Deer Strike

[Bch Smart]

Picked up my smart from the dealer here in Virginia Beach on Nov 20th. Two days later I had a deer strike while traveling at 35mph. Total damage to the car is $3400 and it will be heading into Checkered Flag's body shop this week.
All in all the damage is more cosmetic than anything else. I was impressed with the way the car held up. Even my adjuster was impressed with the minor amount damage that the car sustained. He feels that a larger auto would have had more damage. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that the car had all of 261 miles on it.

Pics loaded in Member Gallery under "Got my smart"- Deer Strike

[jwight]

Just a quick peek:



That sucks.

[scdaf]

Didn't even know that deer had a union.

Must be the "change" we keep hearing about.

[forestacademy]

It seems the the Deer strikes always happen early in a Smarts life. Lucky you, to rain sensor, That makes it easier to replace the wind screen.

[Bum-bling-B]

I'm thinking deer REALLY have something against Smarts. This is something like the 5th or 6th deer strike I've heard about. One day when I was going VERY slow, maybe 5-10mph two walked out in front of me and just stopped. I pulled up maybe 10 feet away from them right in front of me and we just sat there and stared at each other. Finally after a couple of seconds they just moseyed across the street like it was nothing.

FYI - when that happened I was driving my Smart with the stock exhaust. My other Smart with the little glass pack generally sends them running away before I even get to them. It's still not that loud of an exhaust but I find it a good personalized version of a "deer whistle".

[Wdhitch]

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

I'm thinking deer REALLY have something against Smarts. This is something like the 5th or 6th deer strike I've heard about. One day when I was going VERY slow, maybe 5-10mph two walked out in front of me and just stopped. I pulled up maybe 10 feet away from them right in front of me and we just sat there and stared at each other. Finally after a couple of seconds they just moseyed across the street like it was nothing.

You live in DeFuniak... don't the deer out number the people??

I remember one time I was driving the semi up to Montgomery in the dead of night... just going up 331 I must have seen 75 to 100 deer... you guys should eat better up there.

[smartYsmileS]

~ What a shame, I hope no one besides the car was hurt

[BigWarpGuy]

Aren't you glad it was not Maine where they have moose?

(photo deleted since it was offensive to some)

[BigWarpGuy]

If it does this to a bigger car, what would it do to a Smart Car?

(photo deleted since it was offensive to some).

[Suze]

This thread makes me feel bad. I feel for the car owners and I feel for the animals. I hope no humans were hurt, but still feel sad for the deer and moose.

I try to drive very carefully where there are deer, but they have a way of surprising us!