Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

I hit a small deer (maybe 100 pound doe) tonight (was not speeding!) and destroyed the hood, grill and top of the bumper. The radiator was pushed back but was not punctured, and no fluids of any kind seem to be leaking. I drove the car 3 miles back to my house and it performed as normal. Standard procedure was followed, a police report was filed and insurance was notified. I (obviously) will be talking with them tomorrow morning about repair costs as well as the effect on my families rates, but I'm impatient so I'd like an answer a little sooner.

I'm 19, drive (drove) an 02 Maxima, no previous accidents and no points. Live in NJ (also where the accident occurred), and am insured with New Jersey Manufacturers under my parents comprehensive plan. Would any of you have an idea as to how this is going to effect my families current insurance rates as well as my insurance rates once I am fully emancipated? Will I be doomed to endure extremely high rates until death because of this?

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

no. things like deer, tree falling on your car, brick falling on your car are all "acts of god" and fall into the "no fault" clause. you will be fine.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Alright, good to hear.

Thanks.

lightonthehill

whitebread - ROCKART is correct, as usual. I have hit deer at conditions varying from 72 mph on a deserted interstate (big deer jumped from behind a bridge pillar; $4500 damage to my truck) to having one deposited on the hood of my stopped Maxima by a vehicle passing the other way ($2100 damage). State Farm covers them all. No rate change.

We have had to have the county remove three dead deer carcasses from our front yard within the past month. Granted, we have a big front yard, but . . . We have seen as many as 7 deer in our back yard at one time. I live in a very small county, and over 800 reportable collisions with deer have occurred here in the last three years ('07 data not yet available), including 2 deaths and 42 injuries. This is because large areas of the county (including the part I live in) are zoned for minimum lot size of five acres, and around me, most homes sit on much larger lots than that (with cattle, horses, donkeys, etc). This gives the deer lots of woods to hide in.

Folks moving into this county with visions of sweet Bambi in their heads soon grow to fear deer. I have two State Farm deer whistles (supposedly repel them) in my grille, and I don't see any improvement. They still come at me like an iron slug drawn to a magnet. They are worse BY FAR during the evening and morning twilight periods, but can suddenly appear any time of day or night.

Niku-Sama

iTrader: (1)

deer are suck. i have avoided so many and we get them in the town, occasionally we have a bear or a cougar in town. a town mind you of a few thousand people...mabe close to 10, i have no clue...gotta look this up now...

any way thats why when i got insurance on my Z i made sure i had comphrensive and that there was NO deductible (only added $15 every 6 months) cause i know if some jackass animal is gonna hop out in front of me the one time i am not going to be able to avoid it i know i dont want to deal with the costs and such because its gonna wreck my car up.

its just a good example to make sure you arent UNDER insured, its silly to run arround with just liability even if you car is paid off

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

my family has a vacation home in rural (and i mean rural like a house every half mile) connecticut. there are deer on the roads almost daily and it poses a huge safety risk. in fact one of our neighbors was killed in 92 when a giant buck jumped off an overhanging boulder and landed squarely on the roof of his car. one of the hooves penetrated the metal and crushed his skull.

my dad was all about those whistles when he first discovered them in the early 90s. little black things that looks like engines on a jet - conical that come to a point and leave a small opening for wind to pass through. but after a fair amount of research (including hitting a deer while having them mounted on the front of his car) he found out that their effective range is something like 15 feet. now 15 feet may sound adequate, but in most cases these deer have been spooked and are running from something else. 15 feet is just not very far for a deer - its like 2 to 3 bounds (is that the right word? jumps? steps?).

his mechanic/friend said that the only way they could be truly effective is if they were amplified electronically. and even then there are lots of other variables, including environmental noise (wind, leaves, etc), rain or other debris clogging the opening, or simply not going fast enough to create the whistling.

i notice they are not as popular today. they probably serve more of a psychosomatic, placebo purpose - relieving the driver's anxiety.

anyway what ended up happing a couple of years later is that my dad got my ****, his **** and my dogs **** on squares of grass collected and drove to the "deer-crossing hot-spot" and poured a line of it on either side of the quarter mile stretch. its hard to tell whether it was effective, but it makes sense that it would be.


yea comprehensive is a must.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Drove the car to the collision repair place as recommended by NJM. I'll get the estimate within 24 hours they said. Although, the secretary at the front desk said there was a fair bit of damage (I hit the deers rear) so the insurance might write it off.

I'll miss that car. It had its problems but I really liked it.

Sigh........

ltpacct

Strictly for laugh:
DEAR DIARY

Aug. 12 Moved to our new home in New York. It's so beautiful here. The mountains are so majestic. Can hardly wait to see snow covering them.

Oct. 14 New York is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves are turned all the colors and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride through the beautiful mountains and saw some deer. They are so graceful. Certainly, they are the most wonderful animal on earth. This must be paradise. I love it here.
Nov. 11 Deer season will start soon. I can't imagine anyone want to kill such a gorgeous creature. Hope it will snow soon. I love it here.
Dec. 2 It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed with white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and shoveled the driveway. We had a snow ball fight (I won). When the snow-plow came by, we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I love New York.
Dec. 12 More snow last night. I love it. The snow-plow did his trick again to the driveway. I love it here.
Dec. 19 More snow last night. Couldn't get out of the driveway to get to work. I am exhausted from shoveling. F****** snow-plow.
Dec. 22 More of the white sh** fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands from shoveling. I think the snow-plow hides around the curve and waits until I'm done shoveling the driveway. *******!!
Dec. 25 Merry f****** Christmas. More friggen snow. If I ever get my hand on that son-of-the-***** who drives the snow-plow, I swear I'll kill the bastard. Don't know why they don't use more salt on the roads to melt the f****** ice.
Dec. 27 More white sh** last night. Been inside for three days now, except for shoveling out the driveway after that snow-plow goes through every time. Can't go anywhere. Car's stuck in a mountain of white sh**. The weatherman says to expect another 10" of the sh** again tonight. Do you know how many shovels full of snow 10" is?
Dec. 28 The f****** weatherman was wrong. We got 34" of that white sh** this time. At this rate, it won't melt before the summer. The snow-plow got stuck up in the road and that bastard came to the door and asked to borrow my shovel. After I told him I had broken 6 shovels already shoveling all the sh** he pushed into the driveway, I broke my last one over his f****** head.
Jan. 4 Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on the way back, a damn deer ran in front of the car and I hit it. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those f****** beasts should be killed. Wish the hunters had killed them all last November.
May 3 Took the car to the garage in town. Would you believe the thing is rusting out from that f****** salt they put all over the roads.
May 10 Moved to Georgia. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever live in that God-forsaken State of New York.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Haha, I go to school in Ithaca NY so I'm very much familiar with the snow aspect of upstate new york. Still hating the deer though......

4MySwee

iTrader: (2)

I couldn't get through the 5th date without busting a rib. My husband was looking at me like I was diseased. Memo to me, no hot coffee when I attempt rereading it.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

What?

4MySwee

iTrader: (2)

Reading through the diary, by the 5th date, (December 12th) I saw what was coming and started rolling!!!

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

ooooooo

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

If the insurance company decides to total my car, what benchmark will they use to find a value for the car? I'm beginning to look for new vehicles and i would love some idea as to how much money NJM will be giving me.

If this helps:
2002 SE 6-speed
single disc CD player
6 spoke alloys
cloth interior
good condition (before the accident obviously)

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

NADA values are what insurance companies usually use. go to www.nada.com and type in ur specs and it will give you a good idea about what to expect.
i did that for my totalled 96 and it quoted me $4875. progressive cut me a check for $5191 (4875 + tax).

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Thanks!

lightonthehill

I just read itpacct's 'diary' to my wife, and she is laughing so hard she had to back away from her computer. She is from (warm) Mobile AL, and loves snow only from afar. Once the temp drops below 35, if there is any precip of any kind anywhere near, she is off the road and battened down.

By contrast, I grew up on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and I love to take my Maxima out into the freshly fallen snow. If one is careful, and avoids hills (and wild drivers), the car handles so beautifully. I can only wish the Detroit RWD cars I drove from 1949 until 1978 had done nearly as well on slick roads as my FWD Maxima. There is no comparison.

My State Farm agent told me the deer whistles don't make the correct 'deer repelling' noise below 35 mph, so if their range is only 15 feet, they are, as ROCKART suggested, essentially a placebo.

As Niku-Sama (and others here?) suggested, don't mince on insurance. The difference in price between minimum coverage and top notch coverage is surprisingly small. If anything happens, you will be happy you are FULLY covered.

---------------

Advice to consider:

I do not/have never sold insurance, and so offer this suggestion purely as that; a suggestion: consider umbrella insurance. Umbrella insurance pays for any costs you may incur above your insurance limits.

Anything you have insured with the company issuing the umbrella insurance is covered. Things such as your cars, trucks, farm equipment, home, property, and even accidents such as someone falling on your front walk, or being thrown from a horse in your meadow. The horse doesn't even have to be yours. Consider the possibility you miss a stop sign and put an entire family in major surgery. The limits on normal insurance would never cover the costs.

Umbrella insurance is very important if you have money or property/assets of value. Even a small accident can turn into a major disaster if the opposing lawyers find you have anything of value. Assets you worked all your life to earn can be gone very quickly.

Best of all - Umbrella insurance is amazingly cheap. Ours costs less than $200 a year (our umbrella rate is good because we opted for high coverage in our base policies), and we are covered up to $2 million.

Just a suggestion.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the advice, I will remember it when shopping for insurance in a few years.

S1cTech

whoa... lol... whats up with Deers and liking to get hit by our maximas... lol I ALMOST hit a deer like 3 weeks ago... Big **** too... Not as big as the movies but probably the size of bambi and he was just standing in the highway off ramp... Thanks to my awesome brembos(installed them last year) and good reaction time.... I stopped right in front of it to avoid damage to my car and hurting or possible killing an animal. IT was pretty freaky at first because it just stood there for like 5 secs looking all demonized and it just took off when i blinded it with my HIDs... lol

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Report came back from the collision repair place and the car is a total loss. 11k to fix everything which is about the market value. Just have to wait and see what NJM wants to give me for it.

My father is contemplating buying the car as salvage and selling off parts. I think its a good idea. What do you guys think?

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

u gotta have a lot of time and room to part a car out like that. its generally not worth it, but im sure itd be fun!!

anyway, whats the NADA value for your car ?

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

Well we didnt plan on selling anything besides the lights and a few other things. My father wants the tires on the car because they are brand new. Selling a few things from the car will cover the salvage cost hopefully.

NADA value is $10,850

ROCKART

iTrader: (23)

if you have the capacity to do this, go to a tirekingdom or some tireplace and get 4 old crappy tires (that fit obviously) and switch them with the new ones on your car. because the car will never be driven again it wont matter - and the insurance company will still get the same amount of money for salvage.

you can actually do that with a lot of stuff if its new and you want to keep it (battery, floormats, headunit, etc.).
just dont REMOVE anything from the car tho without replacing it with something stock.

Whitebread

iTrader: (2)

hmmmm, well the car is still ours technically. The insurance company hasn't paid us a penny yet so I think Ill run over to the collision place and swap 4 tires and take the floor mats (that I paid for).

KenjiOta

good luck

crensign

i like that. i seen what was coming and still i read on.

DonP

say the deer hit you.