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T. Erdelyi

T. Erdelyi

Joined
Feb 3, 2001
Messages
32,359
Yeterday while doin' some last minute shoppin' for Easter Dinner, just a little over a mile from my home, a deer ran down the side of the mountain in front of my Hyudai Santa Fe, I swerved but it was too late, the tires hit the soft shoulder and steering was no longer an option.

I wound up cuttin' a two and a half to three foot tree in half, I hit the tree so hard the watch on my wrist flew off and into the windshield with my fist.

All the airbags deployed and with the help of the seat belts I was allowed to walk away from a 40 mph collision.

After I made sure nothin' was bleedin' or broke I walked a quarter mile down the road to a friends house who gave me a ride home and back to my truck after I called the state troopers to report the accident.

Because there were no other people involved and no property damage, (other than the tree in the woods) there was no citation or accident report other than the incident report statin' they showed up filed.

Just like the old days, actually with my old childhood friends who followed me to PA a few years back, eveyone rallied 'round to help pull the truck out and get on a trailer and in my yard so I could save towin' and storage fees.

Today I woke up and I felt like I had just hit a tree, oh that's right I did.

I just wanted o thank my friends and family for bein' there when I needed 'em, you guys for bein' there whenever I need to vent and one more thing, airbags and seatbelts do save lives, I'll post pics in W&C for the curious.

Happy Easter all.:thumbup:

Remember, any accident you can walk away from.:thumbup:
 
I am so glad you came out alive, much less unhurt TE but why didn't you just go a head and smack the deer instead of a tree? :confused:
 
Good driving, considering how little time you had to react, and I'm glad it's just aches and pains!

* ****** **** ****** *​

Deer can kill.

One day in Central Park, NYC, a horse threw its rider and ran towards its stable just outside the park. On the way, it crossed a heavy traffic road and swerved into the path of a taxi. Although the driver stopped before impact, the horse rolled up onto the hood, the saddle smashed the windshield, and the horse rolled off and trotted away.

Fortunately, the taxi driver was able to get out and have his nervous breakdown without physical injuries. But a big ungulate does not necessarily set off the airbags before crushing a driver.
 
I am so glad that your alive. The exact same thing happened to my friends 16 year old daughter this week and totaled the car but again the family is whole.

I for one am very glad your still with us you hungarian bastid!!!


your friend

Ren
 
T. Erdelyi - I'm sorry to hear about your accident. Thank God you're OK. The car can be replaced, you can't.

Two months ago, I received the dreaded phone call at 10:00 on a Sunday night. A stranger had just witnessed an 18-year-old kid run a red light and plow into the passenger side of my wife's minivan at 35-45mph. Her van crossed a center median and three lanes on oncoming traffic before coming to a stop. Fortunately, she did not strike any other vehicles.

The young man who called me at home watched as car after car simply drove through the accident debris without seeing if anyone needed medical attention. He got out of his car, ran over to Debbie's van and held her hand until the MEDICs arrived. She was disoriented and in a lot of pain from the impact, and from the seatbelt and airbag deployment. After a few minutes she was able to give him my home phone number. When he called I could hear my wife (who sounded like she was on obvious pain) tell him to tell me she was OK.

When I arrived at the scene Debbie was in the back of the ambulance, but refused to be transported by MEDIC. I drove her to the emergency room, where she was examined and released a few hours later with nothing more than bumps and bruises.

Her van was totaled, as was the other kid's car. Both of them survived almost unscathed, no doubt due the modern safety features and design of late model vehicles (and no thanks to the inattention of the other driver. :()
 
L6steel said:
I am so glad you came out alive, much less unhurt TE but why didn't you just go a head and smack the deer instead of a tree? :confused:
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I don't know, I always tell my wife and daughter the same thing.

The only thing I can think of is that the deer came down the side of the mountain and seemed like it was just there, so I reacted like it was somethin' I did't wanna hit, like a jogger or a tree:eek:, damn trees are always slidin' down the mountain here too:grumpy:.

I just reacted I guess, I'm still not sure I knew it wasa deer, my friends wife just told me the day before, she saw a black bear a hundred yards from where I hit the tree that day.

Well tomorrow's the true test, the insurance Co. is supposed to call, we'll see how far full coverage will get me.:rolleyes:
 
for sticking around....world isn't done with you yet!:)

Make sure you get your medical evals done, asap, trauma like that can leave some unexpected results.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Wow, glad you were not hurt worse.
I will save my inappropriate remarks for W&C....
 
Sorry to hear of your accident, but glad to hear you only lost equipment. That can be replaced.
 
T. Erdelyi, glad to hear that you are ok, despite your serious accident... I don't know where in PA you live but here in the 'burbs of Philadelphia, there is a serious over population of deer and they do seem to cause a lot of damage of the vehicular kind... I woke one Sunday morning and looked out of the window of my bedroom to see a dead deer laying at the bottom of my driveway, apparently struck overnight... But the story that I always remember when I hear of deer vs. cars is the one told to me by a friend, who's friend was driving down a road when a deer jumped off an embankment and landed in the windshield of this friend's car. Time goes by, this friend heals, gets a new car, drives down the same road one day, and BAM!! ...The very same thing happens... Another deer jumps off the embankment at the same spot as the first, and lands in the windshield... another totaled car, and again the window collapses in and the driver is injured again... The tree just might have been the better option for you.

I hope all goes well with your insurance carrier and that you stay well.
 
Very glad to hear that you're ok- Deer in traffic are no joke.
Go get yourself checked out-
 
I am glad that you are OK!! Material things CAN bve replaces, but YOU can not!! I hope your soreness doesn't last too long!!
 
Just came back from the doctors, just a broken thumb and a few rips in a ligiment, I hafta go back next week after the swellin' goes down for a cast, right now it's splinted.

Thanks for the kind words guys. :)
 
I think deer can be the cause of so many more accidents than we think. A couple of years ago I hit a deer on the way back from visiting family down in Virginia. It was about an hour after dark and the thing came out of nowwhere. It did thousands of dollars of damage to the front of our Honda Element that took the body shop a month to fix.

Here in Maryland its become so prevailant, the state police have issued "Deer avoidance" and crash bullitins. They say the worst thing to do is to try to avoid the deer by swerving, but to brake firmly as you can without locking up the wheels and hit it strait on. The logic is that swerving tends to make cars go out of control and results in car to car collision, rather than car to deer collision.

When I called GIECO to report the accident, the claims adjuster I spoke to on the phone said that they had already had over 2000 claims that month on deer collisions.

Maybe we need a year long open season on the bastids!
 
Glad you're OK! I've been a firm believer in the hit the dang thing vs. going off the road, too. Might not be too easy to do, though...
 
jackknife said:
Maybe we need a year long open season on the bastids!
Click to expand...
There are real problems in some areas, and overpopulation is undoubtedly a contributer. But other areas are going to be hard put to say that, and I think where TE is, there's enough wild country that you will have deer unless you simply eliminate the species. Fortunately, that's not going to happen.

I wonder what kind of technology might work.
 
Glad to hear you are OK. Whew!
 
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