Caterham vs. Deer

[xflow7]

Hi folks,

An inquiry by Gert on another thread made me realize that I never posted here about the accident I had last June in Indianapolis in my Caterham (too many forums to keep up with :). A full account appears in a post I made on Seven Torque:

http://www.seventorque.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1548

but the executive summary is that while down in Indy last June for the USGP I had a spatial disagreement with a deer on I-69 near Fishers, IN while returning from a Lotus/Sevens gathering in the evening on Saturday. Passenger and I came away fine due mostly to luck regarding the nature of the impact (and to a certain extent the protection afforded by the windscreen).

The situation was then exacerbated when the other side of the car was damaged significantly I believe during transport from Indianapolis back to Ann Arbor.

The ensuing repair process has been rather slow for no particular reason, although there was a rather prolonged delay while the insurance company, appraiser, and repair shop all got on the same page about the repair cost.

For anyone interested, some pictures (not very good) of the initial damage and the repaired frame appear here:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=87y79xs9.870uubld&x=0&y=135uxj

Since then, the reskin has been completed and re-assembly is underway. I am hoping to finally have the car back within 1 or 2 weeks.

While I am confident the car will be okay structurally, I do harbor some concern about whether some of the more aesthetic damage to the frame will be right (primarily whether they'll manage to get the curved tube that comes down from the rear bulkhead next to the driver looking "right" again).

Dave

[DesmoDork]

Did you get many jibes about bringing home your hunting trophy on the hood of your car? :rolleyes:

Glad you are ok. The pics make it look like the deer deflected off the wind screen and didn't intrude into the cockpit to much. I hope that was the case.

[xflow7]

Well, I must have done a pretty poor job of transporting my trophy as all that was left of it on the car were a few hairs and a patch of blood on the scuttle.

It's not entirely clear whether it was just the deer's head that hit the windshield while the rest of it just rolled along the side of the car, or whether a large part of its body hit the windshield and it bounced off.

Either way, you are correct that the deer didn't enter the cockpit. Something hit me in the face which I think was the side-screen as it was pushed in and broke away, but other than that nothing.

[slomove]

The good news....it was not an elk or a moose :)

Won't happen here in Los Angeles. But probably much more dangerous, anyway.

Gert

[xflow7]

Yeah, the ramifications had it been an elk or moose really don't bear thinking about. No suffering at least.

[moosetestbestanden]

Won't happen here in Los Angeles.

I'm not too sure about that. Last year a cyclist from JPL was riding in the hills of La Caأ±ada / West Pasadena in the area of the Rose Bowl and came around a bend at about 35. He encountered a deer in the roadway and was subsequently killed.

Moral: be very aware of this on your blats through the mountains & hills of So. Cal. There's *lots* of wildlife around these parts.

[magnusfeuer]

Better than the OC cyclist who encountered a cougar on the trail and was subsequently eaten.

[Roll a 7]

Or the snowmobile rider in Yellowstone NP that came round a bend and encountered a moose crossing the trail. Wisely aiming between the front and rear legs he escaped with "only" a broken neck.