Taranjit
Have you ever encountered a deer while driving? Well I have. Not once, but twice. I never knew those small little deer can do so much damage to a car until I was involved in two accidents with deer. At two different times, but that doesn’t change my opinion/mood on the matter.
Encounter #1: Deer accident with rental
Let me start from the beginning. My blue 2005 Toyota Corolla had recently had a recall on the airbag. Remember that moment, not to long ago, when the news was focusing on the exploding airbags. Yup. My car apparently made that list of recalls. Scary, but glad they decided to fix it before anything happened.
As soon as I received the notice, I called my local dealership to schedule an appointment. The day of my appointment, I drop off my car and go sit in the waiting room. Not too long later, one of the employees comes over to me and tells me that they do not have one part needed to finish the job.
So, in my head I was like, Okay. I guess I will just have to bring it back another day. No big deal. Except it was a big deal. Because before I even had the chance to finish the thought, he continued to speak. “And, unfortunately, you will not be able to take the car home today because we already opened it up and took everything out. But we will set you up with a rental.”
What?! Why would you even open up the car and take it apart when you don’t have the parts? Isn’t that something they should have looked at before opening the car up? I would think, unless I am the only one who thinks this, that the first thing the mechanic would do is double check they have everything they need to fix the issue before getting started. You wouldn’t want a doctor to walk into surgery, open you up, and then realize that they did not have one item they needed to finish the surgery, would you? That should be the same for a mechanic, after all, mechanics are doctors for cars.
Obviously, I didn’t say that out loud. I didn’t want to be that kind of a customer. I just accepted what had happened and took a rental home. If I didn’t need the car, I would have probably said no to taking a rental. But, I could not go without a car. It is a necessity in today’s time. Having a rental for an extended period of time causes me to have anxiety. Actually, the idea of having a rental period is stressful. There is too much liability and risk involved. What if something happens? Every time I got into that car, my mind was on high alert. Not saying, my mind not on high alert in my own car, but more alert than usual. Who could blame me? Whenever you borrow something from someone, you usually take extra care of it over when it is your own because it has to be returned back in the same condition you got it.
But I couldn’t go home without a car. I had college and work. I needed a car. So I took it. A white 2016 Toyota corolla. An upgrade! Why would they tease me with a newer car with its new technology and upgraded features? It was there plan all along. Give me a rental that is newer than the car I own so I am bound to buy a car from them.
After a day or two of driving the rental, I didn’t know if I could go back to my car. I was getting used to the fancy features, and habits are hard to change. When the time came, it was going to be difficult to give up the rental.
Anyways, let’s get back on topic here. One night I am coming home from campus after finishing my thesis research. It is after 9 pm and it was pitch black outside. I had just pulled out of campus and onto the main road. This road is a four lane road, two lanes going one way and two going the other, and in the center is a lane surrounded by yellow lines on either side. I turn onto this road and just made it up to the speed limit, 35 mph, and then out of nowhere this deer walks right in front of my car. This was no small, female deer. This was the leader, a male, buck. He was huge with big antlers, and he was walking as if he was in charge.
I slammed on the brakes, trying to avoid him, but did not stop in time. I hit him. And the sound of the impact on the car did not sound good at all. Luckily there were no cars on the road. So, I avoided causing an accident. One plus, right?
But this guy, which I didn’t realize fast enough, was just sitting in the center lane and I guess when he saw my bright lights, he decided to get up and cross the road. He walked very slowly into the fast lane, the lane I was in, as if he owned the place, not a care in the world that a car was coming towards him. He then stopped in my lane and just turned and looked at me. As if to say, I command you to stop as he just stood there and looked at me. But obviously, my reflex was not fast enough and I hit him.
This guy went flying into the lane to my right and landed on the road by the sidewalk. I just sat there stopped, my body in shock as to what just happened. All these worries began to run through my head. Oh my god, the car. What is my dad going to think? The car. I damaged the car. It’s a rental. Oh my gosh! What do I do?
That was what kept repeating through my head as I sat there, my foot on the brakes. Good thing I did not move, because that guy got up and walked back across the road and stopped in my lane. He paused and just stared at me, most likely judging me. He stared for a long time before continuing on his way across the road.
That guy got thrown across the road, but there was no visible damage to him at all. And he had the guts to just walk slowly back across and just look at me as if he was daring me to try moving. Who was I to disobey him? I did not need more trouble so I let him have his moment.
The car, on the other hand, had damage for sure. My hands were shaking and I just wanted to go home. I slowly start to inch forward, my heart beating fast in my chest, both my hands on the wheel, and my eyes constantly looking around me to make sure no other deer decides to pop out and challenge me with a stare. In my panic and shock, I did not know what to do so I called home as I began to slowly continue my commute home. One plusof the rental being a newer model than my car was the hands free calling feature.
My mom picks up and I cannot get the encounter out of my head. I am sure she could hear the worry in my voice and the small amount of fear. I was so afraid of what my dad was going to say. I knew he was going to be mad that I damaged the rental, a car that was not mine. Trying to keep it together and just focus on getting home, I told my mom everything that just happened.
She stayed on the line with me for the entire commute. The entire 45-50. That is a long time to comfort someone and help keep their mind off of the incident.
The one thing I remember from the conversation is her constantly saying the only thing that matters is that I was okay. It doesn’t matter what happened to the car. Cars can be replaced, but a life cannot. No matter how much I wanted to keep calm, it was so hard when the deer encounter just played over and over in my head.
After about 50 minutes, I pulled into my driveway, very scared to get out and look at the damage that had occurred. I wasn’t prepared to see how bad it was, yet at the same time, I just wanted to get out quickly and get it over with. I had managed to calm down a bit during my long drive thanks to my mom staying on the phone, but as soon as I stepped out and got a glimpse of the damage, the panic came back.
The bumper was smashed a little and the hood of the car was slightly bent. The damage was not that bad, but in the state I was in, my mind exaggerated it a more serious situation than it was. But, this being my first accident, I could not get over the damage. I just stayed outside for a while, hand over mouth, taking in the damage. I felt as my feet were cemented to the ground, and my eyes glued to the damage. I could not get myself to stop looking at it and go inside. How would I face my dad? This was a rental. I had to return it. The cost to fix it would be way too much for me. These were the thoughts running through my head.
My mom came out to see what was taking me so long to come inside and she found me just standing there looking at the damage. Pulling me into her arms, she gave me a warm hug as she walked me into the house. One hug from your mom can truly help your worries go away.
As we walked in, I was waiting for my dad to say something or be angry. But, I guess my mom had talked to him before I got home and he was calm. Which shocked me even more than the deer. I don’t know if you have ever encountered Indian men and Indian dads, but that was not the response I expected. Instead, he told me, in a calm voice, that he called the dealership and the insurance. The dealership said no worries and to just bring the car in the next morning and they would provide me with another rental. They said to contact our insurance company to help cover the costs. I am so grateful that my dad included the animal accident forgiveness in our policy. This significantly helped in reducing the amount of money I had to pay out of pocket for the repair. After learning that the insurance would cover majority of the costs, I was able to get a little bit of sleep that night. More than I would have gotten not knowing that information. The next morning, the damaged rental was returned, and a blue 2015 Toyota corolla s was given to us for the time being. Add to the spoiling, now I not only had a newer model than my car, but I also had the sports model. What could possibly go wrong?
