you how many of those I pay to replace ..... they have increase the doe kill in my area...ain't gonna fix it...once again people have moved into their territory and we are paying the price... _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
My dad put those anti-deer whistles on his bumper. I told him they didn't work but he swore they did.
Two weeks later my mom called to tell me they hit a deer (they were both fine - not traveling that fast, barely bumped the deer running across the street). Dad didn't know she told me.
It was our secret.
_________________ Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
Two weeks later my mom called to tell me they hit a deer (they were both fine - not traveling that fast, barely bumped the deer running across the street). Dad didn't know she told me.
Oh Dad's they are so funny...hate that being wrong thing especially with a kid... cracks me up.....thing is really in my area anyway...I just can't imagine what could ever be done....this is a huge hunting area (my family included....sarah don't have squat on me )...I just don't see a solution... _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
I bet they have made alot of money off those stupid deer whistles (yes I fell for it too). I agree it is harder to just hit Bambe or Faline,depending on the sex, but sometimes deer old me swerves out of reaction whether I wanted to or not. I have heard that you should always just hit the deer and be done with it but bot those pesky things can do the damage.
Last time I hit one (and only one,knock on wood) it came right at me, big old eyeballs right in front of me as it hit the windsheild. If that didn't make me feel bad enough, when I got out of the car I had to listen to it cry!!!
My oldest son's car was attacked by two different deers within one year.
One plowed into the side panel of his SUV. The other one came out of nowhere from the middle median of a major road and crunched the front end of the same car.
Now how do you convince the insurance company that you have suffered two separate deer attacks within one year?
Fortunately, Bambi #2 left plenty of deer feathers embedded in the grill and we took pictures.
What's more unbelievable is we don't live out in the country.
These were urban gorilla deers!
_________________ Gary Spicuzza, *SAFE
Copyright 1956.
No rights reserved.
*Self Appointed Financial Expert
In twenty plus years I have NEVER NOT ONE TIME looked at a deer hit that didn't leave 'some' type of evidence...no one should of course ever wash the car etc until the adjuster either looks at it or says it's ok to do the same...in my part of the world it's not uncommon for some people to have five hits a year...and they are mostly all on an interstate, course the interstate is bordered by farm ground...Gary you are a former MO resident...atleast you all have those little dog sized deer in flordia...rather than the monsters we grow up here... _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
I tell the Bambi story to clients and groups that I am asked to speak in front of. There is another story I don't mention though.
This happened to a fellow agent friend of mine. Her insured and husband were driving back from Destin, Florida. The car in front of them followed the "Bambi must die" mantra and hit the deer that ran out in front of them. The deer flew over the car and into the windshield of the car in back of them - my friend's insured.
The impact was so strong that the deer crashed through the windshield and struck the wife - so strong that she (the wife) died. _________________ Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
Yeah it's sad I've handled a few fatalities myself thru the years from deer hits...I'm just glad I don't live in a state with elk and moose...one of the worse animal hits I've ever seen was a horse...killed both in the front seat...another vehicle i worked and one died was a full grown cow..not pretty sights. _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
You are funny Lori. I like your remark about the dog bambis. Here they are big too not those little ones. Most recently my hubby (notorius for hitting deer) hit one in my Grand am. I really grossed me out to drive it. The next day after we talked to the adjuster and he scheduled the car to go to a shop for repairs they told us to go ahead and wash it. This is what the repair shop said...they never even looked at it first. I of course was thankful....
This is what the repair shop said...they never even looked at it first. I of course was thankful....
Yeah a lot of carrier either have people send estimates or go to a drp shop who writes it, the company I work for the adjusters write all the estmiates...so it's important to verify the loss...all company's don't though...you'd be surprised, (in this party of the country anyway) the number of people that SAY they hit a deer that didn't..as I said, I've never ever not been able to prove a deer it...sometimes it takes a lot of looking but there is evidence always there.... _________________ Have you been helped by a poster? Do you want to show your appreciation? YOU CAN !! Just simply click on the donate button and send them some coin!
In twenty plus years I have NEVER NOT ONE TIME looked at a deer hit that didn't leave 'some' type of evidence...no one should of course ever wash the car etc until the adjuster either looks at it or says it's ok to do the same.
I once spent two hours looking for a single piece of evidence to substantiate that a totaled vehicle came into contact with a deer. The owner claimed he swerved to miss and he was sure his mirror was knocked off by the deer's head. He was traveling down the interstate at 75mph and wound up underneath the barrier cables. The mirror could not be located to prove his version of the story.
I finally found three deer hairs wedged in the rear driver side door vent glass rubber channel. Collision coverage was changed to comprehensive loss. I always try to document with photos all animal hits for my customers.
My question is, if you run over the top of a deer that was hit by the car just a head of you, is that considered a collision with an object already on the road or will it be a comprehensive coverage. _________________ If you can't find the time to do it right, how will you ever find the time to do it over.
Happened to me..not a deer but a piece of tire from an 18-wheeler. Tore up the whole front skirt of my car. While talking to claims, I was told that if I'm the "first" contact, then comp...but if something else hit it before me, then collission.
I don't exactly agree - every situation is different but... _________________ Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. - Ferris Bueller
..... they have increase the doe kill in my area...ain't gonna fix it...once again people have moved into their territory and we are paying the price...
