Deer in the headlights
April 13, 2020 Uncategorized 7 comments dbauer20
I was driving home late one night from basketball. We had just had a game against Boothbay at their home court so it had been a long night. We lost the game and it was really close so we were all feeling down on ourselves. It was very cold out that night and as soon and I got in my car I thought “the deer are definitely gonna be on the move tonight to stay warm.” before I pulled away from my school I had to get my music set up so I wasn’t trying to do it while I was driving. Right before I left I texted my friend to see how she was doing and I’d just text her back if she answered me when I got home. Once I started to leave I decided I’d go a different way home because the usual was home is really wooded and I didn’t wanna risk meeting a deer on all the corners on the road. Once I left I cranked the music and started on my way home.
I passed Fielders Choice and turned right onto the road that’ll take me to my road. It was really dark and what made it worse was mt headlight are broken so they point directly ay the ground so I cant see that far ahead of me. Once I got over the hill on Pond Rd. in Wales it turns to 45 mph. Well, I started to pick up speed after the hill and right as I passed the first house after the hill a deer jumps into the road in front of me. I couldn’t swerve because there was an oncoming car and I’d much rather hit the deer instead of another car. As soon I hit the deer I started saying “shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, fudge, shoot”. I pulled my car over to see if the deer was dead and to see how much damage it caused. Once I pulled over and got out of my car Abby (who didn’t leave that long after me) noticed I was pulled over and stopped to see if I was okay. Abby looked at me and said “What happened? Are you okay?” I said “Yeah I’m fine. A deer jumped out in front of me and I clipped it with my car and now I can’t seem to find it.” She said, “Do you need me to stay and wait until someone gets here?” I said “No I’m fine it won’t take that long for my dad to get here,” She said, “Okay but call me if you need anything”. After she left I called my dad and explained what happened and he said he’d be on his way in a minute. After I hung up I called the Sabattus police department and they were on their way. My dad got to me a couple of minutes before the officer did and we used that time to see if we could find the deer. We had no luck. There was no blood, no fur, nothing. It just ran off.
Once the officer got to where I hit the deer me and my dad explained what happened and that we couldn’t find the deer. I found a piece of my car where I originally hit the deer a few feet from where I parked my car and there were no signs of the deer anywhere. Once we finished explaining to the officer what happened he gave me his card and said he’d file a report and that I can go home. When I got home I was exhausted because my adrenaline was wearing off and it was almost one in the morning. That was a very long night.
Photo by jolynne_martinez on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
7 Comments
Hitting a deer is such a scary situation, and it’s incredibly dangerous. Your story made me think of my own personal experience with driving home late at night and almost hitting a deer, except the difference between our stories is that you actually experienced a completely new level of fear after hitting it. I love how you told the story, because I was able to relate to every feeling you felt leading up to the accident. I’m sorry you went through this!
I have been in a similar situation after hitting a deer but my parents were in Alaska and I had to call my best friends parents. I’m happy to hear that you have friends and teammates that are willing to be by your side like that through tough and unexpected situations. I know I am happy to have friends I know that will be by my side through thick and thin and I am sure you are too.
This blog post was a really smooth read! I really felt like I was going through the experience myself because of how descriptive your writing was. I too have been in similar situations where an experience I have gone through was not expected and made for an exhausting day or night. It can really ware a person down.
Deer are certainly scary, especially on curvy roads. The same incident happened to me twice but I didn’t hit the deer. One night after a Leavitt football game my friends and I were heading back to her house. I was driving and it was out in Greene. I had my high beams on and from a from a distance it looked like there was a big brown box in the middle of the road. There was an oncoming car so I out my low beams on. As I approach the “brown box” I notice that its s deer, so I slam on my breaks and so doesn’t the oncoming car. The oncoming car clipped the deer but it still ran off. So, I pulled over because I was like in shock that I could’ve just hit a deer. The car that was in back of me layed his horn on me, who knows why. Another time was in daylight, so it wasn’t hard to miss. But it came out of no where, so it was still scary. Apparently deer just like to jump in front of cars for the fun of it, lol. Although, I am glad that you didn’t get hurt but it would’ve been pretty hype if you could’ve tracked down the deer.
Definitely a long night for you; rough game, long bus ride back and troubles driving home. I like how you included the words you said after it happened, it really adds some character to the story. I wonder where that deer ended up
I know that if I was in that situation I would not have been nearly as calm as you were. I freak out when I just get close to hitting one. But recently my boyfriend did hit a deer on his way to my house. He said he wasn’t speeding or on his phone which he does sometimes. I was scared for him but stayed calm to not worry him. Ever since then he doesn’t text and drive which I’m thankful for. He also asks me to take the main roads when I drive at night just to be safe.
Just your luck! This actually must’ve been a really scary moment for you. I wouldn’t have handled it as well as you did! I like the way you wrote how you were talking in your story, what you wrote I can just imagine you saying it and it made me laugh at that part haha. At least you had a friend help you out and ask if you were okay, and I’m glad you and your car were okay too!