Almost hitting a small army of deers is what gave me confidence in my
brakes. Here goes: I was driving into yosemite valley via HWY 120 at about
2am. I came out of one of the tunnels on the last descent into the valley
and a car was coming towards me. As the car coming towards me was about
1/8 mile away a small army of deers ran out on the roads. I skidded and
slide to the on-coming traffic lane. The other car did the same and we
passed each other on the wrong sides of the road.  No deers got hit by me.
The scary part about this whole scene is that to the sides of the road are
two 500' cliffs- one going up, one going down. I could have been just as
good as an envelope under a half a ton a garbage on thanksgiving.

Coffee time

Matthew Pollard          "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry        So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356

On Fri, 12 Oct 2001, Spooner, Robert E. wrote:

> Hey all,
> Had the displeasure of whacking a deer on the way to work this morning.
> Almost missed her, she came from right to left and I just clipped her
> hind quarter with my left front corner.  Didn't kill her, though, she
> was able to continue to run off through the woods...no venison tonight
> for me.
>
> Anyway, the strike wiped out the front-left turn signal, pushing is
> backwards through the body work.  It kind of looks like a basketball hit
> the corner of the van real hard, except for all of the hair stuck to the
> van.  The hit is above the bumper, doing no damage to that, and outboard
> of the headlights and upper grill, doing no damage there either.  the
> van still drives straight, so I suspect that there is no alignment
> issues.  Not too bad, considering what could of happened if I was a
> split second faster, and took the deer smack in the front.
>
> My insurance company is sending me to a body shop for an estimate.  Is
> there anything in particular I should point out to these fellas?  Can a
> corner piece be purchased for a replacement, or is this a hammer and
> fill job?
>
> Thanks for any input.
>
> Bob Spooner
> Environmental Engineer
> Middletown Generating Station
> Middletown, CT
>