A Deer Hit Me...A Thank You To GM - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Seawolf · 12-08-2009, 10:58 AM

First of all, let me say that she's fine (my car, not the deer...the deer's a little worse for wear). Second of all, the title is correct. The deer hit ME, not the other way around. I'll explain in a second. And third of all, there are no pictures because there is nothing to take pictures of. Instead, this thread is more of a praise towards GM for making some remarkably dent resistant body panels for this car.

Here's a brief run-down, pardon the pun, of what happened last night. I was driving home on a back road around dusk. It wasn't completely dark yet, but it was plenty dark enough to need headlights on this road. I see in front of me about 100ft something on the right side of the road that appears to be a mailbox at first. Turns out, as I get closer I can see that it's a deer and not a mailbox. Luckily for me, this deer was heading OFF the road in the right direction; so it wasn't coming out into the road. I slowed down, as deer are known to travel in groups, fearing that another one may come galloping across the road. Sure enough, I was right. Here came another one from the left of the road across the oncoming lane. I saw it too late to come to a complete stop, instead I had to drive between the two deer as though they were road cones or something. I thought I was going to miss both of them and was able to get my nose and hood through the "gap" of deer, but the second deer that was coming across the road had some forward momentum and instead of stopping (like most deer do when they see headlights), it kept coming towards my car and broadsided my driver's side door. It sounded like someone was standing outside the car and pounded on the door as hard as they could with their fist. I then heard this sound "pounding" all down the side of my car. I was literally about a quarter mile from home when this happened. I pulled into my driveway fully expecting the worst (a deer head in my fender well). I got out and inspected with a flashlight (a further inspection ensued this morning when I had better light) and I could see no scratches and no dents what so ever in the side of the car. That deer hit me HARD, too. I could definitely see where the deer hit and rubbed along side of the car (it took off some existing dust and grime).

So thank you GM for building our cars out of some pretty resilient materials and not something that's going to fold and collapse in upon itself even if something the size of a deer decides to go kamikaze.

Incidentally, I also had to drive through a pretty nasty hail storm shortly after I took delivery of my car back in the summer. I was in the storm for about 10 solid minutes. Wouldn't you know it I was stuck on a road that had ZERO gas stations or overpasses to pull under... Anyway, I could see absolutely no dents, dings, or scratches from that episode either. Excellent quality materials indeed.

TJ91 · 12-08-2009, 11:03 AM

wow, thats unbelievable. Great story, too bad not everyone here who hit a deer was that lucky. Glad to hear that you and your camaro are doing fine

tjd24 · 12-08-2009, 11:06 AM

Glad you're safe and your Camaro as well. Good to hear the door has some resilency. Another member Sir Brad wasn't as lucky as when a deer ran into him it was at the side gills which did get damaged - he was able to get it banged out pretty well - link - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...98&postcount=1

SoonerOne · 12-08-2009, 11:08 AM

Thanks for sharing your story, that is good information to know. Glad you are safe and your car too!

Sir Nuke · 12-08-2009, 11:15 AM

well obviously you got your christmas present early.......and a good one at that. glad you baby wasn't hurt.

AnnaBear@SpartaChevy · 12-08-2009, 11:20 AM

Great story! I love it! That kind of thing happens all too often here in Michigan.

DkknightX · 12-08-2009, 11:47 AM

You don't have to tell me about surviving a hailstorm. The hail was HUGE and my car suffered NO damage!

http://www.camaro5.com/?p=1256

If the deer hit you that hard, I'd probably check your car again closely in broad daylight just to be sure. Sounds strange that you suffered not so much as a scratch.

Seawolf · 12-08-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DkknightX

You don't have to tell me about surviving a hailstorm. The hail was HUGE and my car suffered NO damage!

http://www.camaro5.com/?p=1256

If the deer hit you that hard, I'd probably check your car again closely in broad daylight just to be sure. Sounds strange that you suffered not so much as a scratch.

Yeah, I remember seeing that video when it posted. I was amazed that the car was okay after that.

Unfortunately, it will be dark by the time I get home from work and I didn't drive it today (drove my truck). Some people here at work gave me some other less obvious things to look for; so I'm going to do that tomorrow. I looked it over with what I felt was a fine-tooth comb this morning before leaving for work and couldn't see anything. I even used a flashlight last night and threw some light on it from every possible angle I could get to and couldn't see any distorted light. I'll definitely look for proper panel alignment as well. The door opened and closed just fine. I think I'm in the clear, but will certainly keep an eye on things through the next few days.

SleepWarz · 12-08-2009, 12:51 PM

slowing is one of the worst things you can do i've found.

Deer seem to be 'in the headlights' until some variable changes, sound, front end lift.... I dunno what but as soon as you start correcting they start going 'Oh noes' and stupidly run all over to place. Much of the time maintaining speed and just steering out of the way keeps them locked in place.

I'm always worried about slowing down and then one running into the side.

Glad to hear you made it out of it ok.

DkknightX · 12-08-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seawolf

Yeah, I remember seeing that video when it posted. I was amazed that the car was okay after that.

Unfortunately, it will be dark by the time I get home from work and I didn't drive it today (drove my truck). Some people here at work gave me some other less obvious things to look for; so I'm going to do that tomorrow. I looked it over with what I felt was a fine-tooth comb this morning before leaving for work and couldn't see anything. I even used a flashlight last night and threw some light on it from every possible angle I could get to and couldn't see any distorted light. I'll definitely look for proper panel alignment as well. The door opened and closed just fine. I think I'm in the clear, but will certainly keep an eye on things through the next few days.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I HOPE everything is fine and glad you are safe!

ravensjeff · 12-08-2009, 04:19 PM

You didn't stop and kick the deer's ass?

Seawolf · 12-08-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravensjeff

You didn't stop and kick the deer's ass?

Believe me...I wanted to.

ffrcobra_65 · 12-08-2009, 04:32 PM

Panels that strong makes it hard to explain how people are ending up with dents in parking lots.

Seawolf · 12-08-2009, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffrcobra_65

Panels that strong makes it hard to explain how people are ending up with dents in parking lots.

Dents in parking lots, at least unintentional dents, come from other car doors...specifically the edge of the door which doesn't provide for a lot of surface area. The edge of the door has more penetration power then say a 90 lb. deer. The deer's head/body provides more surface area therefor the force is spread out over a larger area resulting in a better ability for the panel to absorb the energy of the impact.

Then again maybe I lucked up and got some rubberized panels?

12-08-2009, 10:58 AM	#1
Seawolf Drives: Ordered:2SS HyperBlue/Ceramic White Join Date: May 2009 Location: Knoxville, TN Posts: 507	A Deer Hit Me...A Thank You To GM First of all, let me say that she's fine (my car, not the deer...the deer's a little worse for wear). Second of all, the title is correct. The deer hit ME, not the other way around. I'll explain in a second. And third of all, there are no pictures because there is nothing to take pictures of. Instead, this thread is more of a praise towards GM for making some remarkably dent resistant body panels for this car. Here's a brief run-down, pardon the pun, of what happened last night. I was driving home on a back road around dusk. It wasn't completely dark yet, but it was plenty dark enough to need headlights on this road. I see in front of me about 100ft something on the right side of the road that appears to be a mailbox at first. Turns out, as I get closer I can see that it's a deer and not a mailbox. Luckily for me, this deer was heading OFF the road in the right direction; so it wasn't coming out into the road. I slowed down, as deer are known to travel in groups, fearing that another one may come galloping across the road. Sure enough, I was right. Here came another one from the left of the road across the oncoming lane. I saw it too late to come to a complete stop, instead I had to drive between the two deer as though they were road cones or something. I thought I was going to miss both of them and was able to get my nose and hood through the "gap" of deer, but the second deer that was coming across the road had some forward momentum and instead of stopping (like most deer do when they see headlights), it kept coming towards my car and broadsided my driver's side door. It sounded like someone was standing outside the car and pounded on the door as hard as they could with their fist. I then heard this sound "pounding" all down the side of my car. I was literally about a quarter mile from home when this happened. I pulled into my driveway fully expecting the worst (a deer head in my fender well). I got out and inspected with a flashlight (a further inspection ensued this morning when I had better light) and I could see no scratches and no dents what so ever in the side of the car. That deer hit me HARD, too. I could definitely see where the deer hit and rubbed along side of the car (it took off some existing dust and grime). So thank you GM for building our cars out of some pretty resilient materials and not something that's going to fold and collapse in upon itself even if something the size of a deer decides to go kamikaze. Incidentally, I also had to drive through a pretty nasty hail storm shortly after I took delivery of my car back in the summer. I was in the storm for about 10 solid minutes. Wouldn't you know it I was stuck on a road that had ZERO gas stations or overpasses to pull under... Anyway, I could see absolutely no dents, dings, or scratches from that episode either. Excellent quality materials indeed. __________________ 2SS Hyper Blue/Ceramic White/White Pearl Rally Stripes/6 Speed/MRC/NPP/NAV/White Knee Pads/Illuminated Bowtie/56R Wheels 2/5/2016: Ordered -- '16 order never picked up... 4/28/2016: Ordered '17 5/3/2016: 2000.......5/31/2016: 3400 5/4/2016: 3000.......6/14/2016: 3800 5/9/2016: 3000.......6/15/2016: 4200 TPW 6/6/2016..........6/17/2016: 4300 5/25/2016: 3100......6/18/2016: 4200 5/28/2016: 3300......6/21/2016: 5000 ..............6/22/2016: 6000..............

12-08-2009, 11:06 AM	#3
tjd24 Thank you Oshawa/St.Cats! Drives: was 2010 2LT RS 2G1FC1EV4A9103434 Join Date: May 2009 Location: NW NJ Posts: 3,481 View My Garage	Glad you're safe and your Camaro as well. Good to hear the door has some resilency. Another member Sir Brad wasn't as lucky as when a deer ran into him it was at the side gills which did get damaged - he was able to get it banged out pretty well - link - http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...98&postcount=1 __________________ #3434 Born 4-15-2009, Delivered 5-22-2009 BBOMG 2/3/4 - Traded-in 8/31/2019:

12-08-2009, 11:15 AM	#5
Sir Nuke Master of All Things Drives: '26 Corvette Stingray Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Southeast of Houston, Texas Posts: 22,706 View My Garage	well obviously you got your christmas present early.......and a good one at that. glad you baby wasn't hurt. __________________

12-08-2009, 04:19 PM	#11
ravensjeff 100% Chevy & Harley Man Drives: 2010 2SS: Blown LSX 376-B15 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Eldersburg,MD Posts: 2,211 View My Garage	You didn't stop and kick the deer's ass? __________________ LSX 376-B15, TVS2300 SC, Harland Sharp Rockers w/ Trunion Bearings, ATI Balancer/keyed, AR LT Headers/Borla Catback Exhaust, DSS 1400 HP Axles, DSS aluminum driveshaft, 3.70, Hotchkis Springs/Sway bars, Forgeline SO3P Aluminum Wheels (20x9.5 F/20x11 R)w/ Hidden Titanium Hardware, Nitto NT05 Tires (27540ZR20 F/31535ZR20 R), Billet LPE brake/gas pedals, Escort 9500ci Radar Detector Laser Jammer, Roto Fab CAI with Ice Silver box, Carbon fiber tube/MAF Housing Assy, LPE Aluminum coil covers, SS9 Sleeper Fiber Glass Hood (ACS), Carbotech 1521 ceramic brake pads, Elite catch can.

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12-08-2009, 11:03 AM	#2
TJ91 :chevy: Drives: 2LT/RS Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 13,035	wow, thats unbelievable. Great story, too bad not everyone here who hit a deer was that lucky. Glad to hear that you and your camaro are doing fine

12-08-2009, 11:08 AM	#4
SoonerOne Drives: 2010 Camaro, Black Rally Sport Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 25 View My Garage	Thanks for sharing your story, that is good information to know. Glad you are safe and your car too!

12-08-2009, 11:20 AM	#6
AnnaBear@SpartaChevy Drives: 2011 Camaro 1SS Manual Synergy Grn Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sparta Chevrolet, Sparta, MI Posts: 2,107	Great story! I love it! That kind of thing happens all too often here in Michigan.

12-08-2009, 11:47 AM	#7
DkknightX Account Suspended Drives: 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS/SC Stage 2 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Emerson, NJ Posts: 1,347 View My Garage	You don't have to tell me about surviving a hailstorm. The hail was HUGE and my car suffered NO damage! http://www.camaro5.com/?p=1256 If the deer hit you that hard, I'd probably check your car again closely in broad daylight just to be sure. Sounds strange that you suffered not so much as a scratch.

12-08-2009, 12:51 PM	#9
SleepWarz Banned Drives: 1991 New Yorker, 69 Tbird, ABM2SSRS Join Date: May 2009 Location: BC Canada Posts: 2,248 View My Garage	slowing is one of the worst things you can do i've found. Deer seem to be 'in the headlights' until some variable changes, sound, front end lift.... I dunno what but as soon as you start correcting they start going 'Oh noes' and stupidly run all over to place. Much of the time maintaining speed and just steering out of the way keeps them locked in place. I'm always worried about slowing down and then one running into the side. Glad to hear you made it out of it ok.

12-08-2009, 04:32 PM	#13
ffrcobra_65 Account Suspended Drives: SuperCharged 2SS/RS IOM MN6 Join Date: May 2009 Location: CA Posts: 5,094	Panels that strong makes it hard to explain how people are ending up with dents in parking lots.