By Chuck Woodbury
ROADSIDE JOURNAL
A reader sent me this. I’m laughing hard right now. It’s about a deer accident. It’s funny. But first, a related note (not funny, but relevant).
I know people who have hit deer. A friend of mine, who died recently at age 90, had to travel nearly every night for several decades in the Sierra mountains of Northern California. He hit a dozen deer in all those years. The highway department would salt the roads back then to dissolve winter ice, and the deer would be drawn to the shoulder of the roads for the salt. When a car approached, they’d get spooked and dart out right in front of it, and that was that — dead deer, damaged car. Sometimes, as a driver, it was almost impossible to miss hitting an animal.
My friend was not a bad driver. He just drove those dark roads for so many years.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the funny part of this story. The caption of this illustration is:
“When the insurance company wants a diagram of the accident.”
(I hope you are laughing!)
##RVT933
I was a volunteer ambulance driver in central Idaho for five years; during that time, I sometimes had to drive a 60-mile winding river canyon road at night, sometimes in storm conditions. It was a constant danger that a mule deer would dart across the highway into the headlights, sometimes charging down a steep embankment right into our path with no time for me to evade. Fortunately (for us, not for the deer) a heavy steel “deer guard” mounted to the front of the heavy 4WD ambulance prevented damage and let us continue our emergency run. An even worse hazard skirting the steep river canyon slopes were rocks and boulders on the highway, encountered while coming around a blind curve.
Yikes! So, let me guess, you were 35 when you started your job and retired 6 months later at the age of 50! I drove a school bus in much the same circumstances; I’m thinking we had similar feelings of responsibility. 🙂
I bought my RV when I was single. I later added a wife and it was the best thing I ever did.
JH
I haven’t heard of that particular RV “upgrade” before, Joel, but it sounds like a very good one! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I really don’t see the humor in that picture it’s a shame that deer pay the price so we can barrel down the highway 60 mile an hour at night and killed him for no reason
I’m sorry I really don’t see the humor in it
You see no humour as you did not see the picture. It shows the driver going 45 and no indication it is night. It shows a Mercedes, but must be old as it should have Collision Prevention Assist.
I hope you do not think about where a beef steak comes from….
Speed seems to be immaterial. Most deer will run out right in front of you, too close to miss. If you had been going faster, you would have been past that point when the deer ran out. In fact, in most of the deer encounters I have had, the deer ran into me, i.e. into the side of my car.
Obviously a satirical artist who is asking the insurance company “What part of this concept do you not understand?” I hope it is posted somewhere. Too good to discard. I see Farmers making a commercial with it.
I disagree with not emptying the gray tank until it’s full. I did this with my past RVs and emptied it to flush out the hose after emptying the black tank. My new RV has washer and I use a lot of water. I also have a built in black tank cleaning/flush system. I don’t see the need to fill up the gray tank.
Seeing the deer at that instant in front of you, your black tank may empty automatically!
LMAO…That was better than the original picture. Reminds me of the time I almost hit a moose in northern Minnesota. I pulled over to check the car and my pants. But with no damage to either I drove on at a snails pace while my heart rate came back down to normal.
Love it! Thanks
Hillarious! Seems like I’ve seen that same deer in Illinois!
Thanks chuck